The fact that author Deborah Feldman wrote a sequel to Unorthodox is giving fans a glimmer of hope for a second season of the series.
Exodus is the sequel book to Unorthodox, and it's got plenty of material to adapt should the writers and producers decide to bring it to life on screen. After Esty's daring escape from her Hasidic community and the oppressive, constrictive lifestyle it entailed, she sought a new life in the old world. Living through an unhappy arranged marriage to Yakov, played by the excellent Amit Rahav – and being put under intense pressure to get pregnant and then keep having as many children as possible — would be traumatic for any 19 year old, and that's part of what makes Esty's story so compelling to audiences. It seems like fertile ground for a possible season 2, since on season 1, we see her breaking free from this world.
Discovering she was pregnant and running away to that bastion of freedom Berlin, Esty has a whole new world of possibilities open to her. Season 1 ends on a seemingly hopeful note. Esty's newfound freedom has been given life through music and new friends, and opportunity seems to pave the way for a happy ending. However, a young, single mother living in a foreign country haunted by violence towards her ancestors seems like a pretty good premise for a show in its own right.
Feldman's Exodus describes her reveling and exploring the wide world outside her Hasidic roots. While the successful Netflix show takes artistic liberties with Esty's life once she gets to Berlin (for example, Feldman becomes a writer and Esty becomes a musician), there's plenty of inspiration to draw from in the follow-up book. Travel, love affairs, meeting new kinds of people, trying new foods — fans of Unorthodox would love to come along for the ride as Esty discovers all that life has to offer, and all the drama that goes along with it.
