book review
Jewish books continue to unveil insights into unfamiliar aspects of our culture, both good and bad. “Run You Down” is a fast-paced read with insights into Jewish ultra-Orthodoxy and those who long to leave it.
“Run You Down” reprises Rebekah Roberts, the heroine of Julia Dahl’s previous novel, “Invisible City.” Rebekah is a crime journalist called upon to investigate the suspicious death of Pessie, a young Hassidic mother who is said to have committed suicide. However, she finds it difficult to get solid information about the suspected homicide case from members of the insular upstate New York community where Pessie lived.
Meanwhile, Rebekah has been considering reaching out to her estranged mother, Aviva, who abandoned her when she was an infant. Aviva had left the Brooklyn Hassidic fold, running off with a kind and loving Lutheran man, who then raised Rebekah alone.
Not surprisingly, Dahl herself is a Brooklyn journalist who was born in Fresno, to a Lutheran father and Jewish mother.
In “Run You Down,” Rebekah is still reeling from trauma stemming from the case she had solved in the previous novel. She suffers from depression, which has affected her work and social life. With the support of a close friend and some new alliances, Rebekah slowly makes connections and gathers the clues she needs to solve the unfolding mysteries of Pessie’s death, Aviva’s runaway life and what became of Aviva’s younger brother, who also rebelled against the Hassidic community.
Through Rebekah’s detective work, she learns more about the strictures of her mother’s family life and her struggle to find peace and love outside it.
“Run You Down” by Julia Dahl (Minotaur Books, 280 pages)
Review provided by the Jewish Book Council, www.jewishbookcouncil.org.