Green Fences

“I’ll tell you something, Batya. Everyone’s jealous. Just when you think people would be happy at your success, instead they get jealous and sour about it.” Ruth frowned. Batya stifled an inner laugh. Does she even realize that I’m the number-one member of the Jealousy Club? And then, unexpectedly, another emotion bubbled up: anger.

Batya Sternheim has much to be grateful for — a devoted husband, healthy kids, a Torah home. But she also has a best friend, Ruth. Ruth is popular and elegant, married to a real estate baron. Next to Ruth’s glamorous world, Batya’s life loses its luster. Her discontent seeps into her home, and her marriage spirals dangerously downward. Her husband Ari is willing to take drastic measures to save his family, but that alone won’t be enough. Things can’t stay the same — but how will they change?

Green Fences is the story of a complicated friendship, of two women caught in a murky tangle of dependence and longing. It is the saga of a strained marriage, of a couple struggling to define themselves — and understand each other. It is a tale of conflicting loyalties, tarnished ideals, and fragile dreams.