Understanding Love, Secrets, Betrayal And Acts Of Heroism

Jan. 16, 2012 - PRLog -- (LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA) – In Israel, the lives of three women interweave with the story of their country. Ratiba, an Israeli journalist, turns her back on her heritage to marry an Israeli Arab. Her sister Orit, an actor, lives alone and longs for her lost sister. Elisheva is a nurse who dedicates her life to the wounded and the dying. As their lives unfold, the three women find themselves facing choices they would never have envisioned.

This is a story of secrets and alienation, yet also of hope and heroism. It is about Arabs who save Jews from disaster and Jews who heal Arabs. It is the story of everyday people torn and desperately searching for the right path.

Here, the ancient pulsates in present time and the biblical holds prominence with the secular. Beneath this modern-day drama unfolds the story of a land and its people, revealing the historical trajectory of two peoples, victims and perpetrators of a biblical curse.
From the author: “I started writing Israela for my children. Originally, I wanted to trace the trajectory of modern Israeli history in order to see how we’d arrived at our present reality. I also wrote it for the many people I meet who are ignorant of the complexity and the richness of Israel and Israeli life; ignorant of the temerity that all of its citizens demonstrate, and of the excruciating concerns that tear them apart on a constant basis. I am aware that this is only a perspective, my perspective, perhaps the perspective of many like myself; that it is one side of a conflict that originated way back in prehistorical times. It is perhaps an apologia, perhaps simply a call out there to those of legitimate opposing views, people of a different historical and cultural background who want peace. Perhaps this is a prayer for understanding, for dialogue. In fact, it is mostly a work of fiction, of fantasy, ultimately – of hope.”

About the author: Dr. Batya Casper is a director and teacher of theater, trained to manipulate conflict for dramatic effect. "What a glib endeavor compared to the blood and tears of real life," she says. Casper has lived in Israel intermittently since early childhood. She has watched friends and family struggle, question, sacrifice their children.

Batya moved to Israel in 1956 – just eight years after the State of Israel was formed.  She has lived there intermittently since early childhood. Batya taught Hebrew literature and biblical studies at an adult education center in St. Louis and she taught Hebrew to adults in Boston.  She also worked as an Assistant to the Cultural Attache of Israel in Boston, as the coordinator of educational programs for exchange students between U.S. and Israel.  Learn more at http://www.israelathebook.com.

Title: Israela
Author: Batya Casper
Genre: Fiction. Literature
ISBN: 1617778281, 978-1617778285
Publication Date: August 2011
Pages: 380
Price: $26.99
Publisher: Tate Publishing

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