Unorthodox

 I read the memoir Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman yesterday. What struck me was the way reading and books were something the author had to hide because learning and curiosity by girls were frowned upon, in a culture that made scholarly activity by boys the highest value. I know the book was made into a series on Netflix, with one of the actors, Shira Haas, who also starred in Shtisel. I will probably watch it soon, after I finish the drama I’m watching. I need to be in the right frame of mind for stories of oppression, even if the ending is an escape. 

UPDATE. I watched the four episodes of the series. It actually takes place after the book leaves off, when the protagonist, renamed Esty in the show, runs away from her marriage to Berlin, and is pursued by her husband and his unpleasant cousin. The show is more about how she leaves a culture where she is misunderstood and oppressed, and discovers music, freedom, and reunites with her mother in Berlin. The story ends before the struggle for custody over her as-yet-unborn child, so the emphasis is on self-discovery. Shira Haas gives a terrific performance. Several reviewers on Letterboxd commented on how unrealistically nice everyone was to her in Berlin, and I have to agree with that--it was rather like a fairy tale.