Hush

by Eishes Chayil

This emotionally riveting first novel takes us deep within the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn’s Borough Park. The author, writing under a pseudonym that means “Woman of Valor,” alternates between the first-person account of Gittel Klein at age 12, and her perspective in the present when she’s nearly 18. As Gittel prepares for and enters into marriage, we witness her gradual understanding of the shattering events that led to her best friend Devory’s suicide at age 10. Gittel comes to an impossible crossroads: either she must tell what she knows of Devory’s death or risk her own destruction. This book is for mature teens because it deals with incest, but there are no graphic descriptions. The author balances the weighty themes of Gittel’s coming of age with warm depictions of her family, her observations about the role of the shtreimel (the hat “worn by all righteous Jews in the world”) at the center of religious life, and her forbidden relationship with a goyishe (non-Jewish) family who rents an upstairs apartment from the Kleins. The charm of Gittel’s narration stems from her mix of respect for her community’s traditions and the humor that arises from a child trying to make sense of her world. A fascinating and memorable novel.