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Henna House
An evocative and stirring novel about a young woman living in the fascinating and rarely portrayed community of Yemenite Jews of the mid-twentieth century, from the acclaimed author of The Family Orchard.
In the tradition of Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, Henna House is the enthralling story of a woman, her family, their community, and the rituals that bind them.
Nomi Eve’s vivid saga begins in Yemen in 1920, when Adela Damari’s parents desperately seek a future husband for their young daughter. After passage of the Orphan’s Decree, any unbetrothed Jewish child left orphaned will be instantly adopted by the local Muslim community. With her parents’ health failing, and no spousal prospects in sight, Adela’s situation looks dire until her uncle arrives from a faraway city, bringing with him a cousin and aunt who introduce Adela to the powerful rituals of henna tattooing. Suddenly, Adela’s eyes are opened to the world, and she begins to understand what it means to love another and one’s heritage. She is imperiled, however, when her parents die and a prolonged drought threatens their long-established way of life. She and her extended family flee to the city of Aden where Adela encounters old loves, discovers her true calling, and is ultimately betrayed by the people and customs she once held dear.
Henna House is an intimate family portrait and a panorama of history. From the traditions of the Yemenite Jews, to the far-ranging devastation of the Holocaust, to the birth of the State of Israel, Eve offers an unforgettable coming-of-age story and a textured chronicle of a fascinating period in the twentieth century.
Henna House is a rich, spirited, and sensuous tale of love, loss, betrayal, forgiveness, and the dyes that adorn the skin and pierce the heart.
In the tradition of Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, Henna House is the enthralling story of a woman, her family, their community, and the rituals that bind them.
Nomi Eve’s vivid saga begins in Yemen in 1920, when Adela Damari’s parents desperately seek a future husband for their young daughter. After passage of the Orphan’s Decree, any unbetrothed Jewish child left orphaned will be instantly adopted by the local Muslim community. With her parents’ health failing, and no spousal prospects in sight, Adela’s situation looks dire until her uncle arrives from a faraway city, bringing with him a cousin and aunt who introduce Adela to the powerful rituals of henna tattooing. Suddenly, Adela’s eyes are opened to the world, and she begins to understand what it means to love another and one’s heritage. She is imperiled, however, when her parents die and a prolonged drought threatens their long-established way of life. She and her extended family flee to the city of Aden where Adela encounters old loves, discovers her true calling, and is ultimately betrayed by the people and customs she once held dear.
Henna House is an intimate family portrait and a panorama of history. From the traditions of the Yemenite Jews, to the far-ranging devastation of the Holocaust, to the birth of the State of Israel, Eve offers an unforgettable coming-of-age story and a textured chronicle of a fascinating period in the twentieth century.
Henna House is a rich, spirited, and sensuous tale of love, loss, betrayal, forgiveness, and the dyes that adorn the skin and pierce the heart.
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First published August 12, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 586 reviews
January 2, 2015
You can read the synopsis on another page. For me this was a book to read twice: the first time to rush through the pages to quickly find out what will happen to the characters next, and the second time to slowly savor the descriptions of these marvelous and exotic people and locales. Nomi Eve captivated me to keep reading, promising the possibility of one more great scene on the next page ... in the next chapter ... until abruptly the story ends and I'm left hungry for more.
November 13, 2015
This was a disappointing miss for me. Went in expecting a dramatic story of a Yemenite Jewish girl learning Henna in order to set her free. What I got was a story with characters doing things that made me feel.... nothing.
Adela Damari has all the makings to be a powerful antagonist. She made a valiant effort, but ultimately didn't come off the page for me. This book starts out with her fearful of the Confiscator- a man who threatened to take Adela if her father died before she was married to another. This caused her to become promised to her cousin, Asaf at the tender age of 9. The story picked up from there, but the threads never fully connected. Too many story lines, going in different directions, with a final powerful surprise event towards the end-- which still didn't come across emotionally to me.
Adela Damari has all the makings to be a powerful antagonist. She made a valiant effort, but ultimately didn't come off the page for me. This book starts out with her fearful of the Confiscator- a man who threatened to take Adela if her father died before she was married to another. This caused her to become promised to her cousin, Asaf at the tender age of 9. The story picked up from there, but the threads never fully connected. Too many story lines, going in different directions, with a final powerful surprise event towards the end-- which still didn't come across emotionally to me.
August 8, 2014
Henna House by Nomi Eve is a beautifully written story of a young woman growing up in Yemen during the 1920′s and 1930′s. Right away, I was transported back in time to a very primitive world, a world without any kind of modern day conveniences, a world where religion and superstitions played a central role in the lives of the people. The world is brought to life by the voice of the narrator. When we first meet Adela, she is a bright, young, precocious little girl, the youngest child in a very large family. Adela is part of a huge extended family clan – there’s plenty of aunts, uncles, cousins all around her. We learn a lot about her world through the eyes of a five year old. One of Adela’s biggest fears is being taken away by the Confiscator, a government official who collects Jewish orphans, converts them to Islam, and gives them to a Muslim family to raise. In order to circumvent the Confiscator, most Jewish children were betrothed at a very young age – Adela, at five years old was almost considered a spinster.
It is interesting to see the world through the innocent eyes of a child. While Adela is treated poorly by her mother, her father dotes on her and teaches her how to work with leather. As the story progresses, Adela’s relatives move to her small village. Her Aunt Rahel is a henna artist, known all over for her talent. Her cousin Hani takes an immediate like to Adela and the two of them become close like sisters. Adela becomes fascinated with the art of henna.
In Henna House, henna is not simply a temporary tattoo. It is a way of life where milestones in life are lovingly detailed on a woman’s skin. The art of Henna has meaning – each swirl and curl and design determined by the woman’s experience. The application of henna is a beautiful process, a party with many women sharing their stories and dreams. Adela longs to learn the art of henna, but her mother does not approve.
Circumstances cause Adela and her extended family to leave their small village and they head for the port city of Aden. Life in Aden is very different. The British army is present and there are modern conveniences. Adela makes it a point to go to the port every day to look for her betrothed Asaf. In the meantime, another young boy from her past is interested in her.
Adela’s life is not easy. She takes pleasure in teaching young women how to read and she works at the refugee area. She suffers through a horrible betrayal and conditions in Yemen deteriorate. In between June 1949 and September 1950, Yemenite Jews were flown to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet. Adela’s family was one of these families.
Henna House was a fantastic glimpse into the past and a wonderful reading experience. I highly recommend it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for a review copy of this book.
Review posted on Badass Book Reviews. Check it out!
It is interesting to see the world through the innocent eyes of a child. While Adela is treated poorly by her mother, her father dotes on her and teaches her how to work with leather. As the story progresses, Adela’s relatives move to her small village. Her Aunt Rahel is a henna artist, known all over for her talent. Her cousin Hani takes an immediate like to Adela and the two of them become close like sisters. Adela becomes fascinated with the art of henna.
In Henna House, henna is not simply a temporary tattoo. It is a way of life where milestones in life are lovingly detailed on a woman’s skin. The art of Henna has meaning – each swirl and curl and design determined by the woman’s experience. The application of henna is a beautiful process, a party with many women sharing their stories and dreams. Adela longs to learn the art of henna, but her mother does not approve.
Circumstances cause Adela and her extended family to leave their small village and they head for the port city of Aden. Life in Aden is very different. The British army is present and there are modern conveniences. Adela makes it a point to go to the port every day to look for her betrothed Asaf. In the meantime, another young boy from her past is interested in her.
Adela’s life is not easy. She takes pleasure in teaching young women how to read and she works at the refugee area. She suffers through a horrible betrayal and conditions in Yemen deteriorate. In between June 1949 and September 1950, Yemenite Jews were flown to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet. Adela’s family was one of these families.
Henna House was a fantastic glimpse into the past and a wonderful reading experience. I highly recommend it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for a review copy of this book.
Review posted on Badass Book Reviews. Check it out!
May 18, 2015
Before talking about what I didn’t like about the book I’d like to talk about its importance and encourage people to read it. With Yemen currently in extreme crisis (2015) I encourage readers to pick up this book. There is a lot of information, clearly told, about Yemen from 1930s to post-WWII. All political and cultural upheaval is confusing to outsiders and without some background knowledge, it is even more difficult.
In the 1930s Yemen was divided between a Britain protectorate containing Aden and a Yemeni Muslim kingdom containing Sana’a. Aden was a busy port city and crucial to British forces during WWII. Sana’a was a rural community enmeshed in tradition.
This is the story of Adela, a young Jewish girl growing up in Sana’a. Like many of the Jews there, her father is a craftsman, a shoemaker whose livelihood depends on the more wealthy Muslim ruling class. She is seven and the “Confiscator” is waiting for her ailing father to die so he can claim Adela as his child and raise her as a Muslim. To prevent this she needs to be betrothed, but all of the boys her mother finds suffer tragedies and die, therefore giving Adela a reputation as being a curse.
Her mother arranges a betrothal to her cousin Asaf who arrives with his father from trade journeys and who is unaware Adela’s curse. Against common practice, they become friends.
Adela becomes enmeshed in the custom of henna when her cousin Hani and her parents move from Aden to Sana’a to escape the dangers they suffered there.
The rest of the story lays itself out as history unveils itself and the remaining families must leave Sana’a for Aden and finally smuggled to Israel by plane shortly in the aftermath of WWII. The history the Yemeni Jews in the 20th century is largely unknown. I first learned of it in a Yemeni jeweler’s shop in Israel.
So despite what follows, I still recommend the book. It reads well and has a compelling storyline. The characters are well delineated and the descriptions of the Yemeni culture and customs are marvelously described. It is a very readable book.
Unfortunately at times the important factual information impeded upon the flow of the book. And too often I questioned the authenticity of Adela’s actions. I found the whole cave story largely implausible. Some characters seemed too good to be true and her mother unbelievably cold and unloving. Adela’s encounters with Binyamin (a neighbor boy) felt contrived. So there are reasons this book was largely overlooked by reviewers and not purchased by libraries.
But Nomi Eve is a talented writer. It read quickly and I often found myself lost in Adela’s world. An editor should have pointed out Fiction 101 pratfalls and insisted upon improvements
In the 1930s Yemen was divided between a Britain protectorate containing Aden and a Yemeni Muslim kingdom containing Sana’a. Aden was a busy port city and crucial to British forces during WWII. Sana’a was a rural community enmeshed in tradition.
This is the story of Adela, a young Jewish girl growing up in Sana’a. Like many of the Jews there, her father is a craftsman, a shoemaker whose livelihood depends on the more wealthy Muslim ruling class. She is seven and the “Confiscator” is waiting for her ailing father to die so he can claim Adela as his child and raise her as a Muslim. To prevent this she needs to be betrothed, but all of the boys her mother finds suffer tragedies and die, therefore giving Adela a reputation as being a curse.
Her mother arranges a betrothal to her cousin Asaf who arrives with his father from trade journeys and who is unaware Adela’s curse. Against common practice, they become friends.
Adela becomes enmeshed in the custom of henna when her cousin Hani and her parents move from Aden to Sana’a to escape the dangers they suffered there.
The rest of the story lays itself out as history unveils itself and the remaining families must leave Sana’a for Aden and finally smuggled to Israel by plane shortly in the aftermath of WWII. The history the Yemeni Jews in the 20th century is largely unknown. I first learned of it in a Yemeni jeweler’s shop in Israel.
So despite what follows, I still recommend the book. It reads well and has a compelling storyline. The characters are well delineated and the descriptions of the Yemeni culture and customs are marvelously described. It is a very readable book.
Unfortunately at times the important factual information impeded upon the flow of the book. And too often I questioned the authenticity of Adela’s actions. I found the whole cave story largely implausible. Some characters seemed too good to be true and her mother unbelievably cold and unloving. Adela’s encounters with Binyamin (a neighbor boy) felt contrived. So there are reasons this book was largely overlooked by reviewers and not purchased by libraries.
But Nomi Eve is a talented writer. It read quickly and I often found myself lost in Adela’s world. An editor should have pointed out Fiction 101 pratfalls and insisted upon improvements
June 15, 2015
Nomi Eve isn't playing when she composes fiction. Henna House is not a tale delivered by the author with a light hand to her readers. In another sense, this decidedly isn't literary play; I would not describe the form as experimental, exploratory, or organically tailored to the content in a responsive or flexible way.
Instead, the narrative here is as purposeful in tone and effect as any I can presently recall. Eve's narrator's voice has been well-honed, and more strikingly, the discourse in this text is never less than unabashedly powerful. Throughout the detailed work, the reader senses the heart of the matter being directly set forth; nothing is roundabout or oblique -- let alone trivial. In sum, this novel delivers exceptional drama without ever struggling with the bounds of good taste or the threat of melodrama.
The novel is as rich as it is heavy. The plot blends tragedy with the warmth of carefully drawn family relationships and other deep human bonds. There is joy and sorrow. There is history and culture (of Yemeni Jews in the 1920's, 30's and 40's) to fill a nonfictional account of the same, included seamlessly in the story and naturally presented fully to a mostly ignorant reader.
This narrator, the heroine, and her familiar coming of age story (in content yet strange in particular detail) will stick with this reader for a long time. If your reading of this book is anything like mine, you will be substantially enriched and deeply satisfied by this book. It's something really special, in my estimation.
This review is long overdue given the tremendous gift of this novel in and of itself, let alone in light of Nomi Eve's generous supply of my very own copy of the work (which implicitly raises a duty to review honestly when the book is months away from release). I am grateful to the author for this opportunity and the experience her art provided me. I encourage readers with any interest to read this book ASAP. Seriously.
Instead, the narrative here is as purposeful in tone and effect as any I can presently recall. Eve's narrator's voice has been well-honed, and more strikingly, the discourse in this text is never less than unabashedly powerful. Throughout the detailed work, the reader senses the heart of the matter being directly set forth; nothing is roundabout or oblique -- let alone trivial. In sum, this novel delivers exceptional drama without ever struggling with the bounds of good taste or the threat of melodrama.
The novel is as rich as it is heavy. The plot blends tragedy with the warmth of carefully drawn family relationships and other deep human bonds. There is joy and sorrow. There is history and culture (of Yemeni Jews in the 1920's, 30's and 40's) to fill a nonfictional account of the same, included seamlessly in the story and naturally presented fully to a mostly ignorant reader.
This narrator, the heroine, and her familiar coming of age story (in content yet strange in particular detail) will stick with this reader for a long time. If your reading of this book is anything like mine, you will be substantially enriched and deeply satisfied by this book. It's something really special, in my estimation.
This review is long overdue given the tremendous gift of this novel in and of itself, let alone in light of Nomi Eve's generous supply of my very own copy of the work (which implicitly raises a duty to review honestly when the book is months away from release). I am grateful to the author for this opportunity and the experience her art provided me. I encourage readers with any interest to read this book ASAP. Seriously.
July 20, 2024
4.75 rating. Henna House, by Nomi Eve, is sort of a love story featuring a young girl who lives in the Middle East. From the first chapter, I felt like I was settled down on a comfortable sofa, warm blanket tucked all around me, safe from the world and any monsters contained within books.
In this book, neighbors, friends, and family go in and out of her life. I learned many things about this culture that proved fascinating as well as enlightening. The story starts with sadness followed by childhood love. It covers great betrayal, new ways of living, much tragedy, new love mingled with old love, and ends with horror that is eased by an abiding love leading to acceptance. How our lives are colored by seemingly trivial revelations. And with great love comes great responsibility. Quite a unique book for me as a history buff. Wonderful writing and character development.
In this book, neighbors, friends, and family go in and out of her life. I learned many things about this culture that proved fascinating as well as enlightening. The story starts with sadness followed by childhood love. It covers great betrayal, new ways of living, much tragedy, new love mingled with old love, and ends with horror that is eased by an abiding love leading to acceptance. How our lives are colored by seemingly trivial revelations. And with great love comes great responsibility. Quite a unique book for me as a history buff. Wonderful writing and character development.
November 18, 2014
This is a beautifully written, meticulously researched book. At first I thought I was reading about a young girl in Biblical times Yemen. The Jews and the Muslims are living side by side with the Muslims ruling and controlling every minute detail of the lives of the Jews. The homes, clothing, living conditions, and cultural mores are biblical. It was quite shocking to realize that the story starts around the 1920's! Then I thought about how many people, especially girls and women are still living in similar conditions in much of the world, and it was not hard to believe that such an almost pre-historic existence could exist concurrently with the first trans-Atlantic flight of Charles Lindburgh, the Baseball career of Babe Ruth etc.
All that aside, this is a beautiful, rich story of a young girl growing up in a small primative village where girls are betrothed as toddlers, married as soon as they bleed, and live rather bleak lives. Jewish children who are orphaned can legally be "snatched" by "The Confiscator", a Muslim, and then converted to Islam and adopted by Muslim families. Adela is the youngest child, the only girl, with a loving but ailing father, a cold, harsh mother, and older, brutish brothers. At the age of 5 things are looking dismal as parents cannot find her a husband -to -be. An exotic cousin comes into her life and things change dramatically. (No more plot details.....)
The story flows Adela as she grows up, learns about being a woman, finds love, friendship, sisterhood, heartbreak and discovers the world beyond her tiny village. The art of Henna plays a huge role and it is a fascinating one. As someone who has had minor hennas applied I found the descriptions of the role henna played in the Yemenite culture so interesting. Once again there is this commonality between the Jewish and Muslim faiths....(The author has created a website that offers more information about Henna etc).
Nomi Eve has created memorable characters, and shone light into a culture and people who were almost destroyed because of Hitler, WW2 and the creation of the State of Israel. As the Yemini Jews fled to Israel many chose to adopt modern lifestyles and their dress, foods and even hennas were pushed aside. Happily there is now a resurgence of appreciation for these cultural touchstones and Nomi Eve's novel will help to further encourage and celebrate them.
All that aside, this is a beautiful, rich story of a young girl growing up in a small primative village where girls are betrothed as toddlers, married as soon as they bleed, and live rather bleak lives. Jewish children who are orphaned can legally be "snatched" by "The Confiscator", a Muslim, and then converted to Islam and adopted by Muslim families. Adela is the youngest child, the only girl, with a loving but ailing father, a cold, harsh mother, and older, brutish brothers. At the age of 5 things are looking dismal as parents cannot find her a husband -to -be. An exotic cousin comes into her life and things change dramatically. (No more plot details.....)
The story flows Adela as she grows up, learns about being a woman, finds love, friendship, sisterhood, heartbreak and discovers the world beyond her tiny village. The art of Henna plays a huge role and it is a fascinating one. As someone who has had minor hennas applied I found the descriptions of the role henna played in the Yemenite culture so interesting. Once again there is this commonality between the Jewish and Muslim faiths....(The author has created a website that offers more information about Henna etc).
Nomi Eve has created memorable characters, and shone light into a culture and people who were almost destroyed because of Hitler, WW2 and the creation of the State of Israel. As the Yemini Jews fled to Israel many chose to adopt modern lifestyles and their dress, foods and even hennas were pushed aside. Happily there is now a resurgence of appreciation for these cultural touchstones and Nomi Eve's novel will help to further encourage and celebrate them.
October 1, 2015
What a beautifully written story. This was a group of people I really knew nothing about and I've always been interested in henna. This is about Adela Damari starting in the 1920s in Yemen. It follows her life as she tries to avoid the Confiscator who takes Jewish children as part of the Orphan's Decree and they are instantly adopted by the local Muslim community. I enjoyed the relationship between Adela and her cousin Hani who introduces her to henna application and meanings. I enjoyed the harsh relationship she had with her mother. This is so worth the time. I would have read it faster but I had other things going on. This is one you will get lost in and will lose track of time because you will be absorbed into the characters lives. It will leave you thinking about the characters long after you put the book down.
I want to thank the publisher for my copy as I received this through my group as a read along with the publisher.
I want to thank the publisher for my copy as I received this through my group as a read along with the publisher.
August 28, 2014
I'm really torn about this one. On the one hand, I loved reading about a culture--the Yemeni Jews--about which I knew precisely nothing. I think it is too easy for non-Jewish readers to think that there is only one or two types of Judaism, so I really enjoyed learning about this particular culture. And I think this is the first book I'd ever read that was set in Yemen, so there is that.
I also really loved Eve's writing voice. She's lyrical without getting too wrapped up in her own language. She also strikes a nice balance between explaining culture-specific terms and leaving some for the reader to define for themselves through context. I find that many authors writing about another culture either go one way or the other, so I appreciated that Eve was very moderate in this.
But, there were some technical things about this book that really bothered me. For one thing, I felt like 80% of this book was just backstory for the last 20%. Then, once I hit the point where the story really began, the pace of the book picked up so much it felt like a race to the finish. I do wish that Eve had evened out the tempo of this book so that the reader doesn't feel like the story starts to fly by them right as it starts getting good.
Eve also seemed to have trouble with foreshadowing and extraneous details. There were a number of details that felt like they should be developed into the plot but just never went anywhere. Conversely, the bonafide foreshadowing was very obvious and almost felt like there should be a "dut dut DUN" every time it occured.
There was one other thing that made me very, very uncomfortable about this book. I actually tried to ignore it when evaluating my thoughts of this book, but it ended up coloring how I saw much of the book. At one point in the book, rather early on (which was especially unfortunate as it did color most of the book afterwards for me), there is a rather graphic sexual incident between two prepubescent (ages 10 and 11) children. I have a reasonable tolerance for sexual content in books, but not when it concerns children. To me, it was incredibly inappropriate and, frankly, not even necessary to the story.
So, there are my jumbled thoughts. I honestly don't know if I would recommend this to another reader--there is, after all, much to commend it. However, there are also enough drawbacks to make me question it as a recommendation.
I also really loved Eve's writing voice. She's lyrical without getting too wrapped up in her own language. She also strikes a nice balance between explaining culture-specific terms and leaving some for the reader to define for themselves through context. I find that many authors writing about another culture either go one way or the other, so I appreciated that Eve was very moderate in this.
But, there were some technical things about this book that really bothered me. For one thing, I felt like 80% of this book was just backstory for the last 20%. Then, once I hit the point where the story really began, the pace of the book picked up so much it felt like a race to the finish. I do wish that Eve had evened out the tempo of this book so that the reader doesn't feel like the story starts to fly by them right as it starts getting good.
Eve also seemed to have trouble with foreshadowing and extraneous details. There were a number of details that felt like they should be developed into the plot but just never went anywhere. Conversely, the bonafide foreshadowing was very obvious and almost felt like there should be a "dut dut DUN" every time it occured.
There was one other thing that made me very, very uncomfortable about this book. I actually tried to ignore it when evaluating my thoughts of this book, but it ended up coloring how I saw much of the book. At one point in the book, rather early on (which was especially unfortunate as it did color most of the book afterwards for me), there is a rather graphic sexual incident between two prepubescent (ages 10 and 11) children. I have a reasonable tolerance for sexual content in books, but not when it concerns children. To me, it was incredibly inappropriate and, frankly, not even necessary to the story.
So, there are my jumbled thoughts. I honestly don't know if I would recommend this to another reader--there is, after all, much to commend it. However, there are also enough drawbacks to make me question it as a recommendation.
October 7, 2014
Such a good story and about a history that I am mainly unfamiliar with. Great writing and characters that you care about.
January 13, 2019
This book surprised me and ended up moving me more than I expected. I loved all the culture, dreams and tradition in it. And once I stopped expecting a fast action story and realized I was simply living the life of Adela along side her, I was able to relax and embrace her day to day living and all the pain, betrayal and joy that was found in it. The writing was absolutely beautiful and a wonderful vehicle to learn about the trials of these determined people. And I learned SO MUCH and really felt immersed into the culture. It ended up being an absorbing and unusual story that I very much enjoyed reading. 4.5 stars
March 9, 2015
This is in the running to be my favorite historical fiction read of 2014 and will definitely be on my favorite historical fiction reads of all time list. Described as similar to Diamante's The Red Tent, I found it to remind me much more of Hoffman's The Dovekeepers. Desert villages, a little girl who wants to read and not be married off to an old man, the microcosm of families, and Adela's knowledge of her expanding world were all a rich story unto themselves, but the final third of the book is an even larger story. Readers will follow Adela from a young girl hopeful to not be rounded up as an orphan to a woman far from her birthplace and loved ones. The henna artwork pulls so many of the individual stories together. I learned so much about a time and culture that I knew nothing about before reading this book.
I definitely recommend this book to any readers interested in expanding their knowledge of Yemenite Jews from a female perspective.
Read my full review here:
http://ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2...
I definitely recommend this book to any readers interested in expanding their knowledge of Yemenite Jews from a female perspective.
Read my full review here:
http://ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2...
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February 5, 2016Every once in a while, I read a book and think, I should just give up. I can't do this. I can't write LIKE THIS. Gorgeous, descriptive, lush prose. The kind that makes you want to crawl into the book and stay there. Gripping characters and plot. I loved everything about this novel and I learned a ton, considering what I knew about Jewish Yemenites was nil. Nomi Eve is a force. This book is an absolute gem.
June 24, 2023
A compelling story of family, love, and betrayal set in Yemen in the 1930's. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of the henna process and how the women bonded through the henna ceremony. An Amazing novel!
December 27, 2022
Nomi Eve shares the extraordinary saga of a Yemenite Jewish girl Adela Damari, and her family in Henna House. This coming-of-age story spans several decades, but starts in 1920, in the village of Qaraah, Yemen.
In the 1920s, the Jewish community of Yemen leads a life of oppression. The small and isolated community steeped in tradition is cut off from the modern world. There are many harsh restrictions imposed on them. The most feared of all is the Orphan Decree. It stipulates an unmarried Jewish child would be confiscated by the local authorities and forcefully adopted by a Muslim family. The Jewish people live in constant fear of the Confiscator and even resort to betrothing children right at birth to ensure their safety.
I knew little about Yemenite Jews, their culture, the importance of Henna, or the appalling Orphans Decree. And reading Henna House was an eye-opener.
The ninth child of the Damari family, five-year-old Adela, grows in fear because of her father’s poor health and premature death. Adela’s mother is extremely strict and constantly worried about finding a suitor for her only daughter. All her attempts at finding a suitor for Adela fail miserably.
Adela helps at her father’s leather shop, and spends the rest of her day obeying her mother, and taking care of household duties. The arrival of her uncle’s family from Aden shows her a world hitherto unknown to her—the enigmatic world of Henna. Her aunt Rahel and her daughters are skilled Henna artists. Soon, Adela too becomes a part of the rituals, symbols, and patterns painted on a woman’s body to mark special occasions.
Drought, poverty, illness, and death force Adela and the Damari family to leave their home and restart their lives in Aden. However, the rising anti-Jewish sentiment in the 40s and the Second World War leave the Jews with no choice but to take an arduous from British-controlled Aden to the newly formed state of Israel as part of Operation On Wings of Eagles.
Both the journey and her life in Aden are tumultuous, revealing stories of love, loss, joy, terror, and grief. While Adela moves from one stage of life to another, she gains strength from every loss and betrayal.
Eve’s writing is poetic, descriptive, and evocative, while the novel is rich. The author reveals innate details of Jewish customs, traditions, and rituals.
The fantastically developed characters have powerful voices, and the author has portrayed the intricate familial relationships in a captivating manner. I especially liked the manner in which Eve highlights the role of women and the relationships between the various characters.
A few parts in the story seem forced and not in tune with the setting, especially the sexual incident between a prepubescent Adela and her 11-year-old cousin. The story would have been equally nice even without this graphic and inappropriate inclusion. Also, the backstory is a bit too long, and the foreshadowing slackens the pace in the earlier part.
With a thought-provoking storyline and well-defined characters, Henna House makes for an engaging read. It is a well-researched and enriching piece of work.
Wordsopedia Rating 4.1/5
In the 1920s, the Jewish community of Yemen leads a life of oppression. The small and isolated community steeped in tradition is cut off from the modern world. There are many harsh restrictions imposed on them. The most feared of all is the Orphan Decree. It stipulates an unmarried Jewish child would be confiscated by the local authorities and forcefully adopted by a Muslim family. The Jewish people live in constant fear of the Confiscator and even resort to betrothing children right at birth to ensure their safety.
I knew little about Yemenite Jews, their culture, the importance of Henna, or the appalling Orphans Decree. And reading Henna House was an eye-opener.
The ninth child of the Damari family, five-year-old Adela, grows in fear because of her father’s poor health and premature death. Adela’s mother is extremely strict and constantly worried about finding a suitor for her only daughter. All her attempts at finding a suitor for Adela fail miserably.
Adela helps at her father’s leather shop, and spends the rest of her day obeying her mother, and taking care of household duties. The arrival of her uncle’s family from Aden shows her a world hitherto unknown to her—the enigmatic world of Henna. Her aunt Rahel and her daughters are skilled Henna artists. Soon, Adela too becomes a part of the rituals, symbols, and patterns painted on a woman’s body to mark special occasions.
Drought, poverty, illness, and death force Adela and the Damari family to leave their home and restart their lives in Aden. However, the rising anti-Jewish sentiment in the 40s and the Second World War leave the Jews with no choice but to take an arduous from British-controlled Aden to the newly formed state of Israel as part of Operation On Wings of Eagles.
Both the journey and her life in Aden are tumultuous, revealing stories of love, loss, joy, terror, and grief. While Adela moves from one stage of life to another, she gains strength from every loss and betrayal.
Eve’s writing is poetic, descriptive, and evocative, while the novel is rich. The author reveals innate details of Jewish customs, traditions, and rituals.
The fantastically developed characters have powerful voices, and the author has portrayed the intricate familial relationships in a captivating manner. I especially liked the manner in which Eve highlights the role of women and the relationships between the various characters.
A few parts in the story seem forced and not in tune with the setting, especially the sexual incident between a prepubescent Adela and her 11-year-old cousin. The story would have been equally nice even without this graphic and inappropriate inclusion. Also, the backstory is a bit too long, and the foreshadowing slackens the pace in the earlier part.
With a thought-provoking storyline and well-defined characters, Henna House makes for an engaging read. It is a well-researched and enriching piece of work.
Wordsopedia Rating 4.1/5
August 22, 2014
www.justtoomanybooks.WordPress.com
In Yemen, Jews and Muslims live aide by side- but not always peacefully. The Muslims have decreed that any orphaned Jewish child must be adopted by a Muslim family. Adela, the only child of a sickly cobbler and a mercurial mother, lives in fear of the Confiscator taking her. In hopes of preventing forced adoption, she is engaged to her cousin Asaf when she is just a child. While she plays at being married with Asaf, she also enjoys the companionship of her childhood friend Binyamin. Adela is still a child when Asaf leaves on a long journey....and other long-lost relatives arrive.Adela's aunt Rahel and cousin Hani introduce her to the world of henna, prized by Jews and Muslims alike. Henna is often used to decorate brides and is a ritual of beauty that women can share. For Adela and her relatives, though, it becomes something much more complicated- a secret code, a battle ground, a safe place, and a way to change their fate.Henna House is one of the best books I've read about female relationships in years. Every mother, aunt, sister and cousin is a vibrant character. The story doesn't shy away from the injustices that face women around the world, but it gives them strength and beauty. I also liked Adela's honest narration of her childhood. From time to time she recounts what she remembers, and then balances it with what an older female relative remembers. And isn't that an honest take on memory?!Henna House is about the lives of women, their loves and their relationships. When women are oppressed (because of their gender, religion, race, or marital status) they still find ways to influence and shape the story of their people. They communicate in any way possible- even in henna.
In Yemen, Jews and Muslims live aide by side- but not always peacefully. The Muslims have decreed that any orphaned Jewish child must be adopted by a Muslim family. Adela, the only child of a sickly cobbler and a mercurial mother, lives in fear of the Confiscator taking her. In hopes of preventing forced adoption, she is engaged to her cousin Asaf when she is just a child. While she plays at being married with Asaf, she also enjoys the companionship of her childhood friend Binyamin. Adela is still a child when Asaf leaves on a long journey....and other long-lost relatives arrive.Adela's aunt Rahel and cousin Hani introduce her to the world of henna, prized by Jews and Muslims alike. Henna is often used to decorate brides and is a ritual of beauty that women can share. For Adela and her relatives, though, it becomes something much more complicated- a secret code, a battle ground, a safe place, and a way to change their fate.Henna House is one of the best books I've read about female relationships in years. Every mother, aunt, sister and cousin is a vibrant character. The story doesn't shy away from the injustices that face women around the world, but it gives them strength and beauty. I also liked Adela's honest narration of her childhood. From time to time she recounts what she remembers, and then balances it with what an older female relative remembers. And isn't that an honest take on memory?!Henna House is about the lives of women, their loves and their relationships. When women are oppressed (because of their gender, religion, race, or marital status) they still find ways to influence and shape the story of their people. They communicate in any way possible- even in henna.
June 9, 2014
“Henna House” by Nomi Eve, published by Scribner.
Category – Fiction/Literature Publication Date – August 12, 2014
This is a woman’s book but I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.
The story takes place in Yemen in the 1920’s and tells the story of the Yemenite Jewish community living amongst Muslims. Adela Damari, a young Jewish girl, is getting close to womanhood, (determined by her getting her period), but has no prospects of a husband. At this early age if she has no prospects and her father, who is not healthy, dies she can be adopted by the Muslim community. This is done by the Confiscator.
She does become betrothed to her cousin Asaf, but Asaf leaves the community to travel with his father who is a merchant, although promising he will return for her.
In the meantime hennaing becomes a part of her life as she finds companionship in her relatives. This becomes very important in her life as her parents die and the Jewish community is forced to leave their home and move to the city of Aden.
While making a new life for herself Adela finds a young man from her prior life as a suitor but still feels strongly about Asaf. This becomes a serious problem when Asaf returns and she must decide between the two.
The novel is a wonderful story of the Yemenite Jews and their search for a homeland, which they find in Israel where Adela finds a home, her true love, and a deeper understanding of love.
Category – Fiction/Literature Publication Date – August 12, 2014
This is a woman’s book but I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.
The story takes place in Yemen in the 1920’s and tells the story of the Yemenite Jewish community living amongst Muslims. Adela Damari, a young Jewish girl, is getting close to womanhood, (determined by her getting her period), but has no prospects of a husband. At this early age if she has no prospects and her father, who is not healthy, dies she can be adopted by the Muslim community. This is done by the Confiscator.
She does become betrothed to her cousin Asaf, but Asaf leaves the community to travel with his father who is a merchant, although promising he will return for her.
In the meantime hennaing becomes a part of her life as she finds companionship in her relatives. This becomes very important in her life as her parents die and the Jewish community is forced to leave their home and move to the city of Aden.
While making a new life for herself Adela finds a young man from her prior life as a suitor but still feels strongly about Asaf. This becomes a serious problem when Asaf returns and she must decide between the two.
The novel is a wonderful story of the Yemenite Jews and their search for a homeland, which they find in Israel where Adela finds a home, her true love, and a deeper understanding of love.
July 20, 2016
Powerful and mesmerizing, Henna House is an absorbing story that spans the years from the 1920s to the 1970s in Qaraah and Aden in Yemen, to Hadera and Tel Aviv in Israel. Narrated by Adela Damari, a Yemeni Jew, it's a sweeping family saga that captivates and beguiles, beckons and betrays. It is laden with culture and dreams of a people and the interpretation of traditional superstition of signs and omens. Even as a young girl, Adela dreams, defies, and loves; she's stubborn and she's loyal. And she's promised in marriage to her first cousin Asaf at the young age of eight. Integral to the story are Adela's Uncle Barhun, Aunt Rahel and Cousin Hani. Aunt Rahel is an oft-maligned, gifted henna stylist and mysterious healer with her herbs and potions. Hani, who becomes Adela's intimate friend and confidante, teaches Adela the intricate art of henna design replete with hidden messages, which will come back to haunt her as her pupil "bests" her in years to come. It's a book of culture and tradition, of religion and relationships, of many interesting and relatable characters, some flawed, but well drawn and with surprising depth. Despite a mere 299 well-crafted pages, the book feels longer, in a fulfilling sort of way. A highly recommended read.
January 13, 2015
First of all, I would recommend that anyone reading this book should go for the hard copy version (not on a reader). The cover is the most beautiful book cover I have ever seen. As I was reading this book, and reading descriptions of the henna, I would keep going back to the book cover and looking at it. And the book itself was exquisite like the jacket - like slowly unwrapping a gift. The book was sometimes a little slow - but could be forgiven because the story was so interesting and informative and the author's descriptions so beautiful. I had never read a book about Yemenite Jews before - and did find it fascinating and of course - the descriptions of the henna rituals were amazing. All in all, this is a wonderful book that I would highly recommend.
September 1, 2014
This was a beautifully crafted story, with vivid characters. The author clearly did her homework in this wonderful piece of historical fiction. The women in this novel were amazingly resilient given what they had to go through. I so enjoyed the story but I also learned a lot about Yemenite Jews and their struggles.
May 9, 2016
This is such a beautiful story that my words could never give it justice. It follows the life of a little girl growing up in Yemen as a Jew from the 1920's to 1980's. Her story of her enduring journey through the era and landscape is an eye opening experience that was educational and enlightening. It starts off a little slow but stay with it because it will be well worth it.
July 29, 2014
I received a review copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I've just written a review about The Golem and the Jinni, in which I said that this book had earned my patience despite the slow pace of its plot. For an example of a book that has not earned my patience, I give you Henna House.
The book starts when the main character is five years old and takes two hundred of its three hundred pages to get her to sixteen years old (and married). There will be plenty of readers who are enthralled enough by the rich description of Yemenite Jewish culture in the early twentieth century that they won't mind the slow going. I couldn't get into it, though.
Part of this is because the author was writing a child's point of view for most of the book, and I just didn't find the character that child-like or that interesting. A huge part of the plot was all about Adela needing a husband just in case her parents died before she reached puberty, so that she would not be adopted into a Muslim family while still a child. Really, a lot of the book is about Adela's love life before she's even reached puberty. And the problem is that the Chekhov's gun is never fired.
So Adela is the first person narrator of the book, discussing her childhood, and I just never felt her actions as a child all that authentic, even with the differences in culture. Same with her fiance, whom she meets when he is about five years old.
The prologue of the book says that the narrator thought long and hard about where to start her story, and that she decided that it all began when she was five years old and met the Confiscator (person in charge of gathering up orphaned Jewish children and placing them into Muslim families) when she was five. Well, I'm here to tell you that I think the story could have and should have begun two hundred pages into this three hundred page book. We could still get the backstory without the agonizingly long lead up, and then find out a lot more about what actually happens to Adela and her family and friends as an adult. Because once Adela does get married, a lot happens, and it ends up getting glossed over hurriedly instead of getting the attention that all the changes in the relationships so painstakingly set up deserved. I was far more interested in what happened to Adela as an adult than as a child.
This is a foible of authors, especially first-time authors, that I wish would go away. I can understand that they have invested a lot of time and thought into their characters' history, motivations, and backstory. However, you don't need to give the reader all of that word by word. You can jump into the part of the story that moves and changes and show, not tell, your characters' background. There are some exceptions to this- Hild by Nicola Griffith comes to mind. Maybe that genre and period of history is just so much more interesting to me that I am willing to be more patient with it, but the author is also more experienced and knows the sort of story she wants to tell.
Again, there will be plenty of readers so happy to fall into the world of this book that this will not be a problem for them. Spices, sounds, the feel of the Middle Eastern Jewish community is lovingly done. Just not for me.
I've just written a review about The Golem and the Jinni, in which I said that this book had earned my patience despite the slow pace of its plot. For an example of a book that has not earned my patience, I give you Henna House.
The book starts when the main character is five years old and takes two hundred of its three hundred pages to get her to sixteen years old (and married). There will be plenty of readers who are enthralled enough by the rich description of Yemenite Jewish culture in the early twentieth century that they won't mind the slow going. I couldn't get into it, though.
Part of this is because the author was writing a child's point of view for most of the book, and I just didn't find the character that child-like or that interesting. A huge part of the plot was all about Adela needing a husband just in case her parents died before she reached puberty, so that she would not be adopted into a Muslim family while still a child. Really, a lot of the book is about Adela's love life before she's even reached puberty. And the problem is that the Chekhov's gun is never fired.
So Adela is the first person narrator of the book, discussing her childhood, and I just never felt her actions as a child all that authentic, even with the differences in culture. Same with her fiance, whom she meets when he is about five years old.
The prologue of the book says that the narrator thought long and hard about where to start her story, and that she decided that it all began when she was five years old and met the Confiscator (person in charge of gathering up orphaned Jewish children and placing them into Muslim families) when she was five. Well, I'm here to tell you that I think the story could have and should have begun two hundred pages into this three hundred page book. We could still get the backstory without the agonizingly long lead up, and then find out a lot more about what actually happens to Adela and her family and friends as an adult. Because once Adela does get married, a lot happens, and it ends up getting glossed over hurriedly instead of getting the attention that all the changes in the relationships so painstakingly set up deserved. I was far more interested in what happened to Adela as an adult than as a child.
This is a foible of authors, especially first-time authors, that I wish would go away. I can understand that they have invested a lot of time and thought into their characters' history, motivations, and backstory. However, you don't need to give the reader all of that word by word. You can jump into the part of the story that moves and changes and show, not tell, your characters' background. There are some exceptions to this- Hild by Nicola Griffith comes to mind. Maybe that genre and period of history is just so much more interesting to me that I am willing to be more patient with it, but the author is also more experienced and knows the sort of story she wants to tell.
Again, there will be plenty of readers so happy to fall into the world of this book that this will not be a problem for them. Spices, sounds, the feel of the Middle Eastern Jewish community is lovingly done. Just not for me.
October 9, 2015
Sometime in the middle years of my twenties, my sister and my cousin hennaed my breasts on a lark, using a dime-store-quality kit we bought off a mysterious woman at a street fair. It was summer. The air was heavy. The moon was full. It all made sense at the time.
I had no idea how very close we came to correctly approximating the ritual of henna, which I did not understand to be such a robust and ritualized art form until I read Nomi Eve’s Henna House.
Historical fiction thrills me in concept and reality; the idea that while being entertained I might also learn something vital; the possibility of acquiring – by osmosis! by accident! – facts and words and wisdom missing from my vocabulary and worldview. In Henna House we get not just the epic saga of a young Yemenite Jew’s coming of age but also a geography lesson and an environmental education as Adela Damari and her family trek mid-20th century through Arabia to the newly-formed Israel. Thanks to this book, I learned as much about this foreign land as I learned about her complex people as I followed them through the course of a life- and land-altering generation.
And in the sort of sensual language too often forsaken in this age of sound bites and 140-character Tweets, I learned about henna, “the red geometric flurry … that seemed to tell stories at once simple and incomprehensible” and the rituals that make the hennaing process, exclusive to the domain of women, as intimate and dreamy and communal as it was when I naively limned it in my young adulthood.
Henna House abounds with stories of hennaed women: aunts and sisters and neighbors and cousins like Adela and “Hani [who] thrust her hand into mine, asking me one hundred questions all at once about the fairy tales I knew, the secrets I didn’t, the stories I would maybe be so kind as to finish for her, for she had come to a point in the plot that needed a fresh perspective.”
If it is stories about women and their mysterious ways that you crave … if you believe that shared stories can bind and color us … Henna House is not to be missed.
Update: Henna House is one of twenty-one books recently called out as Great Group Reads for 2015 by the Women’s National Book Association.
I had no idea how very close we came to correctly approximating the ritual of henna, which I did not understand to be such a robust and ritualized art form until I read Nomi Eve’s Henna House.
Historical fiction thrills me in concept and reality; the idea that while being entertained I might also learn something vital; the possibility of acquiring – by osmosis! by accident! – facts and words and wisdom missing from my vocabulary and worldview. In Henna House we get not just the epic saga of a young Yemenite Jew’s coming of age but also a geography lesson and an environmental education as Adela Damari and her family trek mid-20th century through Arabia to the newly-formed Israel. Thanks to this book, I learned as much about this foreign land as I learned about her complex people as I followed them through the course of a life- and land-altering generation.
And in the sort of sensual language too often forsaken in this age of sound bites and 140-character Tweets, I learned about henna, “the red geometric flurry … that seemed to tell stories at once simple and incomprehensible” and the rituals that make the hennaing process, exclusive to the domain of women, as intimate and dreamy and communal as it was when I naively limned it in my young adulthood.
Henna House abounds with stories of hennaed women: aunts and sisters and neighbors and cousins like Adela and “Hani [who] thrust her hand into mine, asking me one hundred questions all at once about the fairy tales I knew, the secrets I didn’t, the stories I would maybe be so kind as to finish for her, for she had come to a point in the plot that needed a fresh perspective.”
If it is stories about women and their mysterious ways that you crave … if you believe that shared stories can bind and color us … Henna House is not to be missed.
Update: Henna House is one of twenty-one books recently called out as Great Group Reads for 2015 by the Women’s National Book Association.
November 1, 2017
Nomi Eve’s HENNA HOUSE an expansive historical novel that vividly depicts the exotic world of Yemeni Jews in the first decades of the 20th century. It is a riveting portrait rooted in real life. It tells not only of a lost culture but deals with the domestic lives of Jewish families (particularly the women) in that particular time and place as it addressed the Jewish tradition of tattooing with henna, family relationships, marriage, betrayal, karma, love, forgiveness as well as an arbitrary statute known as the Orphans Decree which authorized the state to confiscate orphaned Jewish children and raise them as Muslims.
The central character in the story is Adela Damari, the daughter of a sickly Jewish cobbler and his petulant wife. Due to her fathers illness the family is terrified at the thought that Adela could adopted by a Muslim family and forced to convert. With the arrival in their small village of her father’s brother and his son it appears that an engagement to her cousin, Asaf, may offer the solution to five year old Adela’s problem.
The book goes on to detail the various events of Adela’s life over subsequent years and those family members, like Aunt Rahel and cousin Hani, who introduce her to the art and meaning of the henna drawings.
While the history of the Jews of the Saudi peninsula is informative and instructional, it is the interaction between the various characters that truly drives this story while utilizing henna as the conduit for the unifying themes of family, art and storytelling.
Nomi Eve’s exhaustive research and her love of her subject matter is evident in this fascinating book and the plethora of material for discussion should make it a must read for every book club. Personally, I learned and I loved it.
The central character in the story is Adela Damari, the daughter of a sickly Jewish cobbler and his petulant wife. Due to her fathers illness the family is terrified at the thought that Adela could adopted by a Muslim family and forced to convert. With the arrival in their small village of her father’s brother and his son it appears that an engagement to her cousin, Asaf, may offer the solution to five year old Adela’s problem.
The book goes on to detail the various events of Adela’s life over subsequent years and those family members, like Aunt Rahel and cousin Hani, who introduce her to the art and meaning of the henna drawings.
While the history of the Jews of the Saudi peninsula is informative and instructional, it is the interaction between the various characters that truly drives this story while utilizing henna as the conduit for the unifying themes of family, art and storytelling.
Nomi Eve’s exhaustive research and her love of her subject matter is evident in this fascinating book and the plethora of material for discussion should make it a must read for every book club. Personally, I learned and I loved it.
September 30, 2015
There are a lot of tangents Henna House goes off on that I didn't care a lot about, and there are several that I wish the author had developed much more fully. I was nearly derailed completely by the sexual contact between children early in the book and that tainted the rest of my experience. I didn't find it necessary to the story and honestly it was disturbing.
Eve spends so much time developing Adela's childhood and early adolescence to the detriment of the later, far more interesting aspects of her story. Or gets too involved in telling tales accented with magical realism instead of showing the main story. The second part of the book dragged for me, yet I would have MUCH preferred to experience Adela's translation of Hani's journal as it happened rather as a small part of an already short chapter. The end of the book is so rushed.
The language of Henna House is as exquisite as it's heart-stopping cover, but I didn't feel like I got a solid payoff. Too many flowery words and not enough substance.
Eve spends so much time developing Adela's childhood and early adolescence to the detriment of the later, far more interesting aspects of her story. Or gets too involved in telling tales accented with magical realism instead of showing the main story. The second part of the book dragged for me, yet I would have MUCH preferred to experience Adela's translation of Hani's journal as it happened rather as a small part of an already short chapter. The end of the book is so rushed.
The language of Henna House is as exquisite as it's heart-stopping cover, but I didn't feel like I got a solid payoff. Too many flowery words and not enough substance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 19, 2025
I got this book in 20 something for a project I did in middle school about Yemen. For the project, you needed to read 3 books about your chosen country. Books about or set in Yemen are a little hard to come by, which is how I ended up with this book.
I lied and said I read this book (I did not (I mean come on I was like 12)) and wrote my report on Yemeni culture, but really I just spoke about my mother’s experiences in Yemen and what she lived and saw. Shout out mom for giving me insider knowledge on a country that made me stand out amongst my classmates. #notlikeothergirls
So it was really cathartic to finally read this book 10 years later and stop living a lie. I loved it, wonderful prose and shockingly crass at times. The audiobook narrator was the star of the show, she put me to sleep within 10 minutes for the past 2 months (this is said in a positive connotation). I would read and listen to this novel again and again.
I lied and said I read this book (I did not (I mean come on I was like 12)) and wrote my report on Yemeni culture, but really I just spoke about my mother’s experiences in Yemen and what she lived and saw. Shout out mom for giving me insider knowledge on a country that made me stand out amongst my classmates. #notlikeothergirls
So it was really cathartic to finally read this book 10 years later and stop living a lie. I loved it, wonderful prose and shockingly crass at times. The audiobook narrator was the star of the show, she put me to sleep within 10 minutes for the past 2 months (this is said in a positive connotation). I would read and listen to this novel again and again.
July 21, 2018
Definitely a slow burner, but such a rich and luscious story of childhood, love, fate, and redemption. Henna House was a book I kept putting down and walking away from in the beginning because it was a bit slow, but once I neared the end, I realized that these slow bits were necessary. The main character Adela is so perceptive of all things going on in her village in Yemen, and so brave it’s hard to believe she’s not real. The author really gave us readers a second sight into this world of fear and betrayal at the hands of those who sought to harm Yemeni Jews and the ordinary people who live their lives, marry, have children, hopes, and dreams despite all of this. I was taken on an emotional roller coaster but ultimately felt settled at the end as the pieces of Adela’s life fell into place.
April 10, 2017
This was one of my book club reads. We all liked this story very much. Adela is a young Jewish girl living in Yemen. Her parents need to find her a husband as they are getting old and are afraid that if she is orphaned she will be adopted by the strong Muslim community. This story shows the strong family ties of the Yemenite Jews and the hardships living alongside the Muslims. We learn about the tradition of the making of henna and how brides are prepared with henna before their ceremony. Well-written with a lot of historical significance.
August 19, 2014
Wow. Reading this book reminded me again of why I like to read historical fiction. I knew that there were Jewish people who lived side by side in the Middle East right after WWI and that many of the Jewish people came to live in Israel when the country was established. However, I never really thought about how different and almost primitive the lives of these people seem today. The main character, a young girl, has never seen a car and her people travel by donkey.
She is constantly threatened by the fear of being snatched away and given to a Muslim family if her sickly father dies. (This was known as the Orphans Law.)
As a girl, she has little value. But she learns the art of henna from a relative and discovers that there is much more to the world than her limited sphere.
The author has done her homework and has woven a love story into the historical context. Two very different cultures living side by side, yet worlds apart. Although the time period starts in the 1920s, the characters seem to exist in a long ago past. How interesting to bind the story through an explanation of that ancient decorative art form - henna.
She is constantly threatened by the fear of being snatched away and given to a Muslim family if her sickly father dies. (This was known as the Orphans Law.)
As a girl, she has little value. But she learns the art of henna from a relative and discovers that there is much more to the world than her limited sphere.
The author has done her homework and has woven a love story into the historical context. Two very different cultures living side by side, yet worlds apart. Although the time period starts in the 1920s, the characters seem to exist in a long ago past. How interesting to bind the story through an explanation of that ancient decorative art form - henna.
March 3, 2018
Read for Yemen for my Random Travel Challenge of 2018.
Interesting book about the community of Yemenite Jews in the early 20th century. They were isolated from the rest of the Jewish world for hundreds of years, and developed their own culture, clothing and religious practices. While I found it very interesting and Eve's writing style is lovely, she really evokes characters and settings, I was really uncomfortable with the Islamophobia. I'm sure there were terrible things the Muslim government did, but all of the Muslim characters were awful people, totally 1 dimensional stereotypes. With everything that has been happening in Palestine/Israel in the last 70 years, it feels off to read a book about a Jewish family that demonizes all of the Muslims they come across. Maybe that's not what she intended, but it still feels very one sided.
That said, she clearly did her research, and it was interesting to learn about a specific culture in the middle east and the paths they crossed with other cultures, and the way the women used henna as a decorative and social and cultural activity.
Interesting book about the community of Yemenite Jews in the early 20th century. They were isolated from the rest of the Jewish world for hundreds of years, and developed their own culture, clothing and religious practices. While I found it very interesting and Eve's writing style is lovely, she really evokes characters and settings, I was really uncomfortable with the Islamophobia. I'm sure there were terrible things the Muslim government did, but all of the Muslim characters were awful people, totally 1 dimensional stereotypes. With everything that has been happening in Palestine/Israel in the last 70 years, it feels off to read a book about a Jewish family that demonizes all of the Muslims they come across. Maybe that's not what she intended, but it still feels very one sided.
That said, she clearly did her research, and it was interesting to learn about a specific culture in the middle east and the paths they crossed with other cultures, and the way the women used henna as a decorative and social and cultural activity.
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