The 'Lone Wolf in Jerusalem'

Drama, adventure, romance and WWII traumatic memories. The popular novel in Israel, Lone Wolf in Jerusalem, by the decorated IDF colonel Ehud Diskin, wisely uses the troubled political and security landscape in Israel during the British Mandate to recreate vivid stories of the Jewish resistance in the Holy Land. 

The main character is David Gabinsky, a former member of the resistance against the Germans in Belarus, shortly landed in the 'home of the Jewish people' and faced with the harsh survival realities. The different ideological orientations and strategical mindsets of the many resistance groups and different approach of Zionism - explained sometimes but the author in a bit too school-like, pedagogical way - are a good indicator of the current political mainstreams in Israel. Diskin projects also a different image of the Jewish communities in Europe, with insights about the armed resistance against the Germans, a reality not enough approached either in purely historical or literary works placed in that period of time. 

Besides the historical contexts and constructions, the story flows beautifully and there is enough action and romantic touch to inspire and captivate the readership. The love between David and Shoshana is dramatic and moving, with a dynamic written on hearbreaking historical canvass. 

The historical research is well done, which allows the writer to play with the imagination and create unique stories, without diminishing the reality of facts. It is an easy-to-read novel, with a touch of mystery, thriller and historical - also military - dramatism, recommended to history novels readers, especially those passionate about the Middle East, particularly Jewish history.  

Rating: 4 stars

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

A Comprehensive Overview of Jewish History

If you are interested in more than a basic introduction to centuries of Jewish history all over the world and in the Land of Israel, this 'Historical Atlas of the Jewish People is the best recommendation. With contributions of noteworthy experts in Jewish history and the Middle East, such as Saul Friedländer, Raphael Vago, Pierre Vidal-Naquet or Yeshaiahu Leibowitz and Bernard Lewis, it covers extensively a range of historical aspects in a concise, comprehensive way.

You don't have to be an expert in Jewish history to understand many of the aspects featured, but a historical background might be useful though.  

The chronological overview is completed by historical portraits of specific episodes or event. Therefore, it both combines the evenemential history and the focus on specific trends in the history of mentalities. Achieving brevity when it comes to complicated histories is both a success but may have its inerent limitations, as it simply has to leave behind details not considered relevant for the economy of the text. Maps and pictures of various artifacts are adding more visual impact to the historical information and helps to contextualise. 

I personally felt that there are many information missing from the histories of various Jewish communities around the world, while other communities were completely omitted. A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People is not a book to read in a sitting and once. It is a reference that one can use regularly for aspects related to Jewish history. For historians in general, it offers a model of approaching centuries-long in a easy reading way while maintaining the essential academic chore. 

Book Review: The Innocents by Francesca Segal

Either you go to the islands of piety in Golders Green or in some more posh and top-notch circles in the North, Jewish life in London has an unique feature of continuity, community and stability that you rarely feel in other parts of Europe. The characters from the admirable debut novel by Francesca Segal, The Innocents, are real and realistic for their natural belonging to the same school clubs and gatherings from a very early age. Their friends stay with them and they eventually end up marrying up their teen-year sweetheart which involves also a stable economic future in the business of one of the parents'. She used as inspiration The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton translated into a Jewish context. Ironically Wharton harbored anti-Semitic feelings, visible for instance in The House of Mirth.  

Adam and Rachel are the perfect couple. They meet during a trip to Israel as teenagers and except a limited period of time, they always were a couple. They are preparing to get married and both families are enthusted. Rachel is too, but Adam hopes that once married, they will dare exploring the world, both physically and through the knowledge beyond the limits of things and reality. But in the everyday life of Hampstead Garden Suburb things are happening less randomly. The third generation after Shoah are used with an upbringing of plenty and transgressors are rejected. Like Rachel's cousin, Ellie, free of inhibitions, in the middle of a huge scandal which involved a married rich man and freshly expelled from Columbia after appearing in a porn film. Since he met her, Adam is out of his mind and becoming obsessed with her, which is not nice at all, but as realistic as possible. It is the appeal of adventure and unusual which calls him, although not necessarily what he might want to have for the rest of his life. It is a dream, a projection, an obsession. What a contrast with his wife, Rachel: 'Her world was one in which her own highest aspirations had always been those wanted for her by a community and the concept of innovation at a cost of isolation (or even mild disapproval) wasn't worth it. There was security in their social dictates'. 

Will Adam in his nivety give up stability for innovation? Will be betray expections for passion? Will curiosity win over certitude?

For a debut roman, The Innocents is well-built - although there are relationships between characters left unexplored and not all the characters are equally developed. My first encounter with Francesca Segal was through her second novel The Awkward Age which convinced me only partially. I wish her next novel is at least as captivating as her first.    

Rating: 4 stars