Olive Days

In Emerson’s effervescent debut, a conflicted 30-something woman contends with her religious obligations. Though Rina Kirsh is secretly an atheist, she performs all the exhausting rituals she was raised to fulfill in her Los Angeles Modern Orthodox Jewish community, from endless socializing and volunteering to cleaning, cooking, and baking for weekly Shabbos and religious holidays. She accepts her lot, though back when she studied art history and comparative religion at a small liberal arts college, she experimented freely with “gentile boys with names like Blaine and Kyle.” Her devotion is upended after her husband convinces her to participate in an evening of wife-swapping with other Orthodox couples, claiming the practice falls within the tenets of Jewish law. Upset from feeling “traded” by her husband, she begins an affair with a Haredi rabbi, who welcomes Rina’s superior knowledge of sex. Then, after registering for a painting class, she begins a passionate affair with her married Chicanx professor, and their determination to be together takes over the plot. Emerson provides a fascinating picture of Rina’s commitments as a Modern Orthodox woman and goes deep into the psychological battle between her duty to uphold tradition and her life-affirming desire. The result is titillating and thought-provoking in equal measure. Agents: Amanda Orozco and Carolyn Forde, Transatlantic Agency. (Sept.)