The Tenth Song

The Tenth Song

A Novel

Naomi Ragen

When life is at its best, the unimaginable can shatter everything you think you know…

Abigail Samuels has no reason to feel anything but joy on the morning her life falls apart. The epitome of the successful Jewish American woman, she is married to a well-known and respected accountant and is in the middle of planning her daughter Kayla's wedding. Kayla, too, wakes up that morning with the world in the palm of her hand. Having lived the charmed life of a well-loved child from a happy family, she is a bright, pretty Harvard law student who has never really questioned the path she found herself on.

With a shocking suddenness, all that is smashed to pieces in ways they could never have dreamed. When a heartbroken Kayla runs away to a desert commune run by a charismatic mystic, Abigail rushes to save her, only to find that there is nothing more whole than a broken heart.

“Naomi skillfully spins her magic with credible, charismatic characters who we can easily relate to, tricky, sometimes drastic situations, the shining importance of family values, and finding out who we really are, deep down inside, even if it is the hard way.” —Tatiana de Rosnay, New York Times bestselling author of Sarah's Key
“A vivid and compelling story about the cost of security and the value of love as a woman struggles to save her husband, her daughter—and herself.” —India Edghill, author of Delilah and Wisdom's Daughter
“A page-turner illustrating the horrifying consequences of becoming embroiled in the American legal system.” —Kirkus Reviews
“The unexpected turns Ragen puts on this family's path to healing and happiness are a pleasant surprise.” —Publishers Weekly

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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