Search - Paradise Park

I loved this book! The protagonist, Sharon Speigelman, is a culturally Jewish-American woman with no religious experience, who from age 20 to her early forties, seeks spirituality in Hawaii, Jerusalem, Washington, Brooklyn and finally in Boston.

Told in the first-person, Sharon is articulate and intelligent, sensual and sexy, and also a bit ditsy. While she is serious about knowing God, she doesn't take herself too seriously. She acknowledges her mistakes and shortcomings, but never apologizes for making the choices she makes.

Goodman has a good feel for describing both Jews and Gentiles, including the Hasidic Jewish Orthodox communities in Mea Shearim in Isreal and in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. She clearly yet lovingly depicts all of the characters in Paradise Park with sensitivity and affection. There are no villains in this book, although all the characters, including Sharon, are fallible and make mistakes that hurt her. Like Sharon, I forgive them all their foibles.

I read this book for a class, and loved it! Sharon, the main character, is searching for G-d and for religious truth. The book is accessible to both Jews and non-Jews, as the words and terms are all explained or translated by Goodman. The book is also well-written and thought-provoking. I'd recommend this book to anyone who has had a religious journey, or simply wants to read about one.