BY: SUSAN SOFAYOV

Life-long Jewish friends Naomi, Miriam, and Becky are approaching middle-age gracefully and are content—despite a few hot flashes and mood swings—until life tosses each woman a crisis…

When Becky, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, learns of her only son’s engagement to a non-Jew, she rallies against the marriage and becomes obsessed with finding him a Jewish bride.

Naomi—whose husband left her for a man, crushing her small amount of self-confidence—is stuck with a dead-end job and a big house in a neighborhood filled with couples. She hates the loneliness of weekends and the empty side of the king-size bed.

Miriam, an only child of parents who were also only children, struggles with the fact that she has no blood relatives besides her children. She recognizes that it’s siblings who connect the past, the present, and the future, and the closest thing she has to sisters are Becky and Naomi.

Then a dusty discovery delivers a potentially lethal blow to their friendship. While two of the women fight to save the relationship, one desires nothing more than its demise.

TAYLOR JONES SAYS: In The Kiddush Ladies by Susan Sofayov, Naomi, Miriam, and Becky are life-long friends until a dark secret, discovered as they approach middle age, tears that friendship apart and destroys two of the women’s relationship. The other one is determined to bring her two friends back together and end this silly feud, but the one who feels betrayed is adamant and she won’t even consider any other explanation.

Sofayov has crafted an intense and poignant tale of friendship, loyalty, and pride that will have you weeping and laughing, sometimes on the same page. Very well done.

REGAN MURPHY SAYS: The Kiddush Ladies by Susan Sofayov is the story of three Jewish women who have been friends since childhood, but when they’re in their forties, one of them discovers what she feels is a betrayal by one of the other women. This starts a feud between the two women and tears their friendship apart, leaving the third woman caught in the middle. The story follows these women through crises in their lives, as each one struggles to cope and come to grips with her situation in her own way. Before when something bad happened, the three women had each other to lean on, but now that solid wall of support has been shattered and no one is quite sure what to do about it.

The Kiddush Ladies gives us a glimpse into the life of Jewish women and how strong these women’s faith is. It’s a touching, thought-provoking tale that will warm your heart one minute and break it the next. A wonderful read.