BY CORIE ADJMI
“WITH HUMOR, INSIGHT, AND GRACE, CORIE ADJMI EXAMINES THE PLIGHT OF A SPIT-FIRE TEENAGER WHO STRUGGLES TO FIND WHERE SHE FITS IN THE WORLD. AS CASEY COHEN JOURNEYS FROM WILD TEEN TO MARRIED WOMAN, SHE WILL WIN EVERY READER’S HEART WITH HER WITTY COMMENTARY, DOWN-TO-EARTH ATTITUDE, AND COURAGEOUS SPUNK. AN UNQUESTIONABLE JOYRIDE FROM START TO FINISH. THIS BOOK IS A MUST-READ!” THESE WORDS WERE WRITTEN ABOUT A BRAND NEW BOOK TITLED THE MARRIAGE BOX.
This entertaining book tells the story of Casey Cohen, a sixteen-year-old Middle Eastern Jew, in New Orleans in the 1970s. When she starts hanging out with the wrong crowd and gets in trouble, her parents turn her whole world upside down by deciding to return to their roots, the Orthodox Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn.
In this new and foreign world, families gather weekly for Shabbat dinner; parties are extravagant events at the Museum of Natural History; and the Marriage Box is a real place, a pool deck designated for teenage girls to put themselves on display for potential husbands. Casey is at first shocked by this unfamiliar culture, but after she meets Michael, she’s enticed by it. Looking for love and a place to belong, she marries him at eighteen, believing she can adjust to Syrian ways. But she begins to question her decision when she discovers that Michael doesn’t want her to go to college; he wants her to have a baby instead.
Can Casey integrate these two opposing worlds, or will she have to leave one behind in order to find her way?
It’s a coming of age story from an award-winning author brimming with Jewish family drama to fascinate and make readers laugh out loud. Audiences interested in a fresh behind-the-scenes look at Orthodox Jewish culture won’t be able to put this book down!
Readers will find relevant elements given society’s interest in Jewish culture, as well as timely themes close to Corie Adjmi’s heart, like female empowerment, identity, and the Syrian Jewish community.
“The Marriage Box Is a work of fiction but it’s based on my real life,” said Corie. “I grew up in New Orleans and moved to the Syrian community in Brooklyn when I was sixteen. To say I experienced culture shock is an understatement. Moving to New York was difficult and I had a lot to learn. Writing has been a way for me to process many events in my life and THE MARRIAGE BOX is part of that journey. Using satire, humor and good old-fashioned storytelling, I’ve created a narrative that makes me laugh. And I hope it will make readers laugh too.” The Marriage Box will be on sale May 2nd.
