The death of her estranged father, a powerful rabbi, brings Ronit back to her childhood home in Hendon, London, where her provocative ways outrage the local Orthodox Jewish community.

According to The Telegraph's Lucy Beresford, "Despite some novelistic weaknesses, Alderman's commentary on Orthodox Judaism in the 21st century is thought-provoking and illuminating, and she has the comic's gift to assassinate from within with compassion.

"[5] The New York Times' Elsa Dixler enjoyed the "acerbic and self-aware" Ronit, and concluded that: "Although the novel’s plot is somewhat creaky and its climax seems contrived, the strength of this insular congregation is clearly conveyed.

"[8] The San Francisco Chronicle's Sara Peyton noted that: "at her best, Alderman provides a window into a world that appears at once strange and foreboding, revealing its human flaws as well as its spiritual beauty.

[7] Writing for The Guardian, Dina Rabinovitch, herself an Orthodox Jew, gave the novel a poor review, commenting that "this feels like writing-by-numbers" and that "[n]one of the personalities here gets beyond the two-dimensional.