Book Review: “Disobedience” by Naomi Alderman

Apr 4

Håfa adai! May is Jewish American Heritage Month in the United States. Since I chose to review works by AAPI authors throughout May, I will review works of fiction written by and/or depicting important experiences of those identifying as Jewish in the first two weeks of June 2025. June is also Pride Month in the United States! For the remaining Mondays of June, I will review works across various genres written by and/or depicting experiences of members of the LGBTQIA+ communities. My second selection for Jewish American Heritage Month 2025 and first selection for Pride Month 2025 is Disobedience by Naomi Alderman.

This book review consists of two parts: a spoiler-free plot summary and my thoughts on the story. In the second part, I give my personal rating and break down the setting and worldbuilding, storytelling, cast of characters, and my takeaways. There may be some lightweight spoilers—such as how characters interact with each other and the world around them—but I will not give away any major plot twists or endings. I want to share my opinions of the book and maybe encourage you to purchase a copy of your own.

Click on the tags at the bottom of this post to see all reviews with the same tags in the Fiction bookshelf.

Spoiler-Free Plot Summary

Ronit put the entire Atlantic Ocean between herself and the Orthodox Jewish community she comes from when she left the London village of Hendon for New York City. While the girls she grew up with become married women and stay-at-home moms, Ronit remains a single and child-free career woman. Years later, Ronit’s cousin Dovid calls her to deliver news that her father, a well-respected rabbi, has died. Ronit returns to Hendon to pay her final respects for her father, although she is torn by conflicting feelings of not wanting to be ostracized in her own community and her complicated past with her father. But being back in Hendon does not offer the closure one would expect, especially when Ronit comes face-to-face with the person she left behind.

My Thoughts on Disobedience: 5 stars!

Starting out in New York City in the United States before heading to an Orthodox Jewish community in the village of Hendon in London, England, Disobedience is a story about breaking silence in order to live as who you really are. Alternating between the first-person perspective of Ronit and a third-person limited perspective following other characters, Naomi Alderman weaves evocative prose and Jewish teachings to explore the pains of unrequited love between Ronit and Esti. The themes delicately explored in Disobedience have made this one of my new favorite stories.

There are three broad themes that I internalized from reading Disobedience. First, sometimes the rules of religious doctrine can force someone to choose between living as who they truly are and being accepted members of their community. Years before the events of the story, Ronit and Esti were effectively forced to make a choice between themselves and their community, and they chose differently. Ronit traded being an accepted member of her community for being able to live her own life. Esti felt unable to give up her community and has been forced to live inauthentically ever since. Each woman had to give up an important aspect of their selves in order to protect another aspect of their self.

The second broad theme that stood out to me are the ways in which Ronit and Esti must remain silent in order to protect the specific aspects of their lives they chose to protect. A line in Chapter 8 of the story—said by Ronit’s therapist in New York City during a moment of Ronit’s self-reflection—succinctly states this theme better than I could: “Silence is the means by which the weak remain weak and the strong remain strong; silence is a method of oppression.” In the context of their Orthodox Jewish community in Hendon, Ronit and Esti are forced to stay hidden or silent about their sexual orientations and their genuine feelings for each other.

The silence imposed on Ronit and Esti reinforces false beliefs that certain aspects of your self are choices you consciously make instead of what you are born as or born into. In the final chapter of Disobedience, Ronit points out that you cannot choose what you are, but you can choose what you show and what you practice. Ronit and Esti did not choose to be born into their Orthodox Jewish community. Ronit did not choose to be bisexual. Esti did not choose to be lesbian. But they can choose how close they want to be to their Jewish identities, and they can choose the manners in which they authentically live according to their respective sexual orientations.

My overall rating for Naomi Alderman’s debut novel Disobedience is 5 out of 5 stars! I first heard of Disobedience when the 2017 movie adaptation of the story was available for streaming in the United States. While the movie presents a slightly different version of the original story, I greatly appreciate both the film and the book it is based on. Naomi Alderman brilliantly and beautifully weaves a story of entanglement between strict religious doctrine, belonging to a community, and living authentically. I highly recommend Disobedience to those looking for a story about navigating who you were born as, how you choose to live, and whose acceptance you choose to prioritize.

Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading my review of Disobedience by Naomi Alderman.

Rating Cheat Sheet

4.75 - 5.00 stars: Everyone should read this book! (If you’re into that sort of thing.)
4.00 - 4.50 stars: I appreciated many aspects of this book. I recommend it!
3.00 - 3.75 stars: I liked some aspects of this book. I won’t revisit it, but someone else might really like it.
2.00 - 2.75 stars: There were some things I appreciated about this book, but I do not recommend it.
0.25 - 1.75 stars: I do not recommend this book. I did not enjoy or appreciate the experience of it.

Post Date: 9 June 2025