Lovingkindness is a powerful little novel by Anne Roiphe. I had never heard of Roiphe until I found this book for a dollar at our local used book store. I picked it up because it looked really interesting-and it is!

This is the story of Annie, a feminist Mom who became a young widow and raised her daughter Andrea with all of her own feminist values. Annie, however, gets very lost, and roams the world trying out drugs and men and looking for something to make her happy. She finally thinks she finds it in a very conservative orthodox yeshiva in Israel where she now wears long skirts, learns to cook, studies Hebrew and is awaiting her arranged marriage.

This is a painful story of loss for both Annie and Andrea on many levels, but it is also a story about what it means to love, accept and let go. Roiphe is a wonderful writer and I found this book deeply moving.