![]() The minutiae of life in an Orthodox home, if tedious at times, provide needed context for Ellie’s angst however, they will raise more questions than they answer for those completely unfamiliar with religious values, and Lieberman makes more than a few assumptions about what readers will already know and what they can figure out. Lots of big questions work their way through the story of Ellie’s sexual awakening, questions about Orthodox Judaism, whether or not people can change, what slutty girls can and can’t teach you about love, what you may have to give up in order to be who you are, and what you can hold on to. As Ellie questions her relationship to a God and to a tradition that recommends she be lashed for her feelings, her mother becomes more invested in her own religious calling, but her intemperate worship demeanor runs afoul of their very traditional shul. ![]() She doesn’t refuse the seductions of a sexually adventurous girl she meets while staying at Bubbie’s cabin, however, and she returns from her summer of lust with deeply unsettled feelings about what it means to be an observant Jew when the very faith she cherishes casts her as an abomination. ![]() Even when her grandmother gives her the space and encouragement to break rules and try new things, she refuses. Ellie Gold takes her faith very seriously, adoring not only the traditions and the rituals of Orthodox Judaism but also the spirit behind them. ![]()
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