Prodigal Children in the House of G-d

Prodigal Children in the House of G-d explores themes of family, community, and exile largely from ultra-Orthodox Jewish and/or queer perspectives. Eschewing references to specific locations, the stories vibrate in a mysterious present steeped in connections to a past that threatens to overwhelm. The protagonists navigate religious tradition as they take steps to reshape their lives in startling ways, often at great personal risk.

An elderly woman living alone remembers a long-ago love. A holiday abroad changes the lives of a mother and daughter forever. In the concluding story, a married Torah scholar encounters romance in an unexpected quarter. A note on transliteration and pronunciation and a glossary of Hebrew and Yiddish terms appear at the end of the book. The book includes two pairs of interlocking stories. The author of six volumes of poetry, Yermiyahu Ahron Taub brings a quiet lyricism to his debut collection of short stories.