Debut Novel
Three women. Three stages. One messy, meaningful progression we pretend is linear.
First there's Abby, newly moved, socially allergic, and trying to make one real friend before she gives up and lives off Costco samples forever. Then comes Shifra, married and managing a business—except she's not managing anything, least of all herself. And finally Chana, the “big personality” turned rebbetzin who’s trying to figure out if she has to tone it down… or just turn it up differently.
Rule of Three tells the stories of three frum women at different points in life—linked by friendship, growth, and the quiet chaos of becoming who you are (instead of who everyone thought you’d be). Told in three sequential novellas, it's sharp, funny, and painfully honest in the way all good fiction should be.
I love this book. Esther Kurtz's ability to identify with most if not all women is great. I am so happy I stumbled across this book and decided to read it. I needed it!
I love this book! Really brings out different how we each have different personalities and growth and struggles.
The book is exciting, pulling and very enjoyable!
Passaic, NJ
I went on vacation, the thing that made it sooooo good was I had my perfect vacation chic flic novel to take with me!! It was sooooo good!!! Seriously, it's nice to spend time with hubby and all but whenever he was learning /minyan that weekend I had my "girl" friends to stay social with! Seriously felt like your characters were alive and in the hotel with me. Such amazing character description and development
North Jersey
Just wanted to let u know I had major self-control not letting myself read more of your book till Shabbos and then I could not put it down Motsei Shabbos...I forced myself to put it down by like midnight so I have something good to read for this coming Shabbos... Its perfect and funny and relatable and when’s the next one coming?! 😂 but seriously, it’s amazing.
Short Story Collection
Short stories for people who don’t like short stories but still want to feel something.
You know that moment when you already made the decision… but then you wonder?
Yeah. These are stories about that.
In Second Thoughts, we meet women who are doing their best—with varying levels of success. A woman who’s spent her life being “practical,” until one small act of creativity throws everything off balance. A single thirty-something still getting treated like a kid, but expected to act like a grown-up. And a mother who needs to choose between a beloved dog and her son's shidduchim.
Each story stands alone, but they all tap into the same question: What happens when you rethink what you thought you knew? Not in the dramatic, scream-into-the-void way. In the quiet, keep-you-up-at-night, what if I’d done it differently? way.
These aren’t fairy tales. No neat bows. Just the complicated, second-guessing kind of truth you’ll recognize immediately.
“Nuanced stories about everyday issues, peeling back the facade to surface the complex emotions and dynamics…”
The Jewish Press
“Esther Kurtz maps out conflicts ... pros and cons, choices and consequences … there is no right answer, only carefully deliberated answers.”
613 Podcast
“Easy to get absorbed by the characters and their sticky circumstances in ‘Second Thoughts’.”
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