Unorthodox

On the day of its release, "Unorthodox" instantly topped the New York Times bestseller list and quickly sold out. A few months later, the print run surpassed the one million mark. In the Hasidic Satmar community in Williamsburg, New York, the strictest rules of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group prevail worldwide. Deborah Feldman takes us to the limits of endurance as she recounts her strict submission to the harsh laws of life, experiences of exclusion, poverty, the oppression of women, and her forced marriage. She shares the everyday fear of being discovered and punished for forbidden actions. She describes how she finds unprecedented courage and immense strength to leave the community in order to give her son a life of freedom. Never before has an author depicted her liberation from the shackles of religious extremists so vividly and honestly.