Rating: 
Summary: A great first novel
Review: This is the best book I read all year. It's so well-written and original. Even though it deals with serious issues it is also really funny. I feel like I know some of the Ladies from my own community. Everyone should read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Oprah should pick this book!
Review: I really loved this book. I've been talking about it with friends of mine and it seems that every book club is reading it. It would make a great pick for Oprah's book club -- it deals with women's issues, a small Southern community, the challenges of a single mother and the conflicts raised by religion in the modern world. Mirvis' writing is beautiful. I couldn't believe it's her first novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting depiction of place but plodding storyline
Review: I am afraid I have to agree with those who thought this novel was lackluster. While I enjoyed the foray into the Orthodox Jewish community of Memphis, which I did not even know existed, I found the story line to be plodding and not very innovative. The characterization was sterotypical and I found Batsheva to be too "perfect" in many ways. There was also too much foreshadowing with little to anticipate. The moral of the story was nothing new and the inability of the Jewish women to see the reality around them was a bit unbelievable. Really couldn't wait for the novel to end after the first half of the book. I enjoyed the descriptions of Jewish holidays and rituals, however. It was informative and interesting and added to the story immeasurably. Without the southern-influenced Jewish food, I don't think I could have made it to the end!
Rating:
Summary: Refreshingly Southern view of characters
Review: I think this is a quite refreshing book. Not only did I learn about Judaism and Southern tradition while reading this keenly written novel, but I also learned a bit about myself. Every southerner should read this book, regardless of their religion.
Rating:
Summary: honorable protagonist confronts conflicted community
Review: The Ladies Auxiliary is cause for rejoicing. Tova Mirvis has permitted us to examine the delicious strengths and corrosive weaknesses of the tightly-knit Jewish Orthodox community of Memphis, Tennessee. Her atistry derives from the multiplicity of voices and perspectives used in detailing the heroic struggle of the novel's protagonist, Batsheva, to gain a sense of spiritual peace and community while exhibiting behaviors which go against the grain of an established, and ultimately, oppressive community.Mirvis writes with extraordinary insight and compassion, both for Batsheva (whom she clearly respects) and the community (whose stability and values she admires and whose unwillingness to engage in self-examination she condemns). Batsheva's quests for belonging and religious authenticity become scapegoats for the other women in the community, who feel threatened by Batsheva's religious spiritualism and her uncanny ability to communicate with their daughters. Those who extol ritual over authentic spiritual commitment may be uncomfortable with this novel. Mirvis herself writes about Orthodox Judaism's move to the right and warns self-satisfied members of her community that repressing young women's desires to know more of the world has more dangerous consequences than permitting them the right of discovery. Those who see themesleves in the Memphis community will receive the greatest pleasure, for the author has written a particular novel with universal implications. Rest assured, you will immediately call other family members even before finishing this wonderful novel and urge them to savor the many gifts of Tova Mirvis.
Rating: 
Summary: Truly enjoyable
Review: I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I hadn't heard anything about it before picking it up so I didn't have any expectations about what I might find. The insight given to the lives of Orthodox Jews was fascinating. The characters were fully formed and real. There were many thought provoking themes regarding religion, spirituality, friendship, judging others, expectations, independence, family, etc. that I've continued to think about since finishing the book. The unique narrative style worked well and I really enjoyed Mirvis's writing style. She made me feel like I was a part of the community instead of just a distant observer.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth Hurts Sometimes
Review: While I am not orthodox now, nor was I ever as orthodox as these ladies while I lived my entire life in Memphis, I am familiar with their lives and with the ways their lives touched others in the jewish community. Too bad they were not paying attention to the moral of the story about Reb Akiba's students who died because they thought they were better than others. How wonderful it is to be away from Memphis, the tight little community, etc. How wonderful it is to be accepting of others and their differences from me! How I wish I had known a "Mimi"..it might have changed the way I viewed this community.
Rating:
Summary: Artistic, Nuanced, Original
Review: This book is creative and moving. Who would have thought you could tell a whole book in the first person plural. But this new author pulls it off beautifully -- the women are reminiscent of a Greek chorus, except, of course, that they speak in a Southern accent. The Ladies Auxiliary is rich with imagery and meaning. It is nuanced and sophisticated. I am an avid reader of literary fiction, and at her best, she reminds me of her Southern compatriots Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor. For any reader of Southern or Jewish Lit, this is a must read.
Rating: 
Summary: Sorry to be a wet blanket, but...!
Review: So many people seem enthusiastic about this book, but I can't help wondering how much actual literature (as opposed to pulp novels) these "Ladies' Auxiliary" aficianados have read. Mirvis is an exceedingly earnest writer, and I want to root for her, but her prose lacks artistic imagination.
Rating:
Summary: Tova Mirvis is a fresh, new voice!
Review: It's not every day that you get to read a debut novel that wrestles with conflicts between the individual and community, secular and sacred, modernity and tradition -- a book that has you turning pages and alternating between laughing and crying. This story is full of humor, tenderness and compassion. You can tell the writer knows a lot about this kind of community, that in some sense she loves it but also is very critical of it. She develops wonderful characters, people I feel that I know in my own community. If this is what Tova Mirvis can do at 27, I can't wait to see her next book!
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