First the Raven
Leora G. Krygier
(Reviewer - Carolyn Howard-Johnson)
2002 AmErica House
ISBN: 1591291666

Amir encounters a bearded stranger in a Los Angeles restaurant. Veteran of two Middle East wars & the first Intifada, this man starts Amir on his journey of redemption.

Guest Reviewer Carolyn Howard-Johnson writes:

Authors of fiction rarely choose to tell a story because it is timely & that is especially true of fine literary fiction. Somehow, First the Raven appears in print just when interest is high, precisely when its message is needed.

The characters in this lovely debut novel by Leora G. Krygier are Israeli transplants in Los Angeles soil. Their experiences in America are so germane to this moment in geopolitics it is difficult to imagine a more perfectly timed release. It is as if this little volume was sent to us so that we might better understand not only the immigrant experience, but also that we might see Israeli divisions that we have never before observed -- at least not up close & personal as this story presents them.

The narrative centers on a journey of redemption that begins when Amir, an Israeli, befriends Rosenberg, an elderly Rabbi & Holocaust survivor -- someone Amir identifies with the Israeli politics he was only too happy to leave behind.

Amir's marriage is unraveling & his daughter is entangled with the kind of legal & moral morass every parent fears.

Amir longs for the freedom he once felt as a parachuter, feels a vague dis-ease with his new home & a longing for his old.

The two strangers come together in a small restaurant in a Jewish section of Los Angeles only because it is so popular they must share a table. In spite of Amir's reluctance to associate with the old Orthodox Jew, he slowly accommodates Rosenberg's loneliness, & in so doing finds someone who has just the right connections & character to help him through the explosions he must face in the days ahead.

In turn, Amir's virility, common sense & vulnerability offer something the elderly Rabbi has lost. We see how differences can heal rather than divide, a very real lesson for today's world.

Krygier tells this story with sensitivity & a command of language not seen in many mainstream novels. Part of the power of Krygier's passages may be credited to experience. Born in Tel-Aviv, she grew up in Philadelphia. She now lives in Los Angeles, & her descriptions of that city ground the work with not a street or vista out of place. As a referee in the Juvenile Division of the Superior Court of the County of Los Angeles gives her first-person insight into the system that young offenders must confront when they stray.

First the Raven is the kind of story that gives us something to take away once we have turned its last page. It will certainly will give the reader comfort & confidence in the future. What more can we ask of a book?
(01/25/04)

Carolyn
2004©Carolyn Howard-Johnson
A RebeccasReads.Com Associate Reviewer

Associate Reviewer Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the award-winning author of This Is The Place, & her book of creative nonfiction, The Harkening: A Collection Of Stories Remembered, has won three awards.

She has signed a contract with Star Publish for the upcoming release of her new how-to book The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't. www.starpublish.com.

She writes about Utah's culture, tolerance & other subjects. Her fiction, nonfiction & poems have appeared in national magazines, anthologies & review journals. She has appeared on TV & radio stations nationwide.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is an instructor for UCLA's Writers' Program. She loves to travel & has studied writing at Cambridge University, United Kingdom; Herzen University, St. Petersburg, Russia, & Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic, as well as UCLA & the University of Southern California.

Her editorial contributions include:
No One Book Pleases Everyone
Publisher Raises the Ire of its Authors
A Rant About Arrogance.

Her website is:www.carolynhowardjohnson.com