Literary Afternoon: Goyhood by Rueven Fenton

Description

A brilliant debut novel about a devoutly Orthodox Jewish man who discovers in middle age that he is not, in fact, Jewish, and embarks on a road trip to come to grips with his fate. When Mayer Belkin fled small-town Georgia for Brooklyn nearly thirty years ago, he thought he had left his wasted youth behind. Now he is a Talmud scholar married into one of the greatest rabbinical families in the world. However, his mother's untimely death brings a shocking revelation: Mayer and his twin brother David aren't, in fact, Jewish. Traumatized and spiritually bereft, Mayer's only recourse is to convert to Judaism. The earliest date he can get is a week from now. What are two estranged brothers to do in the interim? So begins the Belkins' journey through America's Deep South with Mom's ashes in tow, plus two tagalongs: an insightful Instagram influencer and a one-eyed dog. As the crew gets tangled up in a series of increasingly surreal adventures, Mayer grapples with a God who betrayed him and an emotionally withdrawn wife in Brooklyn who has yet to learn her husband is a counterfeit Jew. Reuven Fenton has been covering breaking news for The New York Post since 2007, and has earned national recognition for his exclusive reporting on myriad national stories. He is a graduate of Yeshiva University and Columbia University School of Journalism. Goyhood is his debut novel.