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Product Details:
Author:
Emuna Elon
Paperback:
229 pages
Publisher:
Toby Press
Publication Date:
2007-05
Language:
English
ISBN:
1592641458
Package Length:
8.4 inches
Package Width:
5.4 inches
Package Height:
0.7 inches
Package Weight:
0.6 pounds
Average Customer Rating:
based on 4 reviews
Description:
After Yair Berman left her and shattered all her dreams, the devastated Shlomtzion Drore escaped as far as possible from him and her intensely religious life in Jerusalem, becoming an interior designer in secular Tel-Aviv. Twenty-one years later, her daughter has become engaged to his son, and Shlomtzion is forced to visit the controversial settlement in which Yair lives, not only to plan the wedding but to confront her former love and the mistakes of her life. Set in Israel between the Six Day War and the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, If You Awaken Love is the intensely moving story of a stormy and spiritual young girl and her love-hate relationships with her childhood sweetheart, with her father, and with God.
Translated by David Hazony.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Review:
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3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
On native ground Jun 10, 2008 I was surprised in a number of ways by this novel. First of all, by how good it is. It is a real page- turner in a good sense, has a story which holds the reader's interest from beginning to end. Secondly, I was surprised by the main character. Emuna Elon is the wife of Benny Elon a major Israeli politiician whose struggle is to bring the whole of the land of Israel within the boundaries of the sovereign Jewish state. Elon who has had a daily column for the major Israeli daily 'Yediot Achronot' so far as I know shares her husband's political position.
But in the novel the main character, and the one whose narrative voice directs the action ,Shlomtzion Dror belongs to the opposite political camp. Her personal story of rejection in love by her childhood sweetheart removes her from the national- religious world, and makes her a strong supporter of the secular Left, the same Left that argues passionately that the land of Israel should be divided, that the historical homeland of Judea and Samaria ( The West Bank) should be for the sake of Peace part of a Palestinian Arab state. So what we have throughout the work is quite a bit of seeing the community which Elon ostensibly belongs to , the 'settler' community through the negative eyes of the narrator. But the third surprise is that the political issue and drama is background and secondary to the heart of the novel. The heart of the novel is the love - story of Shlomtzion and Ariel , his rejection of her when his Rabbis fail to give a blessing to their message. The story tells what happens to her afterwards, how she makes a new life. And it too tells of a dramatic meeting which takes place when the daughter of Shulamit becomes engaged to the son of Ariel, and his wife, Leah.
I live in Israel and had special enjoyment from reading credible descriptions of its various 'scenes' and 'situations' various worlds of nature and social reality. Elon knows the country and society well, and her story gives a strong loving sense of it. While one might feel the major complication, the marriage of her daughter and his son, as somewhat contrived this does not really diminish from the drama and enjoyment of this wonderfully rich and skillfully written novel.
I would add that the feeling of love for Israel, its people and land that pervades the Novel makes it for me especially enjoyable and inspiring.
3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
The whole story of Israel today is hereMay 11, 2008 This is a beautifully crafted novel; it's hard to believe that it is Elon's first. She captures the whole story of Israel in all its complexity, from the Six-Day War through the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, almost three decades. We see the old "yishuv," (those who lived in Israel long before statehood), the modernism of Tel Aviv, the right, the left, the religious, the secular, the young and idealistic, the middle-aged who are just making their life work. We find Jews who are murdered by Arab gunmen and Jews who genuinely want to share their land with the Palestinians.
Elon is able to show empathy both for the liberal, secularist Israelis and for the traditional, religious group. This is not a political tract but a story of love that somehow went wrong.
The reader's knowledge of the growing political storm engulfing the country after the Oslo accords only makes the book's ending more powerful.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Amazing and RivetingJun 30, 2007 Emuna Elon has captured the complexities of the Land of Israel and her people. This is not just a tale of unrequited love between a man and a woman but a story about much larger things..like the unrequited love between G-d and man; the inner struggle of the individual human heart, the power of community and family and belief. This book and its characters invaded my dreams for over a week. I couldn't put it down and now after two weeks I am still thinking about what the author said and how she said it. It left an imprint on my soul. It is a must read. Keep writing Emuna!
0 of 4 found the following review helpful:
If You Awaken LoveJun 27, 2007 This is a very lyrical story. It's about a young Jewish couple whose rabbi will not allow them to get married. Some twenty years later their son and daughter fall in love and decide to get married. Old hurts and disappointments set the stage for some interesting revelations later.
based on 4 reviews
