by Linda Grant
First published 2000
Evelyn Sert abandons her mundane London life in 1946 and sails to Palestine, drawn by dreams of starting fresh in a land caught between hope and violence. The young Englishwoman finds herself in Tel Aviv, a city where European refugees build new lives while British forces struggle to maintain control. She takes work with a Jewish family and begins to understand the complex web of loyalties dividing the territory. As she navigates relationships with both Jews and Arabs, Evelyn discovers that her search for meaning has landed her in the middle of history itself. The personal becomes political when she must choose sides in a conflict that will reshape the Middle East. Her journey from observer to participant forces her to confront what it means to belong somewhere and whether reinventing yourself requires abandoning who you were.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, personal-is-political
Setting: London, Palestine, Tel Aviv
Period: 1946
260 pages · Paperback · Granta Books
Content warnings: war