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Fiicele Ierusalimului
Intre timp, Eve, fiica ei cea mare si desteapta, isi savureaza gelozia, pana cand dezgustul fata de unica ei sora o aduce la un pas de crima. In acest climat de reprimare si amaraciune patrunde Raymond Snow, rivalul de moarte al sotului lui Jean, care profita de vulnerabila Eve. Intre timp, prietena cea mai buna a lui Jean, Helena, tanjeste sa marturiseasca ceva - o confesiune care le poate schimba viata tuturor.
443 pages, Paperback
First published February 6, 2004
44 people are currently reading
523 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Mendelson
14 books115 followersCharlotte Mendelson (born 1972) is a British novelist and editor. Her maternal grandparents were, in her words, "Hungarian-speaking-Czech, Ruthenian for about 10 minutes, Carpathian mountain-y, impossible to describe", who left Prague in 1939.
When she was two, she moved with her parents and her baby sister to a house in a cobbled passage next to St John's College, Oxford, where her father taught public international law.
After the King's School, Canterbury,she studied Ancient and Modern History at the University of Oxford, even though she knows now, with great regret, that what would have suited her best was English literature at somewhere like Leeds.
She says she became a lesbian suddenly. "It was boyfriends up to 22 or 23. Not a whiff of lesbianism. Not even a thought. But I'm very all or nothing. It was all that, and now it's all this. There was about a 10-minute cross-over period of uncertainty, but it was really not that bad."
She has two children with the journalist and novelist Joanna Briscoe.
She won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 2003 and the Somerset Maugham Award in 2004 for her second novel Daughters of Jerusalem. She was shortlisted for the Sunday Times 'Young Writer of the Year Award in 2003.She contributes regularly to the TLS, the Guardian, the Independent on Sunday and the Observer. She is an editor at the publishers Headline Review. She was placed 60th on the Independent on Sunday Pink List 2007
When she was two, she moved with her parents and her baby sister to a house in a cobbled passage next to St John's College, Oxford, where her father taught public international law.
After the King's School, Canterbury,she studied Ancient and Modern History at the University of Oxford, even though she knows now, with great regret, that what would have suited her best was English literature at somewhere like Leeds.
She says she became a lesbian suddenly. "It was boyfriends up to 22 or 23. Not a whiff of lesbianism. Not even a thought. But I'm very all or nothing. It was all that, and now it's all this. There was about a 10-minute cross-over period of uncertainty, but it was really not that bad."
She has two children with the journalist and novelist Joanna Briscoe.
She won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 2003 and the Somerset Maugham Award in 2004 for her second novel Daughters of Jerusalem. She was shortlisted for the Sunday Times 'Young Writer of the Year Award in 2003.She contributes regularly to the TLS, the Guardian, the Independent on Sunday and the Observer. She is an editor at the publishers Headline Review. She was placed 60th on the Independent on Sunday Pink List 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
January 27, 2015
This was a book chosen at random. Although I finished it, I was left feeling that my time had been wasted on what turned out to be a truly boring book. I give myself praise for finishing it though lol
November 14, 2014
Charlotte Mendelson seems to be writing the same story over and over again, and this is basically just a variation of Love in idleness and Almost English - one more novel about an ill-fitting young woman/girl surrounded by a highly dysfunctional family.
The protagonist, Anna, is an aimless, awkward, underachieving girl, who hates her spoiled, pampered self-centered sister, and craves for the attention of her parents. The parents favour the younger sister, Phoebe, to a degree that is comical, and she is so hideous a person she is completely unbelievable. Phoebe seems to take after their mother - a woman who is completely oblivious to what is going on with her daughters and incredibly self-centered. The mother meets Virginia Woolf-esque science writer and wanders of to experiment with her sexuality, while both of the daughters are seduced by their father's old academic rival. This is perhaps the least believable aspect of the story - the girls are 14 and 16 respectively, and seem to be doing lots to things that simply don't ring true. Phoebe goes to a restaurant with a 50-something man and drinks wine there, she rides on her pony across Oxford to her father's college and insults the principal there, she sits in a tree doing drugs while her parents are hosting a departmental garden party. She gets away with everything, and is taken to Paris for a shopping trip to boot.
When the parents finally find out about their daughters' encounters with a much, much older man, the mother barely reacts. She chooses to move in with her lover, and doesn't even think that she should take both daughters with her, until her new partner points out that maybe, just maybe, Anna might want to live with her mother too.
Despite the horrible characters and unsatisfying ending, this is a fairly entertaining read - like all of Mendelson's books. She has a simple but highly readable writing style, and the story stays together very well.
The protagonist, Anna, is an aimless, awkward, underachieving girl, who hates her spoiled, pampered self-centered sister, and craves for the attention of her parents. The parents favour the younger sister, Phoebe, to a degree that is comical, and she is so hideous a person she is completely unbelievable. Phoebe seems to take after their mother - a woman who is completely oblivious to what is going on with her daughters and incredibly self-centered. The mother meets Virginia Woolf-esque science writer and wanders of to experiment with her sexuality, while both of the daughters are seduced by their father's old academic rival. This is perhaps the least believable aspect of the story - the girls are 14 and 16 respectively, and seem to be doing lots to things that simply don't ring true. Phoebe goes to a restaurant with a 50-something man and drinks wine there, she rides on her pony across Oxford to her father's college and insults the principal there, she sits in a tree doing drugs while her parents are hosting a departmental garden party. She gets away with everything, and is taken to Paris for a shopping trip to boot.
When the parents finally find out about their daughters' encounters with a much, much older man, the mother barely reacts. She chooses to move in with her lover, and doesn't even think that she should take both daughters with her, until her new partner points out that maybe, just maybe, Anna might want to live with her mother too.
Despite the horrible characters and unsatisfying ending, this is a fairly entertaining read - like all of Mendelson's books. She has a simple but highly readable writing style, and the story stays together very well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 4, 2022
‘A children’s tea party in the land that style forgot’. What an interesting line to start this book. Unfortunately it went downhill after that. All those spoken unfinished sentences, all those interrupted ones, all those bad parents. As for Helena’s secret, well, it was obvious what it was, as soon as we encountered her . A disappointment, especially after it was recommended by India Knight.
January 18, 2010
Charlotte Mendelson seems to specialize in writing about dysfunctional families. And boy, did she ever pick a dysfunctional one for this novel.
I can't even begin to say what all isn't working right for the Lux family. The father lives in his head, the mother seems totally lost, the teenage daughters can't stand each other, which I guess is in the range of normal, but the degree in which they make each others' lives miserable certainly is not.
The most fascinating theme in this book is that how you perceive yourself is most certainly not the way others see you, and as a reader it was really fun to piece these puzzles together to form my own image of these characters. All this amongst two affairs, one of them of the lesbian persuasion, thoughts of suicide and murder and jealousy.
The novel is set in Oxford and is decidedly English. I'm not sure what exactly it is, but the characters can't be anything but. The characters are quirky and some downright weird and not necessarily likable. The language has a lyrical quality to it that is a joy to read.
Great read.
I can't even begin to say what all isn't working right for the Lux family. The father lives in his head, the mother seems totally lost, the teenage daughters can't stand each other, which I guess is in the range of normal, but the degree in which they make each others' lives miserable certainly is not.
The most fascinating theme in this book is that how you perceive yourself is most certainly not the way others see you, and as a reader it was really fun to piece these puzzles together to form my own image of these characters. All this amongst two affairs, one of them of the lesbian persuasion, thoughts of suicide and murder and jealousy.
The novel is set in Oxford and is decidedly English. I'm not sure what exactly it is, but the characters can't be anything but. The characters are quirky and some downright weird and not necessarily likable. The language has a lyrical quality to it that is a joy to read.
Great read.
April 7, 2018
There is a lot to think about in this book, it is partly about family relationships and how we see each other. There was plenty to laugh out loud to as well. Victor is an older academic at Oxford who teaches relatively obscure history, his wife, Jean also works there transcribing dull original papers for another historian. Jean is intelligent and bored. They have 2 teenage daughters who are complete opposites of each other. Eve is 16, studying for A levels and extremely bright. She is desperate for attention and feels passed over in favour of younger sister, Phoebe. Phoebe is a dim, spoiled brat who feels she is owed the world and doesn't mind taking as much of it as she can get. Enter Raymond Snow and all hell breaks lose. He is a contemporary of Victor, they studied and later taught together. His arrival back in Oxford is a catalyst to chaos. A fascinating book that I would happily reread some day. Don't read it if you are easily shocked.
December 22, 2015
This was a bit pathetic. It is described as a "farce" but it seems to be based on the lives of people who are so weird that they can't possibly exist. Some of the "humour" seems to me to be very cruel. If the much-vaunted "dysfunctional family" is really typical in any way, then surely the whole of Oxford would cease to function. The conversations are stilted and don't resemble anything like the way people speak. And we never find out what happens to poor Victor, who redeems himself in the end. It seems to me that Charlotte Mendelson was so enamoured of her writing, that she totally failed to create any kind of believable world or believable characters - except for the obnoxious Phoebe.
September 9, 2022
The Lux family is falling apart. Victor Lux, an Oxford don, is watching his career go down the drain as an old rival returns to his college. His wife Jean is staggered by a revelation from her best friend, and their two very different teenage daughters are at each other's throats.
A horrifying and sometimes funny novel of a dysfunctional family caught in a sea of misunderstandings. Reading it is like watching a car crash in slow motion, although some hope remains. Very well written – I didn’t always find it believable, but perhaps it’s not meant to be. I certainly hope it’s not based on reality!
A horrifying and sometimes funny novel of a dysfunctional family caught in a sea of misunderstandings. Reading it is like watching a car crash in slow motion, although some hope remains. Very well written – I didn’t always find it believable, but perhaps it’s not meant to be. I certainly hope it’s not based on reality!
July 2, 2017
Picked this one up because of the supposed brilliance, excitement and humour of the text. I did not find myself laughing, nor engrossed. Toying with giving it two stars since the story does somehow flow, but finally opted for one star. One for the bin.
June 11, 2017
Fairly enjoyable...I liked the writing style but overall there was a breathless chaos experienced by all the characters and it was all a bit overwhelming and anxiety provoking
August 29, 2021
I’m going to try to write this review without spoilers, though it might make my thoughts come across as vague. This book is mostly well written. I think my praise might end there.
None of the characters are likeable; I don’t need likeable characters to enjoy a book, but then I feel like it must go somewhere. I think it wasn’t until Helena’s secret was revealed that it felt like there was momentum - that was about 100 pages in (though the fact that a secret exists is mentioned any time we switch to Helena’s storyline). And the secret was somewhat expected - or it was no shock.
Every time I thought, oh hey, this is getting good, it didn’t. The author would jump to a different storyline that became repetitive, boring it unbelievable.
One review called this story ‘redemptive,’ which, upon finishing it, I wholeheartedly disagree. Perhaps Victor finally gets likeable for reacting to things the way he did and shedding off his absent parenting approach; but Jean is selfish and is repulsed by her daughter, Eve, whilst she spoils her daughter, Phoebe. I’m not a mother but I can tell she’s not a very good one. Phoebe is an absolutely horrid human, which makes the climax and denouement farfetched. Perhaps if the author hadn’t given us internal monologues I could see it, but instead it just feels like a poorly concluded way to wrap things up. And then there’s Eve, poor little Eve. I felt sorry for her throughout, clearly suffering from poor mental health; and is it a surprise that she’s so unwell, when she is so unloved by her family? You just want her to catch a break, and even when it seems she does, it’s so clearly wrong and toxic (and you’d be foolish to think that it was going to be okay). Then, as you reach this climactic moment, which I suppose was intended to be exciting (also a word used in the aforementioned review), you’re left with, in my opinion, the most unbelievable interaction. And there were many unbelievable moments and interactions.
In fact, as I’ve written this, I’ve downgraded my score from 2 stars to 1 star, because, frankly, the book was frustrating. At some point my husband looked at me reading it and said, “that’s a face that says you’re not enjoying that book.” I tried to argue it was my resting (reading?) bitch face, but he was right. I didn’t want to admit it because he told me I wasn’t going to like the book based on its cover, but I’m stubborn and wanted to prove the contrary.
ETA: I just remembered another thing that annoyed me: the dialogue. It was really great at first, quite realistic - awkward people tripping up on each other's words, not finishing sentences, etc. But then it got old. Surely not every character knows what the other is thinking - I sure didn't, and I would have loved that technique to have died out after the second time it was used.
None of the characters are likeable; I don’t need likeable characters to enjoy a book, but then I feel like it must go somewhere. I think it wasn’t until Helena’s secret was revealed that it felt like there was momentum - that was about 100 pages in (though the fact that a secret exists is mentioned any time we switch to Helena’s storyline). And the secret was somewhat expected - or it was no shock.
Every time I thought, oh hey, this is getting good, it didn’t. The author would jump to a different storyline that became repetitive, boring it unbelievable.
One review called this story ‘redemptive,’ which, upon finishing it, I wholeheartedly disagree. Perhaps Victor finally gets likeable for reacting to things the way he did and shedding off his absent parenting approach; but Jean is selfish and is repulsed by her daughter, Eve, whilst she spoils her daughter, Phoebe. I’m not a mother but I can tell she’s not a very good one. Phoebe is an absolutely horrid human, which makes the climax and denouement farfetched. Perhaps if the author hadn’t given us internal monologues I could see it, but instead it just feels like a poorly concluded way to wrap things up. And then there’s Eve, poor little Eve. I felt sorry for her throughout, clearly suffering from poor mental health; and is it a surprise that she’s so unwell, when she is so unloved by her family? You just want her to catch a break, and even when it seems she does, it’s so clearly wrong and toxic (and you’d be foolish to think that it was going to be okay). Then, as you reach this climactic moment, which I suppose was intended to be exciting (also a word used in the aforementioned review), you’re left with, in my opinion, the most unbelievable interaction. And there were many unbelievable moments and interactions.
In fact, as I’ve written this, I’ve downgraded my score from 2 stars to 1 star, because, frankly, the book was frustrating. At some point my husband looked at me reading it and said, “that’s a face that says you’re not enjoying that book.” I tried to argue it was my resting (reading?) bitch face, but he was right. I didn’t want to admit it because he told me I wasn’t going to like the book based on its cover, but I’m stubborn and wanted to prove the contrary.
ETA: I just remembered another thing that annoyed me: the dialogue. It was really great at first, quite realistic - awkward people tripping up on each other's words, not finishing sentences, etc. But then it got old. Surely not every character knows what the other is thinking - I sure didn't, and I would have loved that technique to have died out after the second time it was used.
June 11, 2017
A couple of years ago I read Almost English by Charlotte Mendelson and gave it a bad review because of the inept style of writing wherein she never has a character complete a whole sentence. When I picked up Daughters of Jerusalem I hoped she had become a better writer and as a matter of fact the first part of the book was really good. However, as the story evolved that nasty habit of hers reappeared: Unfinished sentences, lots of ums and ahhs, no one manages to hold a conversation without being interrupted. Actually, no one manages to say a complete sentence without being interrupted.
The story of a very strange family: Mother Jean, who is suffocating in her 17 year marriage to Victor, the epitome of the absent minded professor, he's the father, father of their two daughters, 16 year old Eve and 14 year old Phoebe. Eve is smart but doesn't know it, Phoebe is beautiful and knows it and uses her beauty to wrest from her parents whatever she wants. Then there are the outsiders, Prof. Raymond Snow, with whom Jean had an affair years before she realized that Victor was serious, her best friend Helena who serves as the catalyst for Jeans actions throughout the rest of the book. The story could have been interesting, indeed, excellent, if not for that mannerism of this writer. I cringed throughout. Charlotte Mendelson still has a way to go.
The story of a very strange family: Mother Jean, who is suffocating in her 17 year marriage to Victor, the epitome of the absent minded professor, he's the father, father of their two daughters, 16 year old Eve and 14 year old Phoebe. Eve is smart but doesn't know it, Phoebe is beautiful and knows it and uses her beauty to wrest from her parents whatever she wants. Then there are the outsiders, Prof. Raymond Snow, with whom Jean had an affair years before she realized that Victor was serious, her best friend Helena who serves as the catalyst for Jeans actions throughout the rest of the book. The story could have been interesting, indeed, excellent, if not for that mannerism of this writer. I cringed throughout. Charlotte Mendelson still has a way to go.
June 11, 2024
This book is a very slow start to the point I almost gave up, as it doesn’t really do anything to draw you in, then part way through the book, the approach changes at it feels like there is a desperate effort to thrown more and more ‘shocks’ in, to make up for the start. I was chatting to a co-worker who guessed what was going to happen to the older daughter, before I even said it.
The characters seem overwritten, to exaggerate their fairly one-sided faults (other than maybe Jean) - however she seems to be obsessed with one daughter and hate the other, I’m not sure this feels in any way realistic- although maybe the author is letting out some of her own issues and it’s true!
The family seem ‘respectable’ yet let the younger daughter get away with anything and are happy to let her room become a cesspit - way behind what I think anyone would think is ok!
The final exchanges between the girls seem like they were written for much younger children and doesn’t really fit.
Overall I was very pleased to finsh the book.
The characters seem overwritten, to exaggerate their fairly one-sided faults (other than maybe Jean) - however she seems to be obsessed with one daughter and hate the other, I’m not sure this feels in any way realistic- although maybe the author is letting out some of her own issues and it’s true!
The family seem ‘respectable’ yet let the younger daughter get away with anything and are happy to let her room become a cesspit - way behind what I think anyone would think is ok!
The final exchanges between the girls seem like they were written for much younger children and doesn’t really fit.
Overall I was very pleased to finsh the book.
January 7, 2021
Unfortunately Charlotte Mendelson seems to be writing the same book again and again. I might have actually enjoyed this more if I hadn’t read her other work, as I found this a poorer version of Almost English and When We Were Bad and nearly DNF.
There are redeeming features. Mendelson is technically a very good writer, and her work is full of sharply observed social comedy. I also enjoyed the discussion of sibling rivalry and liked and sympathised with both of the sisters.
But: there is far too much tell rather than show, the characters especially the parents all tended towards extremely unlikeable caricatures, and the Oxbridge dons/ upper class English setting is insular and alienating. Mendelson has clearly decided that her niche is writing tragi-comedy about dysfunctional families, but I prefer a plot which moves forwards and where issues are actually resolved.
There are redeeming features. Mendelson is technically a very good writer, and her work is full of sharply observed social comedy. I also enjoyed the discussion of sibling rivalry and liked and sympathised with both of the sisters.
But: there is far too much tell rather than show, the characters especially the parents all tended towards extremely unlikeable caricatures, and the Oxbridge dons/ upper class English setting is insular and alienating. Mendelson has clearly decided that her niche is writing tragi-comedy about dysfunctional families, but I prefer a plot which moves forwards and where issues are actually resolved.
October 19, 2022
I really liked this book, but found it a slow read at first. I had started it and read a few pages at a time for a while, then picked up again and realised I couldn't remember any of the earlier passages. So I went back and speed-read up to where I'd stopped, and then it made a lot more sense. From then on I blazed through the rest of the book. I warmed gradually to the central character, Eve. hated her sister, as I was meant to. I really enjoyed the climax, when several strands of the plot came together. The writer is particularly good at accurately recording awkward, emotional exchanges. Too often the characters in books argue using perfect grammar and well-thought-through phrases, because this is the easiest way for an author to pass on their inner feelings and advance the plot. But real life conversations, especially those loaded with emotion, are far less articulate, with more pauses and erms and ahs (and lots more swearing). I also commend the way the author reflects the multiple viewpoints of a single situation, illustrating how often we completely misinterpret the emotions and motivations of those closest to us. Great stuff.
July 29, 2024
Classic Mendelson, dysfucnctional family stuff. This time, set in Oxford academia, with a distracted academic father, a mother on the brink of a new life, a studious older daughter and a wayward younger daughter, competing for their parents' attention and approval. And then it starts to wrong.... With humourous moments alongside frustration with the incompetent parents, there are some great insights into the tensions of being a teenaged girl.
September 12, 2021
Reasonably engrossing novel of dysfunctional family relationships, secrets and misunderstandings set in and around Oxford University. I enjoyed the quirkier aspects of place and character, and the second half built up suspense nicely but also felt it missed some opportunities to develop the characters to be a bit more sympathetic.
April 28, 2024
Lovely novel about a dysfunctional family living in the shadow of Oxford University. Brilliantly original but tight descriptive prose. Could have done without the confusing prologue and had a bit more of the father's tragic family history and less lingering on 'the secret' but nevertheless an enjoyable read.
May 28, 2018
I really enjoyed Almost English but struggled with this. I'm not sure why but mainly I found it impossible to identify with any of the characters. The humour was cruel in places and somewhat smug and so left field sometimes as to be meaningless.
May 13, 2020
I read a review just as I started reading this book and it almost put me off finishing it. I’m glad I persevered. I enjoyed it. Lots of teen angst and harassed mums trying to cope. All set against the backdrop of a prestigious university with a newly-introduced wolf stalking the females.
August 16, 2024
I actually found the interpersonal relationships in this quite uncomfortable - a vivid portrait of a family who can't communicate and push each others buttons. Becomes more melodramatic towards the end, overall enjoyed reading.
July 14, 2025
3.5 stars? Just short of 4? I really did not enjoy the ‘showdown’ with the sisters- but the other confrontations were very satisfying. But have to say the writing about Jean and Helena’s burgeoning affair is very, very well done and believable. Enjoyed this.
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February 19, 2019Weird writing style but quite a story, a fucked up story. Literally.
March 5, 2023
Mie mi-a plăcut cartea aceasta.
Nu a fost rea.
Nu a fost rea.
April 17, 2023
Well written, but none of the characters were sympathetic, I assume deliberately so, which I can appreciate but for me makes a book less enjoyable.
September 3, 2023
It took me a while to decide on a rating for this. I've erred towards generous.
Disturbing story.
Disturbing story.
July 18, 2024
wtffff so much happened
December 13, 2024
Would’ve liked a trigger warning for a certain unpleasant theme that I should’ve picked up on from the blurb. Don’t want to read about that sort of stuff so DNF at 80% to save my mind.
September 21, 2025
It took me a while to decide on a rating for this. I've erred towards generous.
Disturbing story.
Disturbing story.
June 26, 2024
Odd book. Felt a bit like AS Byatt at first. All very odd family, unlikeable and useless.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews