Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The Dovekeepers

By: Alice Hoffman

Rating : <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Summary: Yael’s mother died in childbirth, and her father, an expert assassin, never forgave her for that death. Revka, a village baker’s wife, watched the horrifically brutal murder of her daughter by Roman soldiers; she brings to Masada her young grandsons, rendered mute by what they have witnessed. Aziza is a warrior’s daughter, raised as a boy, a fearless rider and an expert marksman who finds passion with a fellow soldier. Shirah, born in Alexandria, is wise in the ways of ancient magic and medicine, a woman with uncanny insight and power.

The lives of these four complex and fiercely independent women intersect in the desperate days of the siege. All are dovekeepers, and all are also keeping secrets—about who they are, where they come from, who fathered them, and whom

they love.

Review: The Dovekeeper's by Alice Hoffman is a book that you will truly never forget.  Told from the point of few of four amazing Jewish women who are living in a time of extreme Jewish persecution by the Roman empire it follows their journey from girlhood to maturity, and into their lives at the Jewish settlement of Masada.  Ms. Hoffman does an amazing job with her research with bringing in the historical details of the story, and how the people lived, worked, and loved during these times.

    The story switches between the four women's voices, so you get different viewpoints on what it was like to live in the settlement of Masada, what different aspects of Jewish life were like for women, and what Jewish culture was like for women around 70 C.E.  These four women broke through barriers that women were supposed to adhere to in their culture and show that even in times of trouble and fear, courage and fighting for those you love is a theme that speaks across time and culture.

   This is a book that I will not be forgetting anytime soon and would recommend to anyone who is looking for something that transcends just a run of the mill historical fiction read! 

Elizabeth

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