Edges
Leora Skolkin-Smith
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2005 Glad Day Books
ISBN: 1930180144

O Israel O Palestine. In the 1960s before the high wall was built, 14 year-old Liana's mother takes her back to Jerusalem.

Liana is on the brink of womanhood, & Jerusalem is a strange place where her mother & aunt have mysteries & histories of when they were young & struggling to create a new nation.

Jerusalem is also where everyone walks on the edge of culture: one street is safe & an alley a gauntlet of danger. Women walking alone are targets for harassment. Fear & anger seethe in the market places.

Then the physical & spiritual bonds are broken, as Liana's sexuality awakens, & she escapes across the border with the missing son of an American diplomat. The death of a Palestinian boy brings them closer, & then they move deeper into the world of Palestinian fields, olive orchards & villages.

Edges is a stream of stories & events, flickering across the pages in glimpses of feelings, sensations & dialogue. Often confusing, yet always riveting, it is a tale told by the American teenager visiting the land of her mother's youth & family where past, present & future blend together like a painting left out in the rain.
(08/14/05)

Rebecca