Title: Wherever You Go
Author: Joan Leegant
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition
Publication Date: July 25, 2011
Paperback: 253 pages
ISBN: 978-0393339895
Genre: Historical Fiction
From the back of the book:
In this sweeping and beautifully written novel, Joan Leegant weaves together three lives caught in the grip of a volatile and uncompromising faith. Yona Stern has traveled to Jerusalem from New York to make amends with her sister, a stoic mother of five dedicated to the hard-line West Bank settlement cause. Mark Greenglass, a gifted Talmud teacher and a former drug dealer saved by religion, has lost his passion and wonders if he’s done with God. Enter Aaron Blinder, an unstable college dropout with a history of failure who finds a home on the radical fringe of Israeli society. Emotionally gripping, timely and prophetic, Wherever You Go tells the story of three Americans in Israel and the attractions-and dangers-of Jewish religious and political extremism.
My Review:
Wherever You Go by Joan Leegant is a beautifully uplifting debut novel about three Americans, living in Israel, who struggle for religious and political identity. In times where religious and political extremism are becoming increasingly a concern for many, Leegant touches on this subject in a delicate, yet true to life manner that will give readers more than just a glimpse at the draw of extremist views. As the three main characters, Yona, Aaron and Mark each has their individual motivations for coming to Israel, Leegant capitalizes on these unrelated characters to build her story into a message far greater than the sum of the characters’ reasons for their actions. A book about spirituality in a rigid faith, Leegant portrays the challenges and obstacles faced by these characters as they are brought together through a tragic event. Told with changing perspectives, Wherever You Go gives different points of view as the story unfolds, a writing style that I think really worked well for such a weighty and personal subject. I strongly recommend Joan Leegant’s debut, Wherever You Go to all readers and I think book discussion groups will find Wherever You Go a fascinating book to examine.
To learn more about author Joan Leegant, please visit her website: www.joanleegant.com
For more reviews of the book, please follow the TLC Book Tour.
I received a complimentary arc of Wherever You Go by Joan Leegant from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.
This does sound fascinating! I’ll have to look for it.
Kathy it is one I think you would enjoy.
I just received this one from the author. I usually don’t do requests, but this novel sounded too good to pass up. Glad to see I was right. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Julie, I do hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Thank you so much for this wonderful and thoughtful review of my book, Jennifer. I really appreciate your close and perceptive read. Best wishes, Joan
Thank you Joan for taking time out of your busy schedule to stop by my blog. I look forward to reading your future books.
I just got a copy of this one myself and I’m really excited to start reading it – I love books that mirror current realities and make me think about things in a new way.
Thanks for being a part of the tour. I’m glad you enjoyed this one!
It was my pleasure. Happy reading.
This is one of the worst books I’ve read. I picked it for our book club and no one could finish it. I did because I read all the reviews and was afraid I was going to mis something. Don’t read this book unless you have more knowledge than the average person in regards to traveling to Jerusalem. I feel the author gave this book away for free to the reveiwers and asked them their thoughts and they said they liked it because of the relationship and not based on the horrible story. The book club coudn’t even follow the charaters!