The Saturday Wife
by Naomi Ragen
List Price: $13.95
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780312352394
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
With more than half a million copies of her novels sold, Naomi Ragen has connected with the hearts of readers as well as reviewers who have met her work with unanimous praise. In The Saturday Wife, Ragen utilizes her fluid writing style--rich with charm and detail--to break new ground as she harnesses satire to expose a world filled with contradiction.
Beautiful, blonde, materialistic Delilah Levy steps into a life she could have never imagined when in a moment of panic she decides to marry a sincere Rabbinical student. But the reality of becoming a paragon of virtue for a demanding and hypocritical congregation leads sexy Delilah into a vortex of shocking choices which spiral out of control into a catastrophe which is as sadly believable as it is wildly amusing.
Told with immense warmth, fascinating insight, and wicked humor, The Saturday Wife depicts the pitched and often losing battle of all of us as we struggle to hold on to our faith and our values amid the often delicious temptations of the modern world.
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1. The Saturday Wife has been described as a satire. Do you agree or disagree? If you agree, what is the author satirizing, and why?
2. Describe what you think would be the perfect ending for this book and why.
3. What do you think is the role of a good spiritual leader?
4. Describe the perfect spiritual leader for Swallow Lake.
5. Do you think Chaim failed the congregation, or did the congregation fail him?
6. In what way could Delilah be described as a comic figure? In what way a tragic one?
7. In her acknowledgements, the author says she was inspired by the book Madame Bovary. Can you find some parallels between the two books?
8. Do you think Delilah jumped over the edge, or was she pushed?
9. Describe the kind of life that would have really made Delilah happy.
10. If you had to write a sequel to this book, describe chapter one.
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