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Holy Lands
A witty, heartwarming, and heart-wrenching epistolary novel, soon to be a major motion picture starring James Caan, Rosanna Arquette, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, about a dysfunctional family--led by a Jewish pig farmer in Israel--struggling to love and accept each other.
As comic as it is deeply moving, Holy Lands chronicles several months in the lives of an estranged family of colorful eccentrics. Harry Rosenmerck is an aging Jewish cardiologist who has left his thriving medical practice in New York--to raise pigs in Israel. His ex-wife, Monique, ruminates about their once happy marriage even as she quietly battles an aggressive illness. Their son, David, an earnest and successful playwright, has vowed to reconnect with his father since coming out. Annabelle, their daughter, finds herself unmoored in Paris in the aftermath of a breakup.
Harry eschews technology, so his family, spread out around the world, must communicate with him via snail mail. Even as they grapple with challenges, their correspondence sparkles with levity. They snipe at each other, volleying quips across the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and Europe, and find joy in unexpected sources.
Holy Lands captures the humor and poignancy of an adult family striving to remain connected across time, geography, and radically different perspectives on life.
As comic as it is deeply moving, Holy Lands chronicles several months in the lives of an estranged family of colorful eccentrics. Harry Rosenmerck is an aging Jewish cardiologist who has left his thriving medical practice in New York--to raise pigs in Israel. His ex-wife, Monique, ruminates about their once happy marriage even as she quietly battles an aggressive illness. Their son, David, an earnest and successful playwright, has vowed to reconnect with his father since coming out. Annabelle, their daughter, finds herself unmoored in Paris in the aftermath of a breakup.
Harry eschews technology, so his family, spread out around the world, must communicate with him via snail mail. Even as they grapple with challenges, their correspondence sparkles with levity. They snipe at each other, volleying quips across the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and Europe, and find joy in unexpected sources.
Holy Lands captures the humor and poignancy of an adult family striving to remain connected across time, geography, and radically different perspectives on life.
161 pages, Hardcover
First published May 5, 2010
49 people are currently reading
2219 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 188 reviews
December 8, 2019
My silences, made the sound of love....
Every once in a while a book comes by which is just exceptional, this is one of them for me.
A deeply moving and emotional book with a lot of humor.... Written with a big loving feeling for this dysfunctional family. Exquisite. The book consists of letters between the family members, father, mother, son en daughter. Harry Rosenmerck is an aging Jewish cardiologist who has left his medical practice in New York, to raise pigs in Israel (yes, only the idea of this....). Especially the letters between Harry and Rabbi Moshe Cattan are full of humor, wisdom and gradually a unique friendship.
Made me laugh and cry. 5 stars very deserved. Wow.... tears in my eyes. Speechless. Highly recommended.
Every once in a while a book comes by which is just exceptional, this is one of them for me.
A deeply moving and emotional book with a lot of humor.... Written with a big loving feeling for this dysfunctional family. Exquisite. The book consists of letters between the family members, father, mother, son en daughter. Harry Rosenmerck is an aging Jewish cardiologist who has left his medical practice in New York, to raise pigs in Israel (yes, only the idea of this....). Especially the letters between Harry and Rabbi Moshe Cattan are full of humor, wisdom and gradually a unique friendship.
Made me laugh and cry. 5 stars very deserved. Wow.... tears in my eyes. Speechless. Highly recommended.
December 27, 2018
Comic? I WAS A CRYING WET MESS!
Why wouldn’t every reader give this little gem 5 stars? I seriously do not understand!!!!! I cared about this family! My god.....this little book is passionate - stirring deep-rooted emotions inside us.
ITS FANTASTIC!!!!!!
I REFUSED TO TALK ABOUT THE ‘style’ of the writing - other than to say: IT WORKS!!!!! It’s brilliant for this story. To spend time analyzing it, is a waste of time.
YES, I LAUGHED....
BUT I CRIED MORE....
I LOVED WHOLEHEARTEDLY EVEN MORE.....
An unexpected surprise: “Holy Lands” is one of my very favorite books of the year! Maybe you need to be an old fart - a mother with adult kids - a gay son - Jewish - a vegetarian - a bacon lover - have eaten *Bkeila*, ( look up the ugly-delicious dish), or are simply a pansy luvbug person who feels pain & love , both so deeply - that sometimes ‘silence’ is easier than words.
This story - in letter form - is about a family - led by a Jewish pig farmer in Israel.
Their struggles are painful - and universal.
A note about the Pig Farm in Israel: I leave you with one excerpt - but won’t tell you more:
“About twenty men came to destroy my farm this morning. There were Jews, Muslims, Christians. They’ve found a common cause. They want me to leave. The Jews don’t want pigs on their Holy Land. They said that pigs won’t fix terrorism. The Arabs were in total agreement. They were arguing this together – already, when they’re against each other, it’s impossible to distinguish one from the other, but you can imagine what it’s like when they’re on the same side? If I hadn’t been afraid for my life, I probably would have laughed. And the Christians, that’s the kicker! Would you believe one of the priests from Nazareth thinks I’m living on the vestiges of the home of Christ, Monsignor Jesus of Nazareth, and that I have to give my house to the Church for posterity? They were shouting, “This place belongs to history”.
Plenty of humor....but I was achingly feeling the sadness.
Kudos to author Amanda Sthers. It’s the first book I’ve read by you - I look forward to more.
Thank you to Nicole and Bloomsbury! I deeply appreciate the gift to enjoy this book SO MUCH!!!!!
****Soon to be a Major Motion Picture starring James Caan, Rosanna Arquette, and
Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
Why wouldn’t every reader give this little gem 5 stars? I seriously do not understand!!!!! I cared about this family! My god.....this little book is passionate - stirring deep-rooted emotions inside us.
ITS FANTASTIC!!!!!!
I REFUSED TO TALK ABOUT THE ‘style’ of the writing - other than to say: IT WORKS!!!!! It’s brilliant for this story. To spend time analyzing it, is a waste of time.
YES, I LAUGHED....
BUT I CRIED MORE....
I LOVED WHOLEHEARTEDLY EVEN MORE.....
An unexpected surprise: “Holy Lands” is one of my very favorite books of the year! Maybe you need to be an old fart - a mother with adult kids - a gay son - Jewish - a vegetarian - a bacon lover - have eaten *Bkeila*, ( look up the ugly-delicious dish), or are simply a pansy luvbug person who feels pain & love , both so deeply - that sometimes ‘silence’ is easier than words.
This story - in letter form - is about a family - led by a Jewish pig farmer in Israel.
Their struggles are painful - and universal.
A note about the Pig Farm in Israel: I leave you with one excerpt - but won’t tell you more:
“About twenty men came to destroy my farm this morning. There were Jews, Muslims, Christians. They’ve found a common cause. They want me to leave. The Jews don’t want pigs on their Holy Land. They said that pigs won’t fix terrorism. The Arabs were in total agreement. They were arguing this together – already, when they’re against each other, it’s impossible to distinguish one from the other, but you can imagine what it’s like when they’re on the same side? If I hadn’t been afraid for my life, I probably would have laughed. And the Christians, that’s the kicker! Would you believe one of the priests from Nazareth thinks I’m living on the vestiges of the home of Christ, Monsignor Jesus of Nazareth, and that I have to give my house to the Church for posterity? They were shouting, “This place belongs to history”.
Plenty of humor....but I was achingly feeling the sadness.
Kudos to author Amanda Sthers. It’s the first book I’ve read by you - I look forward to more.
Thank you to Nicole and Bloomsbury! I deeply appreciate the gift to enjoy this book SO MUCH!!!!!
****Soon to be a Major Motion Picture starring James Caan, Rosanna Arquette, and
Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
July 12, 2019
This is one sacred read. A dysfunctional family whom exchange letters and emails to each other. It’s a satirical story that centres around Harry, the cardiologist and father, who has left his practice to start a pig farm in Israel. He refuses to talk with his gay son who is becoming a successful play director; he leaves behind his dying wife as well as a daughter who is suffering from a broken heart; let’s not forget the relationship with the Rabbi.
A tender story of love, friendship, family and forgiveness. A charming little read with big impact.
4⭐️
A tender story of love, friendship, family and forgiveness. A charming little read with big impact.
4⭐️
January 5, 2019
Wow!!
You can bet I'm on my pogo stick after finishing this gem! Who can resist an Israeli pig farmer, just tell me that! And a dysfunctional family griping, arguing, and pouring their hearts out by letter? I’m all in.
From page 1, I was riveted; I could not put this book down. First, I’m a sucker for letters. They tell you so much about the sender and they seem so personal. Plus there’s the snoop factor—you have to admit it’s fun to peek into someone else’s mail without getting in trouble or feeling guilty.
Letters fly between a pig farmer guy in Israel and a rabbi who disapproves of his pigs. And letters also fly between the pig farmer, his ex-wife, and their grown son and daughter, all of whom live on different continents. The family is dysfunctional but sort of in a normal way (is that possible?). Nothing is over the top, but the dynamic is interesting as hell.
The whole family is endearing; not a jerk to be found. I’m not saying they always make good choices but they all get under your skin, in a good way. They all are hanging out with the requisite guilt, regret, and longing, and they have some heavy conversations by letter. I got excited every time I looked at the name of the sender—oh, goodie, now the sister is writing a letter to her brother! What’s her story now? And how will he respond? You’d think I was the one getting the mail, I was so jazzed.
Actually, I lied. I loved the family letter swaps but didn’t like it when the pig farmer and the rabbi exchanged letters. That’s because they got into religion, politics, and history—three of my most unfavorite things. The discussions weren’t all that dry but they weren’t cool and refreshing either. I could feel myself tense up; I wanted to rush through those boring letters so I could get to the gold: The letters to mom, dad, sis, and bro. That’s my only complaint, in fact, and it was pretty short-lived because the snoozy “idea” conversations petered out as the book moved on.
Oops, I do have one other little item for the Complaint Board. I didn’t like it when people said “goy” a few times; got my dander up a little. But I’ve just wheeled the Complaint Board back to the shed because that’s it, baby. Everything else in this book rocks to the tune of 5 stars!
They advertise this book as a tragi-comedy, and that it is. I found myself smiling a lot—some of the observations were a riot. But there is a lot of serious stuff going on, too. The author did a great job of sneaking in sobering stuff, like 9/11. The brother asks his sis where she was on 9/11, for example. Bingo, a good story right there.
I liked the cultural immersion into Jewish life, and the writer did a great job as the immerser. It’s so cool when I get to peek into a culture completely different from mine.
Combine this with my love of the letter format, good characters, good dynamics, good writing, and some levity, and we have us here a 5-star gem. It’s so short and so readable, you might be able to finish it in one sitting. I read it over two days, and I’m a super slow reader. The book reminded me a little of novels by Jonathan Tropper, one of my favorite comic writers. And it also reminded me a little of The Nest, except the people are nicer here. This book comes out on January 22, 2019, so get in line now.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.
P.S. They’ve already made this into a movie that is soon to be released. I watched the trailer and it looked okay, but I had a gripe: The ex-wife is played by Rosanna Arquette and she looks too young for the pig farmer, played by James Caan. (There’s an 11-year difference in the actors’ ages, but I guess she’s “had work done” because she looks a lot younger.) I usually like when books go to the big screen, but after seeing the trailer, I realize I’m sort of sad that this story went commercial. At least the story will get more exposure now.
You can bet I'm on my pogo stick after finishing this gem! Who can resist an Israeli pig farmer, just tell me that! And a dysfunctional family griping, arguing, and pouring their hearts out by letter? I’m all in.
From page 1, I was riveted; I could not put this book down. First, I’m a sucker for letters. They tell you so much about the sender and they seem so personal. Plus there’s the snoop factor—you have to admit it’s fun to peek into someone else’s mail without getting in trouble or feeling guilty.
Letters fly between a pig farmer guy in Israel and a rabbi who disapproves of his pigs. And letters also fly between the pig farmer, his ex-wife, and their grown son and daughter, all of whom live on different continents. The family is dysfunctional but sort of in a normal way (is that possible?). Nothing is over the top, but the dynamic is interesting as hell.
The whole family is endearing; not a jerk to be found. I’m not saying they always make good choices but they all get under your skin, in a good way. They all are hanging out with the requisite guilt, regret, and longing, and they have some heavy conversations by letter. I got excited every time I looked at the name of the sender—oh, goodie, now the sister is writing a letter to her brother! What’s her story now? And how will he respond? You’d think I was the one getting the mail, I was so jazzed.
Actually, I lied. I loved the family letter swaps but didn’t like it when the pig farmer and the rabbi exchanged letters. That’s because they got into religion, politics, and history—three of my most unfavorite things. The discussions weren’t all that dry but they weren’t cool and refreshing either. I could feel myself tense up; I wanted to rush through those boring letters so I could get to the gold: The letters to mom, dad, sis, and bro. That’s my only complaint, in fact, and it was pretty short-lived because the snoozy “idea” conversations petered out as the book moved on.
Oops, I do have one other little item for the Complaint Board. I didn’t like it when people said “goy” a few times; got my dander up a little. But I’ve just wheeled the Complaint Board back to the shed because that’s it, baby. Everything else in this book rocks to the tune of 5 stars!
They advertise this book as a tragi-comedy, and that it is. I found myself smiling a lot—some of the observations were a riot. But there is a lot of serious stuff going on, too. The author did a great job of sneaking in sobering stuff, like 9/11. The brother asks his sis where she was on 9/11, for example. Bingo, a good story right there.
I liked the cultural immersion into Jewish life, and the writer did a great job as the immerser. It’s so cool when I get to peek into a culture completely different from mine.
Combine this with my love of the letter format, good characters, good dynamics, good writing, and some levity, and we have us here a 5-star gem. It’s so short and so readable, you might be able to finish it in one sitting. I read it over two days, and I’m a super slow reader. The book reminded me a little of novels by Jonathan Tropper, one of my favorite comic writers. And it also reminded me a little of The Nest, except the people are nicer here. This book comes out on January 22, 2019, so get in line now.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.
P.S. They’ve already made this into a movie that is soon to be released. I watched the trailer and it looked okay, but I had a gripe: The ex-wife is played by Rosanna Arquette and she looks too young for the pig farmer, played by James Caan. (There’s an 11-year difference in the actors’ ages, but I guess she’s “had work done” because she looks a lot younger.) I usually like when books go to the big screen, but after seeing the trailer, I realize I’m sort of sad that this story went commercial. At least the story will get more exposure now.
May 3, 2019
Have you ever received a truly exceptional letter?
A letter that was so well-written or poignant you were startled by it, or it gave you great pause?
Chances are, the older you are, the more likely you are to have at least one such letter in your possession. People did, once upon a time, write long, detailed letters, but letter writing seems to be a dying art now, and once emails and texts entered our lives, our ability to communicate degraded almost overnight to: Wuz up?!
I have received many beautiful cards and poems in my life, but when it comes to exceptional letters, I can only think of two that I would consider noteworthy. One was a love letter, written to me by an adult student of mine when I taught English to international students. This letter is not in my possession; when I read its contents (two weeks before my wedding), I blushed a deep crimson, then ripped the letter into very little pieces. How silly; I know now that it was a once-in-a-lifetime offering.
The other letter was written to me by one of my dad's first cousins, when my father died in the fall of 2014, and it is so precious to me, I'd probably run back into a burning building to retrieve it.
Letters like these are so very rare, or at least they have been in my life, but this book will have you believe that in families like the Rosenmerck family, EVERY letter is a once-in-a-lifetime letter. EVERY letter is a bold proclamation of love, a detailed recounting of the past, or a complicated diatribe about politics or religion.
And maybe you're thinking right now. . . well, they're not your family, maybe that's just the way this fictional family operates.
Uh, no. You've never seen letters like these before, people.
Every one of them reads like they're straight out of a telenovela.
And just about every letter, unbelievable but true, begins: My dear mother. My dearest daughter. Dear gay brother (not joking). My dearest sister, and so on.
And, wait. It gets better. They are all EMAILS! Emails, written throughout the year of 2009.
NOT ONE EMAIL in this epistolary novel felt real to me. I would instead describe them as: inauthentic, contrived, and melodramatic. And, when they weren't melodramatic, they were often downright boring.
My personal favorites were the emails the daughter sent over the course of several days, describing in great detail how no one came to pick her up at the Tel Aviv airport and how she was left in the foreign city on her own. I will paraphrase the emails:
Dearest mother, it is most confusing, but my dearest father never arrived at the airport, so I am wandering the city, with no lodging, no grasp of the local language, but I'm staring up into the trees and reminiscing about about our trip in 1984 when you and father were married (Remember when you were married to father, dearest mother? It was ever so painful when you made a divorcement together). . .
Dearest brother, a total stranger took my hand in a coffee shop today, led me up to a dingy apartment and made love to me in front of other strangers (I loved this particular email, when my least favorite character, the dingbat sister, described to her brother how a total stranger lifted up her skirt up in front of other strangers and fucked her, hard, in the corner of a disgusting apartment. She called it making love and apparently it made her feel “tiny, protected and beautiful.”). I threw up a little in my mouth on this page.
Folks, this would have been a far more realistic email to send to your father as you're stranded at the airport in a foreign country: DAD, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?
Or, if you don't use profanity in your family, how about: Mom! Dad never showed up. Can you please get a hold of him and tell him that I'm stranded here?
Some of my MOST favorite reviewers on Goodreads loved this one, so, friends, PLEASE don't hold it against me that I snarled at the pages of this book and used expletives to get to the end. You all must have read it in the original French.
I'm sorry, but I found this pork-centered story as bloated as my belly would be if I indulged in a slab of bacon.
A letter that was so well-written or poignant you were startled by it, or it gave you great pause?
Chances are, the older you are, the more likely you are to have at least one such letter in your possession. People did, once upon a time, write long, detailed letters, but letter writing seems to be a dying art now, and once emails and texts entered our lives, our ability to communicate degraded almost overnight to: Wuz up?!
I have received many beautiful cards and poems in my life, but when it comes to exceptional letters, I can only think of two that I would consider noteworthy. One was a love letter, written to me by an adult student of mine when I taught English to international students. This letter is not in my possession; when I read its contents (two weeks before my wedding), I blushed a deep crimson, then ripped the letter into very little pieces. How silly; I know now that it was a once-in-a-lifetime offering.
The other letter was written to me by one of my dad's first cousins, when my father died in the fall of 2014, and it is so precious to me, I'd probably run back into a burning building to retrieve it.
Letters like these are so very rare, or at least they have been in my life, but this book will have you believe that in families like the Rosenmerck family, EVERY letter is a once-in-a-lifetime letter. EVERY letter is a bold proclamation of love, a detailed recounting of the past, or a complicated diatribe about politics or religion.
And maybe you're thinking right now. . . well, they're not your family, maybe that's just the way this fictional family operates.
Uh, no. You've never seen letters like these before, people.
Every one of them reads like they're straight out of a telenovela.
And just about every letter, unbelievable but true, begins: My dear mother. My dearest daughter. Dear gay brother (not joking). My dearest sister, and so on.
And, wait. It gets better. They are all EMAILS! Emails, written throughout the year of 2009.
NOT ONE EMAIL in this epistolary novel felt real to me. I would instead describe them as: inauthentic, contrived, and melodramatic. And, when they weren't melodramatic, they were often downright boring.
My personal favorites were the emails the daughter sent over the course of several days, describing in great detail how no one came to pick her up at the Tel Aviv airport and how she was left in the foreign city on her own. I will paraphrase the emails:
Dearest mother, it is most confusing, but my dearest father never arrived at the airport, so I am wandering the city, with no lodging, no grasp of the local language, but I'm staring up into the trees and reminiscing about about our trip in 1984 when you and father were married (Remember when you were married to father, dearest mother? It was ever so painful when you made a divorcement together). . .
Dearest brother, a total stranger took my hand in a coffee shop today, led me up to a dingy apartment and made love to me in front of other strangers (I loved this particular email, when my least favorite character, the dingbat sister, described to her brother how a total stranger lifted up her skirt up in front of other strangers and fucked her, hard, in the corner of a disgusting apartment. She called it making love and apparently it made her feel “tiny, protected and beautiful.”). I threw up a little in my mouth on this page.
Folks, this would have been a far more realistic email to send to your father as you're stranded at the airport in a foreign country: DAD, WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?
Or, if you don't use profanity in your family, how about: Mom! Dad never showed up. Can you please get a hold of him and tell him that I'm stranded here?
Some of my MOST favorite reviewers on Goodreads loved this one, so, friends, PLEASE don't hold it against me that I snarled at the pages of this book and used expletives to get to the end. You all must have read it in the original French.
I'm sorry, but I found this pork-centered story as bloated as my belly would be if I indulged in a slab of bacon.
January 30, 2019
"Life isn't the straight line we imagine a children;
It makes loops. We never love by chance. Even if
we talk about mistakes, even if we ask how and
why, deep down we know why."
A fractured family, a very dysfunctional one, one that has little clue in how to relate to each other.
Divorced, Harry, moves to Isresl to become a pig farmer (notice the dancing pigs on the cover), Monique, the mother has serious health issues, David, a rather successful playwright, is gay, something his father just can't accept. Last, sister, Annabelle, at loose ends, not sure of her place, but close to her brother. So, they start writing letters to each other, which is the form this books takes. In letters one can say what often in person one cannot.
They are also intimate, informative, humorous as this family attempts to work out and improve their relationships with each other. Pig farming in not readily accepted in Isresl, Harry receives threats from other groups that want his little industry, to end. Harry also writes to a Rabbi, Moshe, and these letters are the most humorous. A book that one can read in a few hours, a day a novel both poignant and funny. The author also inserts some meaningful conversation about the building of walls and what they represent. I enjoyed it immensely.
It makes loops. We never love by chance. Even if
we talk about mistakes, even if we ask how and
why, deep down we know why."
A fractured family, a very dysfunctional one, one that has little clue in how to relate to each other.
Divorced, Harry, moves to Isresl to become a pig farmer (notice the dancing pigs on the cover), Monique, the mother has serious health issues, David, a rather successful playwright, is gay, something his father just can't accept. Last, sister, Annabelle, at loose ends, not sure of her place, but close to her brother. So, they start writing letters to each other, which is the form this books takes. In letters one can say what often in person one cannot.
They are also intimate, informative, humorous as this family attempts to work out and improve their relationships with each other. Pig farming in not readily accepted in Isresl, Harry receives threats from other groups that want his little industry, to end. Harry also writes to a Rabbi, Moshe, and these letters are the most humorous. A book that one can read in a few hours, a day a novel both poignant and funny. The author also inserts some meaningful conversation about the building of walls and what they represent. I enjoyed it immensely.
February 18, 2019
Well, my goodness... I loved this book!
This is a Jewish family of four.. a grown son and daughter..parents have been divorced for many years.. quite dysfunctional.. the father, a retired doctor moves to Israel from the States, to become a pig farmer.
This short novel is written completely in a series of letters to each other, very moving but still many laughs throughout
Highly recommended!
This is a Jewish family of four.. a grown son and daughter..parents have been divorced for many years.. quite dysfunctional.. the father, a retired doctor moves to Israel from the States, to become a pig farmer.
This short novel is written completely in a series of letters to each other, very moving but still many laughs throughout
Highly recommended!
March 6, 2019
Thank you Elyse for recommending this book to me!
I loved this epistolary novel about a dysfunctional Jewish family who has difficulty connecting and communicating. I easily read this cover to cover in one sitting. The movie rights have been sold and the cast chosen.
The cast of characters:
-Harry, the patriarch of the family, a cardiologist, moves to Israel to become a pig farmer (the dancing pig cover!)
-Monique, Harry’s ex-wife, who has a serious health issue
-David, the son, a successful gay playwright, is estranged from his father who can’t accept his sexual orientation
-Annabelle, the unmarried daughter, who is struggling to “find herself” and is trying to keep the family together
The family communicates through a series of e-mails and letters, which are equally hilarious and heartbreaking. Yes, the characters are caricatures of certain ‘types’ but through them we get a glimpse into a family, that, despite their flaws and their failings, are achingly real. Families are complicated.
I loved this epistolary novel about a dysfunctional Jewish family who has difficulty connecting and communicating. I easily read this cover to cover in one sitting. The movie rights have been sold and the cast chosen.
The cast of characters:
-Harry, the patriarch of the family, a cardiologist, moves to Israel to become a pig farmer (the dancing pig cover!)
-Monique, Harry’s ex-wife, who has a serious health issue
-David, the son, a successful gay playwright, is estranged from his father who can’t accept his sexual orientation
-Annabelle, the unmarried daughter, who is struggling to “find herself” and is trying to keep the family together
The family communicates through a series of e-mails and letters, which are equally hilarious and heartbreaking. Yes, the characters are caricatures of certain ‘types’ but through them we get a glimpse into a family, that, despite their flaws and their failings, are achingly real. Families are complicated.
May 12, 2019
Touching and funny epistolary novel covering nine months in the lives of an endearingly dysfunctional Jewish family. It’s a short novel but the letters they write each other, as well as to a few others outside the family, fully flesh out their personalities and family dynamics.
I enjoyed everyone and all of their letters and perspectives, but can I just give a special shout-out to the letters between the father Harry Rosenmerck and Rabbi Moshe Cattan? Their relationship and how it evolved warmed my heart while it made me laugh. If only we could learn from this - people with very different religious and political beliefs and viewpoints CAN become mutually respectful and cherished friends. Imagine that!
Very nicely done. ❤️
I enjoyed everyone and all of their letters and perspectives, but can I just give a special shout-out to the letters between the father Harry Rosenmerck and Rabbi Moshe Cattan? Their relationship and how it evolved warmed my heart while it made me laugh. If only we could learn from this - people with very different religious and political beliefs and viewpoints CAN become mutually respectful and cherished friends. Imagine that!
Very nicely done. ❤️
March 23, 2019
Oy, write to your Mother!
Tolstoy wrote “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’ And this family takes the cake or I should say, the knish.
An epistolary that can be read in one sitting, but one that will sit with your heart for far longer. The chasm between these eccentric family members is larger than the Wailing Wall, there is so much heartache and longing that at times it was hard to read the pithy remarks masking the hidden hurts.
It’s remarkable how much of these characters’ lives the author managed to convey in so few pages, distinct voices all laced with equal parts adoration and acrimony. I found it less humorous than others did though this did not diminish the book’s impact. Recommended for fans of families in all their forms, but especially the highly dysfunctional which is an odd thing to appreciate, but I do.
Thanks to Elyse and JanB for recommending!
Tolstoy wrote “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’ And this family takes the cake or I should say, the knish.
An epistolary that can be read in one sitting, but one that will sit with your heart for far longer. The chasm between these eccentric family members is larger than the Wailing Wall, there is so much heartache and longing that at times it was hard to read the pithy remarks masking the hidden hurts.
It’s remarkable how much of these characters’ lives the author managed to convey in so few pages, distinct voices all laced with equal parts adoration and acrimony. I found it less humorous than others did though this did not diminish the book’s impact. Recommended for fans of families in all their forms, but especially the highly dysfunctional which is an odd thing to appreciate, but I do.
Thanks to Elyse and JanB for recommending!
March 20, 2020
Dear universe,
I am officially filing a petition to no longer be sad. I am not good at it, and I find it unpleasant, and I think those two reasons are enough to exempt me for the next 60 years or so.
Please cease to bring suffering and endings and emotional books into my life at your earliest convenience.
Regards,
Me
P.S. This book may qualify for an exception to this new rule of No Sad Things For Emma, because while I do feel like I could have loved these characters and felt very sad about many things in this (aka felt emotionally connected - every emotion I felt would have been Sad or Synonym For Sad), there ultimately just wasn’t enough there.
P.P.S. It’s only 161 pages long, and those pages are letters, so total word count is like 40.
P.P.P.S. Plus it was beautifully written. So books like this one can stay. But that’s IT.
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i need to stop reading all these depressing books. it's ruining my life.
review to come / 3 stars
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not sure why the publisher sent me a copy of this book, but choosing to be grateful because it is under 200 pages and i refuse to be behind on my reading challenge
I am officially filing a petition to no longer be sad. I am not good at it, and I find it unpleasant, and I think those two reasons are enough to exempt me for the next 60 years or so.
Please cease to bring suffering and endings and emotional books into my life at your earliest convenience.
Regards,
Me
P.S. This book may qualify for an exception to this new rule of No Sad Things For Emma, because while I do feel like I could have loved these characters and felt very sad about many things in this (aka felt emotionally connected - every emotion I felt would have been Sad or Synonym For Sad), there ultimately just wasn’t enough there.
P.P.S. It’s only 161 pages long, and those pages are letters, so total word count is like 40.
P.P.P.S. Plus it was beautifully written. So books like this one can stay. But that’s IT.
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i need to stop reading all these depressing books. it's ruining my life.
review to come / 3 stars
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not sure why the publisher sent me a copy of this book, but choosing to be grateful because it is under 200 pages and i refuse to be behind on my reading challenge
December 15, 2018
Totally odd, but fun and poignant at the same time. In a series of letters and emails, we learn about the trials and tribulations of four family members, who are at odds yet deeply connected to each other. Harry is a former cardiologist living in Israel trying running a pig farm, to great consternation by a local rabbi and others. Monique is his French ex-wife. David is their gay son, who is a successful playwright and estranged from his father. And Annabelle is their daughter, who seems to be trying to hold the family together, but is a bit wayward herself. Lots of wry humour with some real emotions. This is a fast entertaining read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.
April 26, 2019
A bittersweet epistolary novel about a Jewish family whose father, Harry Rosenmerck, has left his home and his position as a cardiologist in New York to become a pig breeder in Israel. He leaves behind his ex-wife, Monique, his daughter Annabelle, and his son David, who is a successful playwright, and gay – with which Harry still seems to struggle. David keeps trying to share his life, as if to say I’m still your son, your little boy grown. He relays a story of asking his mother what a cardiologist did, and when she told him they fix broken hearts, he thought that meant his father
“healed lost or broken love.”
”I gave an interview this morning. A journalist asked me if, like all little boys, I’d ever dreamed of doing the same job as my father. I answered in the negative, without hesitation. I was wrong. In fact, I do have the same job as my father. The one I thought was your job when I was at an age when I admired you unconditionally. I treat hearts with words. I bandage their heartaches with my own. And I make them believe that, somewhere, happy stories exist.”
This begins with a letter from Harry to Rabbi Moshe Cattan, in Nazareth, a response he’s written after a letter from the Rabbi calling him a “son of a bitch despite the measures he’s taken to adhere to the laws, and includes the back-and-forth correspondence between Harry and the Rabbi, as well as each of his family members correspondence to and from Harry, and to and from each other. It’s sweetly poignant, reflecting on life, love, family, and friendship. Throw in a smidgen of politics, a smattering of wit, a strong and steady undercurrent of love along with familial frustrations of those who are separated by time, place, and the ghosts of the past.
”I’ve got childhood stuck to my shoes.”
Through these letters, their stories are shared, their past, their hopes for the future, their frustrations with, and their love for, each other.
”I gave an interview this morning. A journalist asked me if, like all little boys, I’d ever dreamed of doing the same job as my father. I answered in the negative, without hesitation. I was wrong. In fact, I do have the same job as my father. The one I thought was your job when I was at an age when I admired you unconditionally. I treat hearts with words. I bandage their heartaches with my own. And I make them believe that, somewhere, happy stories exist.”
This begins with a letter from Harry to Rabbi Moshe Cattan, in Nazareth, a response he’s written after a letter from the Rabbi calling him a “son of a bitch despite the measures he’s taken to adhere to the laws, and includes the back-and-forth correspondence between Harry and the Rabbi, as well as each of his family members correspondence to and from Harry, and to and from each other. It’s sweetly poignant, reflecting on life, love, family, and friendship. Throw in a smidgen of politics, a smattering of wit, a strong and steady undercurrent of love along with familial frustrations of those who are separated by time, place, and the ghosts of the past.
”I’ve got childhood stuck to my shoes.”
Through these letters, their stories are shared, their past, their hopes for the future, their frustrations with, and their love for, each other.
September 22, 2019
[4+] This slim, well paced novel left me breathless and teary. Poignant and funny - so much family dysfunction is packed into 161 pages! Sthers choreographs it all so well, I could imagine this novel on stage.
February 1, 2019
First, let me say thank you to both Debbie and Betsy, whose glowing reviews led me to hunt down a copy of a book I'd never heard of. They were both right about the humor and the message. I needed an "interim read" before heading into a longer book, and this fit the bill. I'm also a fan of epistilary novels because so much is revealed between the lines.
An interim read with depth. I got religious and political views from many of the letters that were presented with both humor and cynicism, but were enlightening nevertheless. But the real meat of this one were the family letters and emails shared between estranged father, mother, daughter and son. It's impossible to be part of a family, dysfunctional or not, without either being disappointed or doing the disappointing, so these letters strike a chord recognizable with everyone. Oh, those expectations........they get us every time!
I not only enjoyed reading this book, I got valuable insight from it as well. Can't ask for much more than that. The jacket indicates that this is being made into a film. Not sure it will translate that well, but sometimes Hollywood comes through, well have to see.
An interim read with depth. I got religious and political views from many of the letters that were presented with both humor and cynicism, but were enlightening nevertheless. But the real meat of this one were the family letters and emails shared between estranged father, mother, daughter and son. It's impossible to be part of a family, dysfunctional or not, without either being disappointed or doing the disappointing, so these letters strike a chord recognizable with everyone. Oh, those expectations........they get us every time!
I not only enjoyed reading this book, I got valuable insight from it as well. Can't ask for much more than that. The jacket indicates that this is being made into a film. Not sure it will translate that well, but sometimes Hollywood comes through, well have to see.
February 5, 2019
5 HUGE STARS!
This book slayed me with its phenomenal writing and for the emotions it rung out of me. This is a book of letters, between a father (Harry), who has “escaped “ to Israel, his ex wife, Monique and their two children, David and Annabelle. There are also letters between Harry and Rabbi Moshe. This book is an exploration of a disconnected family and of faith. But for a disconnected family, there is so much love for each other- all witnessed from their words to each other.
The writing is impeccable. I could have highlighted the entire book.
A few of my favourites:
“ Silence hurts less on paper.”
“ Things are happening in my life. I feel like you’ve missed twenty episodes from season five, and i thought i was your favourite series.....”
“ We never dream about tomorrow in Israel. We know that we’re mortal. But we try.”
“I treat hearts with words. I bandage their heartaches with my own. And I make them believe that, somewhere, happy stories exist.”
There is humour in this book, and there is so much feeling- I loved this family. I wish letter writing would come back into vogue. There is nothing like getting a letter from the ones you love.
I highly recommend this book
This book slayed me with its phenomenal writing and for the emotions it rung out of me. This is a book of letters, between a father (Harry), who has “escaped “ to Israel, his ex wife, Monique and their two children, David and Annabelle. There are also letters between Harry and Rabbi Moshe. This book is an exploration of a disconnected family and of faith. But for a disconnected family, there is so much love for each other- all witnessed from their words to each other.
The writing is impeccable. I could have highlighted the entire book.
A few of my favourites:
“ Silence hurts less on paper.”
“ Things are happening in my life. I feel like you’ve missed twenty episodes from season five, and i thought i was your favourite series.....”
“ We never dream about tomorrow in Israel. We know that we’re mortal. But we try.”
“I treat hearts with words. I bandage their heartaches with my own. And I make them believe that, somewhere, happy stories exist.”
There is humour in this book, and there is so much feeling- I loved this family. I wish letter writing would come back into vogue. There is nothing like getting a letter from the ones you love.
I highly recommend this book
November 21, 2019
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
4.5 Stars
Harry definitely wasn’t suffering from what most people would consider a typical sort of change in lifestyle that might be expected of a wealthy Jewish New York cardiologist of a certain age . . . . .
Instead . . . .
And now????
In Israel. He’s also engaging in quite the war of words with the local Rabbi.
This certainly won’t be a book for everyone, but I’m so happy to see that some of my most treasured Goodreads’ friends thought it was a gem just like I did. Told entirely via correspondence – both email and “snail mail” varieties – the current events of the entire Rosenmerck family are presented (and, of course, the Rabbi too) as they navigate their way through . . . .
Like the blurb states, Holy Lands is witty and heartwarming and it’s hard not to fall alittle lotta bit in love with the Rosenmercks. Between the epistolary format and its brevity there’s not much reason why a reader couldn’t get through it in one sitting – and that’s how you should do it, if possible. It’s kind of like digging through an old box in your grandma’s attic and discovering your family history in the hoard.
P.S. I just now saw that it is soon to be a movie. James Caan will be the perfect Harry!
4.5 Stars
Harry definitely wasn’t suffering from what most people would consider a typical sort of change in lifestyle that might be expected of a wealthy Jewish New York cardiologist of a certain age . . . . .
Instead . . . .
And now????
In Israel. He’s also engaging in quite the war of words with the local Rabbi.
This certainly won’t be a book for everyone, but I’m so happy to see that some of my most treasured Goodreads’ friends thought it was a gem just like I did. Told entirely via correspondence – both email and “snail mail” varieties – the current events of the entire Rosenmerck family are presented (and, of course, the Rabbi too) as they navigate their way through . . . .
Like the blurb states, Holy Lands is witty and heartwarming and it’s hard not to fall a
P.S. I just now saw that it is soon to be a movie. James Caan will be the perfect Harry!
April 30, 2019
A Jewish pig farmer in Israel oh my! This book was witty, laugh out loud but often sad and serious. Harry Rosenmerck was a very successful cardiologist who decided to leave his practice and become of all things a Jew raising pigs in Israel where of course Jewish and Muslim tradition forbids the consumption of pork. What's wrong with Harry? Is he crazy, has he lost his mind?
As this epistolary novel is read, we come to know Harry, his ex wife Monique, a convert to Judaism and also a woman battling a devastating illness, and Harry's children David, a homosexual playwright, and his daughter, Annabelle, who is struggling after a breakup. They all are far apart from one another, not only geographically but in all the ways a family in distress often find themselves. They communicate through letters, not those enclosed in an email, but those that are truly written which expose their problems, their memories, and the underlying love which seems to have gone astray.
Told with much humor and wit, this book shows the nature of family, often difficult but often possessing that thread that binds them all together. It a short book that touches on so much that may of us have come to experience as a family.
Thanks to my dear friend, Jan, for recommending this story to me.
As this epistolary novel is read, we come to know Harry, his ex wife Monique, a convert to Judaism and also a woman battling a devastating illness, and Harry's children David, a homosexual playwright, and his daughter, Annabelle, who is struggling after a breakup. They all are far apart from one another, not only geographically but in all the ways a family in distress often find themselves. They communicate through letters, not those enclosed in an email, but those that are truly written which expose their problems, their memories, and the underlying love which seems to have gone astray.
Told with much humor and wit, this book shows the nature of family, often difficult but often possessing that thread that binds them all together. It a short book that touches on so much that may of us have come to experience as a family.
Thanks to my dear friend, Jan, for recommending this story to me.
October 16, 2025
This book is about what so many books are about. It’s about being alive and being able to feel. It’s another story about how we all want to be loved. It’s about how much it sucks to witness and be subject to pain and suffering; physical, emotional, verbal, financial - take your pick.
Another main topic, or side effect of the above, is how hard it can often be to keep a family together. The main character in the book is one family. Everyone needs to feel validated and loved. There’s always resentment, anger, bitterness, a lack of compassion here, maybe an inconsiderate lack of interest over there. It seems to happen too often, I say.
I’ve seen the saying “time heals all wounds” be true many times. I’m wondering if it applies when it comes to issues within the immediate family.
This story, told through letters, is a family that throws these issues into the spotlight. There’s so much love and pain all jammed together.
We should never over estimate the value of common decency. Kindness and empathy. Here I am, human and imperfect, just like you. Just like you and everyone else! We should, at the very least, treat each other as such, yes?
But things seem to get in the way. Too often, something comes along and gets in the way.
Ok, enough of all that! I hope everyone is hanging in there, flipping pages and getting enough smiles. (waves hello and goodbye) (runs)
Another main topic, or side effect of the above, is how hard it can often be to keep a family together. The main character in the book is one family. Everyone needs to feel validated and loved. There’s always resentment, anger, bitterness, a lack of compassion here, maybe an inconsiderate lack of interest over there. It seems to happen too often, I say.
I’ve seen the saying “time heals all wounds” be true many times. I’m wondering if it applies when it comes to issues within the immediate family.
This story, told through letters, is a family that throws these issues into the spotlight. There’s so much love and pain all jammed together.
We should never over estimate the value of common decency. Kindness and empathy. Here I am, human and imperfect, just like you. Just like you and everyone else! We should, at the very least, treat each other as such, yes?
But things seem to get in the way. Too often, something comes along and gets in the way.
Ok, enough of all that! I hope everyone is hanging in there, flipping pages and getting enough smiles. (waves hello and goodbye) (runs)
January 28, 2019
Oh my, my, my, this book is brilliant, funny, moving, and a gift to readers of all stripes.
Amanda Sthers has written everything there is to say about families through the letters (it’s an epistolary novel) of the members of the estranged Rosenmerck family and their cohorts. She’s written real complex characters with authentic voices of pain and humor.
If you come from a strange or estranged family, you will love this. If you come from a functional family, I somehow think you’ll love this as well. If you are Jewish (religious or don’t even know the holidays), don’t think, don’t question, just buy this and wallow in it. If you are a Palestinian, same thing. If you want to understand the metaphor of Israel, my god, here it is explained in full. And if you ever imagined, no matter what your circumstances, that you could run away from whatever is or was your family, read this quote:
Amanda Sthers has written everything there is to say about families through the letters (it’s an epistolary novel) of the members of the estranged Rosenmerck family and their cohorts. She’s written real complex characters with authentic voices of pain and humor.
If you come from a strange or estranged family, you will love this. If you come from a functional family, I somehow think you’ll love this as well. If you are Jewish (religious or don’t even know the holidays), don’t think, don’t question, just buy this and wallow in it. If you are a Palestinian, same thing. If you want to understand the metaphor of Israel, my god, here it is explained in full. And if you ever imagined, no matter what your circumstances, that you could run away from whatever is or was your family, read this quote:
I wanted to be free of you, Dad, and Annabelle. I suppose that’s impossible. You are my prisoners and I am yours. We are a family. A family that writes each other, that doesn’t touch, that doesn’t breathe in aromas from the kitchen, but a family nonetheless. (157)
Read
March 29, 2024I read this book in one sitting! I laughed and cried, and just couldn't put it down. I don't read many epistolary novels, but this made me change my mind on the genre. I loved each member of the family, and eagerly waited to see who each letter would be to and from. Every voice was vivid and compelling.
Disclaimer: I work for the publisher, but my opinions are my own.
Disclaimer: I work for the publisher, but my opinions are my own.
January 3, 2020
The Rosenmerck family is scattered far and wide: Nazareth, London, New York, and a small town in France. They don't talk to each other. They communicate via letter. And a lot can change in a family over the course of a year of written exchanges.The set-up for this book pulled me right in. The parents have divorced; Harry has gone to Israel to raise pigs, while Monique has returned to her native France. Elder child David is engaged to a man and making a fortune writing hit plays, while Annabelle is working on apparently yet another master's degree and has just broken up with yet another married man old enough to be her father. Relations among the family members are not that great; estrangement, general unhappiness, and outright misery are discussed. Yet their letters to each other are highly and wryly entertaining (although a tad TMI; I'd never tell half the stuff in these letters to anyone in my own family, but maybe that's just me and them).
This was a combination of quirky and delightful; bittersweet and heartbreaking; and insightful, philosophical, and empathetic. And it probably deserves its nearly 4-star average rating.
However, I'm not a fan of two of the plot devices: (1) ; and (2) . I consider these to be cop-out story resolutions, and my review could just as easily be 2 stars on account of these two elements. I wish the author had let this family find reasons within themselves to reunite or at least re-warm to each other, rather than .
Slightly off-topic, the copy I read had a "Soon to be a major motion picture!" sticker on the front, and I'm at a loss trying to figure out how a movie could possibly capture the eccentric charm of the letters in this book. I'm afraid the movie will just play as a sap-fest. Totally off-topic, the author is apparently a French national treasure and looks like a supermodel. I found her jacket photo weirdly distracting. I kind of want to hate her, but can't when she writes this cleverly.
Thanks to Kelly’s review for putting this book on my radar. It was an enjoyable, quick New Year's Day read.
December 11, 2018
“Does keeping the memory fresh prevent history from repeating itself? Surely not. Memories are meant to be forgotten. History is meant to be repeated. That of Jews, of women, of Arabs, of people who suffer, of Little Red Riding Hood. And the grandmother always, always has sharp teeth.”
Seldom do I make a decision to read a galley based almost entirely on the book’s cover, but really. A dancing pig in the Holy Land? How can that story not be interesting? Big thanks go to Net Galley and Bloomsbury. This book will be available to the public January 22, 2019.
The whole book is a series of letters and emails sent between five characters. We have four family members: Harry and Monique are divorced, yet it’s one of those complicated divorces where there’s no clean break; David and Annabelle are their adult children. Harry is an American expatriate who has moved to Israel, but instead of embracing his culture and homeland in a more conventional way, he has opted to become a pig farmer in Nazareth, one of the few places in this Jewish nation where the animals are not straight up illegal. And so the fifth character is the rabbi, who entreats Harry to give up the pork business. He’s upsetting people, and he should respect his roots a little more. Jews have been through enough, nu? And before we know it, there’s mention of the Holocaust.
Harry wants to keep his pigs, and he thinks it is time for Jews to lighten up about the Holocaust, maybe tell a joke about it now and then. The rabbi is floored. Joke? About the Holocaust? And so it’s on.
You would think that with such edgy subject matter the story would veer over the boundary of good taste, but Sthers—who has many bestsellers to her credit, though this is her American debut—is deft, insightful and very, very funny. The prose is angry, hilarious, and aching all in turns, not unlike our feelings for our kin.
Families are such fertile territory, and this one is among the best fictional families in literature. David, Harry and Monique’s son, is a gay playwright whose father has not come to grips with David’s sexuality. David writes him endless letters; Harry won’t respond. We see how Harry thinks and feels about David through his correspondence with the rabbi, and with the things Annabelle learns when she comes for a visit. Meanwhile, David’s new play is about to open, and it’s titled “Kosher Pig.” It’s about his father. Oh, how he wants Harry to be there for the opening! But Harry remains incommunicado.
This is a slender little book, just 176 pages, and so I expected a casual romp, but it’s more than that. It’s a quick read, not because it’s lightweight literature but because it’s impossible to put down. I recommend you should get it and read it, and then…maybe you should call your parents. Better yet, go visit them.
Seldom do I make a decision to read a galley based almost entirely on the book’s cover, but really. A dancing pig in the Holy Land? How can that story not be interesting? Big thanks go to Net Galley and Bloomsbury. This book will be available to the public January 22, 2019.
The whole book is a series of letters and emails sent between five characters. We have four family members: Harry and Monique are divorced, yet it’s one of those complicated divorces where there’s no clean break; David and Annabelle are their adult children. Harry is an American expatriate who has moved to Israel, but instead of embracing his culture and homeland in a more conventional way, he has opted to become a pig farmer in Nazareth, one of the few places in this Jewish nation where the animals are not straight up illegal. And so the fifth character is the rabbi, who entreats Harry to give up the pork business. He’s upsetting people, and he should respect his roots a little more. Jews have been through enough, nu? And before we know it, there’s mention of the Holocaust.
Harry wants to keep his pigs, and he thinks it is time for Jews to lighten up about the Holocaust, maybe tell a joke about it now and then. The rabbi is floored. Joke? About the Holocaust? And so it’s on.
You would think that with such edgy subject matter the story would veer over the boundary of good taste, but Sthers—who has many bestsellers to her credit, though this is her American debut—is deft, insightful and very, very funny. The prose is angry, hilarious, and aching all in turns, not unlike our feelings for our kin.
Families are such fertile territory, and this one is among the best fictional families in literature. David, Harry and Monique’s son, is a gay playwright whose father has not come to grips with David’s sexuality. David writes him endless letters; Harry won’t respond. We see how Harry thinks and feels about David through his correspondence with the rabbi, and with the things Annabelle learns when she comes for a visit. Meanwhile, David’s new play is about to open, and it’s titled “Kosher Pig.” It’s about his father. Oh, how he wants Harry to be there for the opening! But Harry remains incommunicado.
This is a slender little book, just 176 pages, and so I expected a casual romp, but it’s more than that. It’s a quick read, not because it’s lightweight literature but because it’s impossible to put down. I recommend you should get it and read it, and then…maybe you should call your parents. Better yet, go visit them.
June 24, 2019
"Do you remember our summer vacation in Botswana? … The day before we left, we saw the Okavango River that crosses Namibia before arriving in Botswana. … People call it "the river that never finds the sea." … You were describing it to me as if I were a child, but at the same time, you were talking about me. I was the river that never finds the sea. … It can water whatever it likes. But it cuts off the cycle, and therefore life.
You see, Dad, I do love women. Like you love the lights on Christmas trees. They don't displease me—they even enchant me. But they're not presents for me. My presents come with strong hands and men's faces. Yes, men's faces. That's the way I am."
Told through sentimental letters, Holy Lands follows a Jewish father named Harry wanting asylum from the outcomes of his mistakes. He's fled his ailing ex-wife Monique and his unmarried, wanderlust of a daughter, Annabelle, but it is David, a rising playwright, to whom he hasn't spoken nor seen in six years since he revealed he is gay.
Harry is quite an obstinate, unlikeable character who never failed to disappoint me. He forgoes his estranged wife, who is intensely ill, judges his daughter's romantical choices and is especially critical of his son's sexuality. Despite their dysfunction, Harry's displaced prejudice bars him from making himself vulnerable to the fact that the members of his family are living outside the confines of the Jewish teachings he contemplates with Rabbi Moshe. It becomes evident that Harry, himself, is a walking contradiction — but this revelation arrives all too late. They always do.
This book took me through it all, even though I was upset throughout most of the story. Not because it was bad — Amanda Sthers' writing hit every soft spot I never knew was there — but because of how much it mimicked my own. Certainly, this book is less a gay coming-of-age than it is a story about a family clinging on to one another for dear life, but that's how it read for me.
Nevertheless, Harry really bothered me. Empathy doesn't come easily for him in the way of his wife and children unless he is pressured, and I could not respect that. Acceptance is one thing, but to willfully disown a child because of who they are is the most disgraceful offense a parent can commit. That sort of neglect can be forgiven, but the side effects will stay with them forever. I should know. I sound upset — and I am, in a good way — because Sthers' true-to-life depiction of a family's being held hostage to their religious and cultural beliefs was so familiar to me it hurt.
God bless, Annabelle. She was shamelessly herself and her introspection was so pure and honest. She loved shamelessly, she lived brazenly, all while keeping herself, and her family, from going over the deep end. I love her and adored the way she comforted David through his predicament — because even by book's end I wanted to know where these characters' stories would go after the final page.
That is the sign of an unforgettable novel, which Sthers has crafted so eloquently here.
(Thank you, Bloomsbury, for gifting me an advanced edition for review. ❤️)
If you liked my review, feel free to follow me @parisperusing on Instagram.
You see, Dad, I do love women. Like you love the lights on Christmas trees. They don't displease me—they even enchant me. But they're not presents for me. My presents come with strong hands and men's faces. Yes, men's faces. That's the way I am."
Told through sentimental letters, Holy Lands follows a Jewish father named Harry wanting asylum from the outcomes of his mistakes. He's fled his ailing ex-wife Monique and his unmarried, wanderlust of a daughter, Annabelle, but it is David, a rising playwright, to whom he hasn't spoken nor seen in six years since he revealed he is gay.
Harry is quite an obstinate, unlikeable character who never failed to disappoint me. He forgoes his estranged wife, who is intensely ill, judges his daughter's romantical choices and is especially critical of his son's sexuality. Despite their dysfunction, Harry's displaced prejudice bars him from making himself vulnerable to the fact that the members of his family are living outside the confines of the Jewish teachings he contemplates with Rabbi Moshe. It becomes evident that Harry, himself, is a walking contradiction — but this revelation arrives all too late. They always do.
This book took me through it all, even though I was upset throughout most of the story. Not because it was bad — Amanda Sthers' writing hit every soft spot I never knew was there — but because of how much it mimicked my own. Certainly, this book is less a gay coming-of-age than it is a story about a family clinging on to one another for dear life, but that's how it read for me.
Nevertheless, Harry really bothered me. Empathy doesn't come easily for him in the way of his wife and children unless he is pressured, and I could not respect that. Acceptance is one thing, but to willfully disown a child because of who they are is the most disgraceful offense a parent can commit. That sort of neglect can be forgiven, but the side effects will stay with them forever. I should know. I sound upset — and I am, in a good way — because Sthers' true-to-life depiction of a family's being held hostage to their religious and cultural beliefs was so familiar to me it hurt.
God bless, Annabelle. She was shamelessly herself and her introspection was so pure and honest. She loved shamelessly, she lived brazenly, all while keeping herself, and her family, from going over the deep end. I love her and adored the way she comforted David through his predicament — because even by book's end I wanted to know where these characters' stories would go after the final page.
That is the sign of an unforgettable novel, which Sthers has crafted so eloquently here.
(Thank you, Bloomsbury, for gifting me an advanced edition for review. ❤️)
If you liked my review, feel free to follow me @parisperusing on Instagram.
April 19, 2019
I love a good epistolary novel and this is a great one! I was pretty much sold on the concept of a dark comedy about a Jewish pig farmer in Israel. I hoped for something Tropper-esque and was richly rewarded. Amanda Sthers is smart and funny, but more importantly, she understands people. This dysfunctional family engaged me a melted my heart.
The letters between the aforementioned pig farmer, his brilliant gay son, his searching and heartbroken daughter and his angry and vulnerable ex-wife are a powder keg of emotion. Throw in missives from a rabbi and I had myself a true winner.
I laughed out loud as I zipped through the letter and email exchanges, when, almost without my realizing it, I found I had tears in my eyes and the truth and emotion and heartache underlying everything. Sthers handles this shift so deftly I was caught unawares and all the more appreciative. I hope more of her work is either translated or forthcoming in english. Loved it.
The letters between the aforementioned pig farmer, his brilliant gay son, his searching and heartbroken daughter and his angry and vulnerable ex-wife are a powder keg of emotion. Throw in missives from a rabbi and I had myself a true winner.
I laughed out loud as I zipped through the letter and email exchanges, when, almost without my realizing it, I found I had tears in my eyes and the truth and emotion and heartache underlying everything. Sthers handles this shift so deftly I was caught unawares and all the more appreciative. I hope more of her work is either translated or forthcoming in english. Loved it.
November 7, 2018
I'm not sure what readers French author Amanda Sthers was writing for in her novel, "Holy Lands". The book, which is being made into a movie, is a curious mixture of classic family dysfunction mixed with pork, used here as a seasoning. "Holy Lands" is set in both Nazereth, Israel (which is one of the few places in Israel where pigs can be raised), New York City, and. variously, Marrakesh and Paris. The characters flit between the cities with very little intention of acting as a family. Everyone's mad or disappointed with most everyone else and they find it easier to communicate by mail - either snail mail or, in some cases, email.
There aren't very many epistolary novels being written lately. The best I can think of is British author Nigel Williams' sly and glorious novel, "Unfaithfully Yours", whose letters between characters are laugh-out-loud funny. Williams was able to concoct a fairly plausible plot point for why the letters were being written; Amanda Sthers' reasons for the letters is that Dr Harry Rosenmerck has moved to Israel to raise pigs and doesn't want a phone or a computer with email connection. And this inability to communicate in modern terms is devastating for the Rosenmerck family, which consists of divorced parents and two adult children. The children are almost caricatures of today's dysfunctional family members. David is gay and brilliant, but has problems communicating with his father who has practically disowned him. And Annabelle is the 30 year old "child", who goes through life, unable - or unwilling - to settle down and begin to embrace adulthood. These are characters seen in almost every book about dysfunctional families. The parents are divorced, which is, of course, the reason for their children's problems. (But being the child of a father-who-has-a-pig-farm-in-Israel can't be too helpful to family dynamics...)
Okay, so Amanda Sthers book - which is quite short - is another book about a dysfunctional family with a failure to communicate. The plot has been a staple of literature since, like, forever, and has been done better before now. I can sort of recommend the book if you have some free time to begin to get involved with the Rosenmercks. Though, I'd really advise your picking up "Unfaithfully Yours" if you want to read an epistolary novel about dysfunctional people.
There aren't very many epistolary novels being written lately. The best I can think of is British author Nigel Williams' sly and glorious novel, "Unfaithfully Yours", whose letters between characters are laugh-out-loud funny. Williams was able to concoct a fairly plausible plot point for why the letters were being written; Amanda Sthers' reasons for the letters is that Dr Harry Rosenmerck has moved to Israel to raise pigs and doesn't want a phone or a computer with email connection. And this inability to communicate in modern terms is devastating for the Rosenmerck family, which consists of divorced parents and two adult children. The children are almost caricatures of today's dysfunctional family members. David is gay and brilliant, but has problems communicating with his father who has practically disowned him. And Annabelle is the 30 year old "child", who goes through life, unable - or unwilling - to settle down and begin to embrace adulthood. These are characters seen in almost every book about dysfunctional families. The parents are divorced, which is, of course, the reason for their children's problems. (But being the child of a father-who-has-a-pig-farm-in-Israel can't be too helpful to family dynamics...)
Okay, so Amanda Sthers book - which is quite short - is another book about a dysfunctional family with a failure to communicate. The plot has been a staple of literature since, like, forever, and has been done better before now. I can sort of recommend the book if you have some free time to begin to get involved with the Rosenmercks. Though, I'd really advise your picking up "Unfaithfully Yours" if you want to read an epistolary novel about dysfunctional people.
May 27, 2019
A quick read, with a few good moments but overall pretty average.
November 1, 2018
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
This is a very interesting piece of work. Not the kind of thing I normally read, but the writing and narration sucked me in and I read the whole work in one night in a couple of hours. (Much faster than my usual reading pace.) Something about the family and the struggles just felt very real and struck a chord with me.
The book is part religious, part family drama, and part pure silliness. How much it is of each of these parts largely depends on whose letter you are reading, as the book is simply a series of letters and emails sent from different family members (and the occasional Rabbi). I quite enjoyed the back and forth between the father and the Rabbi, those were definitely my favorite passages!
A couple of things stuck out to me as unrealistic. For the most part, though, it makes for a very believable, very enjoyable family drama.
This is a very interesting piece of work. Not the kind of thing I normally read, but the writing and narration sucked me in and I read the whole work in one night in a couple of hours. (Much faster than my usual reading pace.) Something about the family and the struggles just felt very real and struck a chord with me.
The book is part religious, part family drama, and part pure silliness. How much it is of each of these parts largely depends on whose letter you are reading, as the book is simply a series of letters and emails sent from different family members (and the occasional Rabbi). I quite enjoyed the back and forth between the father and the Rabbi, those were definitely my favorite passages!
A couple of things stuck out to me as unrealistic. For the most part, though, it makes for a very believable, very enjoyable family drama.
February 12, 2019
Holy Lands is outlandish, it is heartbreaking, and it is authentic. It is a wonderful read for anyone who loves family drama (think The Nest) or if you love epistolary novels (like The Divorce Papers), then don’t forget to add this short gem your to-be-read list.
Thanks to the publisher for the advance reading copy.
Thanks to the publisher for the advance reading copy.
September 30, 2019
4.5, rounded up.
Oddly I came to this after seeing the film adaptation (both written AND directed by the author - overachiever much?), which I didn't actually think much of, but since I learned it was based on a very short epistolary novel, which I generally adore, I was intrigued. Needless to say, I found the book much, MUCH more enjoyable: brisk, funny, touching, wise - just a real pleasure to read. And she accomplishes something that is a very difficult trick in these kinds of books: each character has their own unique writing style. And you can't help loving a character like Harry - A Jewish cardiologist who emigrates to Israel ... to start a pig farm.
Oddly I came to this after seeing the film adaptation (both written AND directed by the author - overachiever much?), which I didn't actually think much of, but since I learned it was based on a very short epistolary novel, which I generally adore, I was intrigued. Needless to say, I found the book much, MUCH more enjoyable: brisk, funny, touching, wise - just a real pleasure to read. And she accomplishes something that is a very difficult trick in these kinds of books: each character has their own unique writing style. And you can't help loving a character like Harry - A Jewish cardiologist who emigrates to Israel ... to start a pig farm.
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