This novel is inspired by a true historical event. Before Theodore
Herzl there was Mordecai Manuel Noah, an American journalist,
diplomat, playwright, and visionary. In September 1825 he bought
Grand Island, downriver from Niagara Falls, from the local Native
Americans as a place of refuge for the Jewish people and called it
"Ararat." But no Jews came. What if they had followed Noah's call?
In Nava Semel's alternate history Jews from throughout the world
flee persecution and come to Ararat. Isra Isle becomes the smallest
state in the US. Israel does not exist, and there was no Holocaust.
In exploring this what-if scenario, Semel stimulates new thinking
about memory, Jewish/Israeli identity, attitudes toward minorities,
women in top political positions, and the place of cultural
heritage. The novel is divided into three parts. Part 1, a
detective story, opens in September 2001 when Liam Emanuel, an
Israeli descendant of Noah, learns about and inherits this island.
He leaves Israel intending to reclaim this "Promised Land" in
America. Shortly after he arrives in America Liam disappears. Simon
T. Lenox, a Native American police investigator, tries to recover
Israel's "missing son." Part 2 flashes back to the time and events
surrounding Mordecai Noah's purchase of the island from the local
Native Americans. Part 3 poses an alternate history: the rise of a
successful modern Jewish city-state, Isra Isle, on the northern New
York and Canadian border--a metropolis that looks remarkably like
New York City both before and after 9/11--in which the Jewish
female governor campaigns to become president of the United States.
Nava Semel has published novels, short stories, poetry, plays,
children's books, and a number of TV scripts. Her books have been
translated and published in many countries. Her book, Becoming
Gershona, received the 1990 National Jewish Book Award in the US.
General
Imprint: |
Mandel Vilar Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
October 2016 |
Authors: |
Nava Semel
|
Translators: |
Jessica Cohen
|
Dimensions: |
228 x 139 x 23mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
240 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-942134-19-0 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
General
|
LSN: |
1-942134-19-3 |
Barcode: |
9781942134190 |
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