Sadness Is A White Bird by Moriel Rothman-Zecher – 288 pages
Book Blurb:
The story begins in an Israeli military jail, where—four days after his nineteenth birthday—Jonathan stares up at the fluorescent lights of his cell, and recalls the series of events that led him there.
Two years earlier: Moving back to Israel after several years in Pennsylvania, Jonathan is ready to fight to preserve and defend the Jewish state, which his grandfather—a Salonican Jew whose community was wiped out by the Nazis—helped establish. But he is also conflicted about the possibility of having to monitor the occupied Palestinian territories, a concern that grows deeper and more urgent when he meets Nimreen and Laith—the twin daughter and son of his mother’s friend. From that winter morning on, the three become inseparable. But with his draft date rapidly approaching, Jonathan wrestles with the question of what it means to be proud of your heritage and loyal to your people, while also feeling love for those outside of your own tribal family.
My Review: 4.5 stars
Sadness Is A White Bird is a special book. That’s how one of my FB followers described it on my Tell Me What You’re Reading Tuesday prompt. Something about the word special called out to me and I started it immediately. Yes, it is special as well as a heart-wrenching look into the conflicted emotions of a young Jewish man about to sign up for the Israeli Army.
Told in one long letter, we learn from the start that he’s in a military prison, which prison and why he’s in prison is yet to be learned. With beautiful prose, he shares his story of his relationship with two Arab friends, twins, a boy and a girl. Watching how they live, how they’re alike and how they differ begins to challenge our protagonist’s feelings and beliefs. His pride in Judaism and his family’s history as Jew’s from Greece are now becoming less and less important as he falls deeply into their world.
They imagery is stark, the time periods don’t go in order, the sex is graphic, yet this story will have you thinking for days. The author brings the POVs of the conflicting sides to the forefront, with no sugar coating. We can then understand what Jonathan is feeling and trying to piece together.
At nineteen, Jonathan’s passion for what he believes is immense in measure. When that becomes tested, he begins to flounder as he wrestles with his feeling. This is a literary novel and one in which you savor some of the sentences by their beauty and meaning. I look forward to reading more from this author.
Quotes I liked:
Sadness is a white bird that does not come near a battlefield.” – Mahmoud Darwish
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