Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsThis land is your land, this land is my land, or is it?
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2019
From the sinking boat rescue off the coast of Palestine, thru the ravages of war that brought about the rise of the nation of Israel, “Where the Desert Meets the Sea” is a novel of non stop action, friendship and love. The writing is exquisite, lean and bold without taking sides.
Author, Werner Sonne, represents the issues of the Arabs, Christians, and Israelis equally, giving each lead characters and unique threads to bind them in the story. It is brilliant. The central location and anchor for the plot is the Hadassah Hospital that is Switzerland, in the midst of hate and anger. The doctors and nurses are represented by all nationalities and faiths and offer medical care equally to the same.
The historical aspects of this book are excellent and can be attributed to Sonne’s vast experience as a reporter in the Middle East and Israel. He clearly has done the research as well as walked the streets where the story takes place. The prose is living and breathing with descriptive elegance.
Emotionally, this book is difficult. Each of us will have our own ideas about who is right or wrong and who deserves to “own” Israel. The battle rages on. The most beautiful thing about this book, imho, is that the author has left that decision completely up to the reader. He provided the facts, presented possible situations that were not far fetched or biased and kept his own opinions out of his writing. It’s just glorious.
There is nothing to be cautious of in this book other than one rogue f-bomb. The remainder of the language is clean, the sexual content is very mild and the violence is not gratuitous. What we’re left with is an extremely well written, well edited work of historical and contemporary fiction that I highly recommend you read. Now! 📚
