Chutzpah - Yehudis Fletcher

Wry and exhilarating, Chutzpah is a fearless exploration of what is possible when one person simply refuses to choose between abandoning their roots and abandoning themselves.

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2026 WINGATE PRIZE

"Clear-sighted and courageous, with an extremely dry sense of humour"
DAVID BADDIEL, author of Jews Don't Count

"Delightfully written: wry, moving, controlled, with a great instinct for pace and telling detail"
TLS

"A gutting, brave story, written with exquisite candour."
Dr. Sara Glass, author of Kissing Girls on Shabbat

Yehudis Fletcher was six years old when she decided to find out if there was actually a G-d.

One Sabbath evening, she dared to defy a fundamental rule. She didn't wash her hands before breaking bread. At the table, Yehudis braced herself for a terrible, biblical punishment: being swallowed by the ground or consumed by fire. But nothing happened.

It was at this moment that she discovered a spark within that would grow to make her invincible.

As the daughter of a rabbi raised in an Orthodox Jewish community, Yehudis struggled to conform to the strict expectations placed upon her and her siblings. Outspoken, curious and desperate to know more about G-d, she felt fenced in by arbitrary rules and questions left unanswered.

As she grew older, these restrictions intensified and her questions for G-d hung heavier than ever. Repeatedly let down by those who were supposed to protect her and pushed on to a path that seemed to take her further away from who she really was, she began to yearn for a life where she could embrace all facets of herself.

When Yehudis's sexuality came to blows with the expectations of her family and her community, the pressure to inhabit a binary position reached fever pitch. Confronted with either losing the faith she loved or losing herself, Yehudis made the most daring decision of all: she decided to stay.

"Chutzpah is a brilliant and fascinating insight into an ultra-orthodox Jewish community."
Harriet Wistrich, author of Sister in Law

"Yehudis's resilience is truly inspirational."
Ashley Blaker, author of Normal Schmormal