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The Big Nap is the second Mommy-Track mystery by Ayelet Waldman. Juliet Applebaum, once a federal public defender, is now a stay-at-home Mom to Ruby, three, and Isaac, four months. She has been sleep deprived since Isaac's birth. Husband Peter Wyeth, involved in shooting a TV pilot, can't help as he is hardly ever home. Peter and Juliet's marriage is mixed. She's a rarely practicing Jew, and he's a rarely practicing Protestant. One day she takes the children into Nettie Tannenbaum's neighborhood kosher store and in her exhaustion breaks down crying. Nettie hears her story and offers her niece, Fraydle Finkelstein, to come four days a week for two hours and watch the children so Juliet can get some rest. Fraydle comes the next day and Juliet gets a real nap and begins to feel almost human again. But Fraydle doesn't come the next day. Fraydle is missing. Juliet looks for her, and begins to learn something of what life is like for Fraydle's Hasidic Jewish family. It is a strictly Orthodox lifestyle, and Fraydle's father was not happy at Fraydle's working for Juliet. Juliet discovers that Fraydle had a boyfriend her family did not know about, but that she had agreed to marry her father's choice. Juliet goes to visit family and gets to know the fiance and his family. Did something about the fiance spark a tragedy? Juliet Applebaum is an appealing character. Waldman also creates an interesting picture of Hasidic Jewish culture. The Big Nap is an enjoyable and recommended book.
Reviewed by Mary A. Axford, July 2002
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