An acutely drawn novel about one woman’s quest for authenticity and the seductive power of breaking with convention, set against the Orthodox Jewish communities of L.A. Rina Kirsch is an exhausted young mother and modern Orthodox Jew in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of Los Angeles. Dutifully keeping to the expectations of a traditional household connects Rina with generations past and future.
But a contradiction burns at her center: Rina is an atheist.
She is also stymied in her life and marriage. Rina’s husband convinces her to partake in a night of wife-swapping. The swap plunges Rina down a heady path that begins with a rekindled passion for painting and culminates in an intoxicating affair with Will, her married Mexican American art teacher. Rina must decide if it’s worth sacrificing everything she’s ever known to inhabit the uncharted landscape unfolding before her, one where her needs take precedence. Told in the fevered tenor common to lust and religious devotion, Olive Days is an unforgettable story of the agonizing choices women make to balance duty against desire.
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Fiction
Olive Days
- From the Publisher
September 1, 2023
Discussion Questions
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