Sadness is a white bird / Moriel Rothman-Zecher.
Material type:
TextPublisher: New York City : Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2018Copyright date: ©2018Edition: First Atria books hardcover editionDescription: 274 pages ; 24 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9781501176265
- 1501176269
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | Fiction | Rothman- Moriel | Available | 33111008700961 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
**A 2019 Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist**
**A 2018 National Jewish Book Award Finalist for Debut Fiction**
"Nuanced, sharp, and beautifully written, Sadness Is a White Bird manages, with seeming effortlessness, to find something fresh and surprising and poignant in the classic coming-of-age, love-triangle narrative, something starker, more heartbreaking: something new." --Michael Chabon
"Unflinching in its honesty, unyielding in its moral complexity." --Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks
In this lyrical and searing debut novel written by a rising literary star and MacDowell Fellow, a young man is preparing to serve in the Israeli army while also trying to reconcile his close relationship to two Palestinian siblings with his deeply ingrained loyalties to family and country.
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: wandering the streets on weekends, piling onto buses toward new discoveries, laughing uncontrollably. They share joints on the beach, trading snippets of poems, intimate secrets, family histories, resentments, and dreams. 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. And then that fateful day arrives, the one that lands Jonathan in prison and changes his relationship with the twins forever.
Powerful, important, and timely, Sadness Is a White Bird explores one man's attempts to find a place for himself, discovering in the process a beautiful, against-the-odds love that flickers like a candle in the darkness of a never-ending conflict.
"In this lyrical and searing debut novel written by a rising literary star and MacDowell Fellow, a young man is preparing to serve in the Israeli army while also trying to reconcile his close relationship to two Palestinian siblings with his deeply ingrained loyalties to family and country. Four days after his nineteenth birthday, Jonathan is sitting in a military jail in Israel. Languishing in the dark cell, he recalls the series of events that led him to this point. It all began when he returned to Israel after being raised and educated in Pennsylvania. He knows that he will soon be drafted as a soldier. He will be called upon to preserve and defend the Jewish state, which includes monitoring the Palestinian territories within its borders but he is conflicted. With an intense drive to know more about the plight of the displaced and occupied Palestinians, he encounters Laith and Nimreen--the twin daughter and son of his mother's friend. From that summer afternoon on, the three become inseparable: wandering the streets on weekends, piling onto buses en route to new discoveries, laughing uncontrollably. They share joints on the beach, trade private cultural treasures, intimate secrets, resentments, hopes, and dreams, revealing the deepest parts of themselves to each other. But with his draft date rapidly approaching, Jonathan wrestles with the question of what it means to be proud of your heritage while also feeling love for those outside of your own tribal family. And then that fateful day arrives, the one that lands Jonathan in prison and changes his relationship with the twins forever. Unflinching, important, and timely, Sadness Is a White Bird looks into the heart of what occupation and freedom really mean, exploring how one man attempts to find a place for himself, and discovers a beautiful, cross-cultural, against-the-odds love, the kind of love which we can hold up as an ideal in the midst of what seems like an implacable and never-ending conflict"-- Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references.
It began when Jonathan returned to Israel after being raised and educated in Pennsylvania. He will soon be drafted as a soldier, but he is conflicted. With an intense drive to know more about the plight of the displaced and occupied Palestinians, he encounters Laith and Nimreen-- twin daughter and son of his mother's friend. The three become inseparable: wandering the streets on weekends, piling onto buses en route to new discoveries, sharing joints on the beach, revealing the deepest parts of themselves to each other. What does it mean to be proud of your heritage while also feeling love for those outside of your own tribal family? And now Jonathan is languishing in a military jail in Israel, recalling events that led to this point.