Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | In the Beginning | 1975 | Chaim Potok | Buy |
| 2 | The Book of Lights | 1981 | Chaim Potok | Buy |
| 3 | Davita’s Harp | 1985 | Chaim Potok | Buy |
| 4 | I Am the Clay | 1992 | Chaim Potok | Buy |
| 5 | The Tree of Here | 1993 | Chaim Potok | Buy |
| 6 | The Sky of Now | 1995 | Chaim Potok | Buy |
Chaim Potok’s standalone novels extend his exploration of Jewish identity and the tension between tradition and the wider world. In the Beginning (1975) follows a sickly boy in the Bronx who finds strength in Bible study while growing up in the shadow of rising antisemitism. The Book of Lights (1981) draws on Potok’s own experience as a military chaplain in Korea, telling the story of a young rabbi grappling with the moral weight of the atomic bomb.
Davita’s Harp (1985) is Potok’s only novel centered on a female protagonist, a girl navigating between her mother’s Communist ideals and her own growing connection to Judaism. His later works, including I Am the Clay (1992) and the children’s books The Tree of Here and The Sky of Now, show a writer willing to work in different registers while returning to his core concerns about belonging and belief.