Book Review: The Diamond Setter by Moshe Sakal

A book about multiple loves, deep-hidden secrets and the slow evolution of the Middle East into a story of deep hate, The Diamond Setter has a powerful story - 'inspired by true events'. The intricated memory legacies of a Jewish family from Syria forced by the unfriendly political circumstances to emigrate to Israel are explored under a sexual angle, but it is obviously more to the story than that. Connecting the love story dots with a diamond of impressive value brings a charm worth a 1001-night. 

From the historical and reality point of view, the stories about the 'marvelous' co-existence between Jews and their Arab neighbours in the Oriental lands - compared to the pogrom-ridden European stories - are often the results of a delusional projections aimed to mould into a reality that never existed. The novel rather focuses on a particular family story, without too much emphasis on the environment therefore avoiding the pinky kitch of co-existence 'stories'. And if not for some post-modern interruptions in order to let the author's voice to rearrange the game of plans between reality and fiction, it would have flow admirably too.

There is an impressive cast of characters, with the women being the most complex participants to the story. 

But the past is past and the idea of trying to re-create the initial circumstances and events is as wrong as believing that love has borders - although, there are so many cultural, linguistic and intellectual barriers that can easily break the love. Rather, there are specific circumstances at a certain moment that create the opportunitiy of a certain situation - and relationship - but those circumstances are unique and most likely impossible to reiterate. The reality changes permanently and so the people under the pressure of events and ideological/educational pressures. The Middle East that was described in the 1920s-1930s is completely different nowadays and the changes will rather be dramatically new than reproducing a reality that once was. Nowadays, more than ever, we are part of a greater complex continuum which moves towards a different - greatly unknown - forward than back to a past. 

Meanwhile, the human capacity of telling beautiful stories will always remain.

Rating: 3 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review