Behind lush lawns and beautiful brick facades lay a prejudice and conditional love that was both shocking and tragic. With a single choice, Laya brought the full force of it crashing down upon her.

Her path was meant to be set in stone. She would be educated according to Orthodox tradition, accept the suitors her father chose for her, and promptly marry and have children as soon as possible. And then…everything changed when she met John. No one would have ever guessed that Laya would be spellbound at 19 years old, in forbidden love with a non-Jewish man. He would be the catalyst for a collision of worlds that would leave unforgettable scars in its wake.

In marrying the man she loved, Laya was branded a traitor, having turned her back on centuries of tradition and rabbinic law. The rhapsodic feeling of freedom, the sensual pleasure and the decadence of newfound independence, came at the price of almost unbearable heartbreak.

When Your Family Says No is a tale of staggering loss, enduring love, and ultimately, reaching out with your own two hands to seize independence and freedom.

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