{"product_id":"the-book-of-separation-a-memoir-isbn-9781328477873","title":"The Book Of Separation: A Memoir","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe memoir of a woman who leaves her faith and her marriage and sets out to navigate the terrifying, liberating terrain of a newly mapless world\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Born and raised in a tight-knit Orthodox Jewish family, Tova Mirvis committed herself to observing the rules and rituals prescribed by this way of life. After all, to observe was to be accepted and to be accepted was to be loved. She married a man from within the fold and quickly began a family.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But over the years, her doubts became noisier than her faith, and at age forty she could no longer breathe in what had become a suffocating existence. Even though it would mean the loss of her friends, her community, and possibly even her family, Tova decides to leave her husband and her faith. After years of trying to silence the voice inside her that said she did not agree, did not fit in, did not believe, she strikes out on her own to discover what she does believe and who she really is. This will mean forging a new way of life not just for herself, but for her children, who are struggling with what the divorce and her new status as “not Orthodox” mean for them.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This is a memoir about what it means to decide to heed your inner compass at long last. To free the part of yourself that has been suppressed, even if it means walking away from the only life you’ve ever known. Honest and courageous, Tova takes us through her first year outside her marriage and community as she learns to silence her fears and seek adventure on her own path to happiness.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e Editors' Choice  Featured on the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/em\u003ePaperback Row  One of \u003cem\u003eJewish Week\u003c\/em\u003e's \"Books To Read This Fall\"\u003c\/strong\u003e   \"Tova Mirvis has already established herself as a \u003cstrong\u003efirst-rate \u003c\/strong\u003enovelist with \u003cem\u003eThe Ladies Auxiliary\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Outside World\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eVisible City\u003c\/em\u003e. With \u003cem\u003eThe Book of Separation: A Memoir\u003c\/em\u003e, Mirvis shifts genres, reveals some of the autobiographical germs of her fiction, and \u003cstrong\u003ecompellingly chronicles the process of separating from Orthodoxy\u003c\/strong\u003e...The respect for intra-Jewish difference that Mirvis models for her children—and for readers—is \u003cstrong\u003ea precious gift to the Jewish literary world\u003c\/strong\u003e...\u003cstrong\u003eBeautiful and poignant\u003c\/strong\u003e.\" \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eLilith Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e   “An intimate tale of departure….[Tova Mirvis] movingly conveys the heartache that accompanies the abandonment of one way of life in search of another.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e, An Editors' Choice\u003c\/strong\u003e   \"In this \u003cstrong\u003epoignant \u003c\/strong\u003ememoir, Mirvis chronicles her decision, at 40, to finally listen to the voice in her head telling her to leave her religion, her marriage, and her family. She explores what it means to truly be yourself, even if it means giving up everything you’ve ever known.\" \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eReal Simple\u003c\/em\u003e, \"The Best New Books to Read This Month\"\u003c\/strong\u003e   \"We've all daydreamed about walking away from it all. Mirvis actually \u003cem\u003edid\u003c\/em\u003e, after years of soldiering through a good-enough life. This is the \u003cstrong\u003emoving \u003c\/strong\u003estory of her life, post-divorce and post-Orthodox Judaism. She's \u003cstrong\u003ean inspiring example of living—and loving—?on your own terms\u003c\/strong\u003e.\" \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eGlamour\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e   \"Capable of both wry humor and darkly apt turns of phrase, Mirvis is a gifted writer reflecting on her identity: first through the prism of organized religion, then through a self-charted life.\" \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e   “A beautifully written book…in which Mirvis applies her gifts as a novelist to reveal her own struggles. And it is a profound meditation on what it means to be true to oneself, and what costs doing so may exact.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eThe Jewish News of Northern California\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e   \"Mirvis's experience of Orthodox Judaism is vivid and particular, but her questions—about love and belonging, community and isolation, striking out into new soul terrain without a map—are universal. \u003cstrong\u003eLuminous, unsettling and fiercely brave\u003c\/strong\u003e, Mirvis's memoir insists on a simple but earth-shattering truth: 'there are other ways to be.'\" \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/em\u003e, Starred Review\u003c\/strong\u003e   \"The author's sensitive thematic treatment of belonging and individuality and her candor about the terror she experienced leaving the only community she had ever known makes for \u003cstrong\u003emoving, inspiring\u003c\/strong\u003e reading. A \u003cstrong\u003ethoughtful, courageous \u003c\/strong\u003ememoir of family, religion, and self-discovery.\"  \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e   \"Mirvis intimately chronicles her divorce and her separation from modern Orthodox Judaism in this \u003cstrong\u003ebold memoir\u003c\/strong\u003e...Hers is a story of grief and rebirth. She is \u003cstrong\u003ecompassionate and judicious\u003c\/strong\u003e in her portrayal of Orthodox Judaism, even as she describes its repressive attitudes toward women; she discusses the diverse Jewish lifestyles, from Hasidic to secular. Her personal journey makes for \u003cstrong\u003ean introspective and fascinating story\u003c\/strong\u003e.\" \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e   \"As [Mirvis] begins her memoir, she documents what it feels like to leave her husband and religion...The author has shared custody of three school-age children and a budding romance, both of which she negotiates with \u003cstrong\u003egentle aplomb. Her interior narrative voice draws readers in\u003c\/strong\u003e, asking if she can be loved for who she is, not who she was, especially in her withdrawal from her natal religion. \u003cstrong\u003eVERDICT: A soothing picture of personal and religious divorce.\"  —\u003cem\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e     \"Looking both backward and forward, Mirvis recounts with candor and close observation the social, psychological, and spiritual travail precipitated by leaving her narrow but well known world and entering a more secular, unfamiliar territory. Her tale revisits the seeds of doubt that first troubled her as a young, Orthodox woman as well as the upheaval she feared and resisted while those doubts matured into an irresistible urge to depart from all that was intimately familiar to her. \u003cstrong\u003eSharing the personal details and drama of her journey, Mirvis recounts the arduous path so many must take to emerge into their own, true identities.\"0\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBooklist\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e   \"[Mirvis] detail[s] her journey with grace and subtlety.\" \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eImproper Bostonian\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e   “Tova Mirvis offers \u003cstrong\u003ea warmly told and searchingly explored story\u003c\/strong\u003e of her divorce from both her first husband and her Orthodox Jewish faith. The intimate view of what it means to live an orthodox life—the day to day reality of following its many guiding rules and principles—is fascinating to an outsider like me, and Tova’s insights are both \u003cstrong\u003ethought-provoking and generous\u003c\/strong\u003e. As she sorts through what pushed her away from the faith and traditions she grew up with, she also conveys what held her; her conflict over her ‘separation’ becomes our own.” \u003cstrong\u003e—Jessica Shattuck, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eThe Women in the Castle\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e    \u003cem\u003e“The Book of Separation\u003c\/em\u003e is an elegant, beautiful, carefully drawn story of love, tradition, inner conflict, and loss. \u003cstrong\u003eThis extraordinary memoir resonated with me more than I can say\u003c\/strong\u003e.” \u003cstrong\u003e—Dani Shapiro, bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eDevotion \u003c\/em\u003eand\u003cem\u003e Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e   “To say that reading \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Book of Separation\u003c\/em\u003e made me feel less alone in the world\u003c\/strong\u003e would be a vast understatement. Tova Mirvis perfectly, beautifully, unsettlingly captures the particular horror—existential and otherwise—of dismantling a long marriage and starting one’s life anew. This is a heartbreaking, breathtaking, life-altering book.” \u003cstrong\u003e—Joanna Rakoff, author of \u003cem\u003eMy Salinger Year\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e“In \u003cem\u003eThe Book of Separation\u003c\/em\u003e, Tova Mirvis brings us into her \u003cstrong\u003eheart-wrenching\u003c\/strong\u003e decision to leave her marriage and the world of Orthodox Judaism behind. Her exploration of faith and self are \u003cstrong\u003etruly miraculous. This book is a wonder!\u003c\/strong\u003e”  —\u003cstrong\u003eAnn Hood, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Book that Matters Most\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e   \"With\u003cstrong\u003e elegance, rare depth and unflinching honesty\u003c\/strong\u003e, Tova Mirvis offers up a chronicle of one woman’s revolution against her own life. \u003cem\u003eThe Book of Separation\u003c\/em\u003e is fiercely inspiring, and illuminates the too often dormant power within all of us to live in accordance with who we truly are.\" \u003cstrong\u003e—Heidi Pitlor, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Daylight Marriage\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e   “Tova Mirvis’s memoir, \u003cstrong\u003ebeautifu\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44890246480101,"sku":"NP9781328477873","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781328477873.jpg?v=1730232859","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-book-of-separation-a-memoir-isbn-9781328477873","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}