The Almond Tree

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http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/548613451

5 of 5 stars to Michelle Cohen Corasanti for The Almond Tree

My bullshit detector stayed silent
I found her on Goodreads. Amazed a) that the site had a group called Freedom for Palestine and b) that a Jewish woman had written a pro-Palestinian novel, I started the book with a degree of trepidation. I’m the widow of a Palestinian. I have a very keen bullshit detector. But what’s it about?

It’s the story of Ichmad Hamid, born in the same year as the State of Israel. A scientific prodigy, his struggle, via education, from a displaced persons’ tent to unimaginable career success is vividly told. No visceral detail is left unexplored, as we accompany the members of Ichmad’s family through all that the occupying forces throw at them. Yet this is an uplifting story of hope in a situation that looks hopeless.

I have read 150 books in the eighteen months that I’ve been reviewing. Brilliantly written, this is the only one I’m never going to forget.

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