A few months ago I read the book Who By Fire by Diana Spechler. Who By Fire is a book about a Jewish family named Kellerman that is torn apart by tragedy and their journey toward closure and acceptance. Youngest daughter Alena was kidnapped. Dad Ben eventually flies the coop leaving his wife Ellie to raise their two remaining children Bits and Ash. Thirteen years after their sister's broad daylight kidnapping Bits has become a free-spirited wild -child type and Ash has become an Orthodox Jew who is studying at a right-wing yeshiva in Israel. Mom Ellie is none too keen on her son Ash's involvement in frumkeit so she devises a way to lure him away. This of course is where the fun begins.
What I really loved about this book is that includes a character who is a baal t'shuvah written by a non-Orthodox Jew. The story is divided by chapters which alternate between the standpoint of Bits, Ellie and Asher, it is not exclusively the story of a new baal t'shuvah and how he copes with his non-frum family, its also the story of what non-frum sister Bits and non-frum mom Ellie think about the whole deal.
Had this book been written in the early 1970's Ash may have been a Zen Buddhist instead of a new baal t'shuvah. I'm so glad this book was written in 2008.
From Diana Spechler's writing it is obvious that she has a relative or a good friend who is frum . WHO BY FIRE is not another PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT or some misguided Howard Fast novel. Thank goodness. Its an honest exploration of secular versus Orthodox Jews. There is dialogue and contemplation without negativity.
Last but not least WHO BY FIRE is simply an intriguing story about family dynamics. I couldn't wait to see what would transpire while at the same time I didn't want it to end.
NEXT POST: SPECIAL BLOG INTERVIEW WITH DIANA SPECHLER.
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