The Lemon Tree
Sandy Tolan Bantam Press, 264pp, £16.99
ISBN 0593057457
In the aftermath of the Six Day War in 1967, Bashir, a young Arab, returns to visit his childhood home in Ramla. The town has since become part of Israel and Bashir is surprised to be openly received by Dalia, the daughter of the Jewish family that now lives in the house. A relationship develops, and through Bashir and Dalia an alternative Middle East dialogue is established.
Free from the state policies, political action and violence that dominate news reports, the thoughts and feelings of Bashir and Dalia add colour to both sides of the conflict. The reader is encouraged to empathise both with Bashir as an Arab evicted from his home and Dalia as a Jewish refugee whose family fled Bulgaria after the Holocaust.
Journalist Sandy Tolan's book reads like a novel, but it is based on hours of interviews and research. The history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is woven into the story in meticulous detail to give an overwhelmingly thorough contextual background. And the lemon tree – planted in the backyard of the house by Bashir’s father, tended to by the new occupants, dead by the end of the book – is an ambiguous symbol for the future of the region. Tolan’s book is an informed tale for anyone interested in the human stories behind a conflict.
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