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Looking South

n the East Memphis neighbor-
hood where Tova Mirvis' first
novel is set, one could probably
estimate the minutes it takes a
piece of information to reach every
family in this Orthodox enclave. It's a
place with very few secrets: Everyone
knows what everyone else is doing, just
about all of the time.
The Ladies Auxiliary (Norton;
$23.95), selected by Barnes & Noble
for its Discover Great New Writers
Program, is a graceful novel with a
strong sense of place, with vivid charac-
ters that are as Southern as the black-
eyed peas they serve for Shabbat din-
ner, as Jewish as their homemade chal-
lah. Most families
have been in this
Tova Mirvis:
"Jerusalem of the
"Ladies Auxiliary,"
South" for genera-
she says,
tions.
"is emotionally
Novelist and short autobiographical."
story writer Steve
Stern also has writ-
ten about the Jews of
Memphis. His Jews
were the immigrants
and their families
who settled in a
downtown neighbor-
hood known as "The
Pinch." Mirvis'
Memphian Jews are
now flourishing in
the suburbs, in
sprawling ranch houses on magnolia-
lined streets winding around their
Orthodox shul and yeshiva.
Here, cooking is almost a competi-
tive sport, with all of the women
preparing feasts for Shabbat and open-
ing their homes in the spirit of
Southern and Jewish hospitality, some-
times neglecting to mention one ingre-
dient when sharing a recipe.
The members of the Ladies
Auxiliary raise funds for the school,
hold luncheons and fashion shows and
take great delight in their creative deco-
rations. They know each other's mikva
schedules; they think conversations are
meant for eavesdropping on; they run
this small town. Most want to keep
their neighborhood just the way it is
and envision the generations that fol-

low sinking their roots further into the
Tennessee soil.
The novel takes place over the
course of a year, following the cycle of
Jewish holidays. When Batsheva, a
young widow who is a convert to
Judaism, moves from New York City to
Memphis with her young daughter, she
puzzles, inspires and then infuriates the
women with her more spiritual, inde-
pendent ways of doing things.
Her presence raises questions about
the nature of community, the thin bor-
der between being an insider and an
outsider and — without using the
word — the possibilities for Jewish
continuity.

One of the elements that make this
a sparkling debut is Mirvis' successful
use of an unusual literary device: She
narrates the book in a communal voice,
speaking of "we."
Since this little society is one in
which there's a clear sense what "we"
do, and since the gossip chain provides
everyone with the same knowledge
base, the "we" speaks for all.
At the same time, Mirvis manages to
portray the women as individuals with
distinctive inner lives and even some
secrets. One has a marriage about to
shatter, another who grew up outside of
the community and became religious