The Saturday Wife

The Saturday Wife

A Novel

Naomi Ragen

Bestselling author Naomi Ragen mixes poignant storytelling and irreverent wit with her talent for creating finely drawn characters in this tale of a young Rabbi's wife who slowly begins to unravel under the incessant and unreasonable demands of her congregation, her faith, and her life.

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 at an Orthodox synagogue in the suburbs 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.

“The pleasure of this novel is in its mercilessness, with Ragen raising the stakes until the very end.” —Publishers Weekly
“With The Saturday Wife, Naomi Ragen proves herself an adept satirist as well as a brilliant storyteller.... The heiress to such eternally discontented heroines as Emma Bovary and Undine Spragg, Delilah Goldgrab Levi's story is funny, poignant, and unforgettable.” —India Edghill, author of Wisdom's Daughter

About the Author

Naomi Ragen is an American-born Israeli novelist whose fiction explores Jewish life, faith, and history. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she earned her degree at Brooklyn College and moved to Israel in 1971, where she has lived in Jerusalem ever since. Her books, which have been widely translated, are popular with Jewish and general readers alike.

Her novels often take readers inside the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox worlds, with a particular interest in the lives of women. In books such as Jephte’s Daughter, Sotah, and The Sacrifice of Tamar, she portrays devout communities in Jerusalem and New York with affection and honesty, examining the tension between religious tradition and individual conscience. Her characters wrestle with family loyalty, communal expectations, and the cost of silence, while the strength of their faith and bonds is shown with equal care.

Ragen also draws on Jewish history. The Ghost of Hannah Mendes follows a family of Portuguese Jews who were forced to hide their faith, and later novels such as The Saturday Wife and The Covenant address contemporary American Jewish life and the realities of modern Israel. Across her work run recurring themes of identity, continuity, courage, and moral responsibility.

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