The Dovekeepers' historical background is this:
About 2000 years ago, Roman legions attacked Masada, a fortress on a remote desert that overlooked the Dead Sea. The fortress had housed 900 displaced Jewish people, most of them refugees from Jerusalem. Finally, Romans entered the fortress, but only to find the residents dead. The people had chosen suicide rather than become slaves to the Romans. At the end, two women and five children survived to tell this tale to the world.

The author, puts her characters into this background by giving voices to four women who all are involved with the dovekeeping chores of the fortress in some way:

Yael- Daughter of a Sicarii assassin. Her mother died giving birth to her, which made her father dislike and neglect her and which made her feel like a murderer. Yael is one of the two women who survived.

Revka: A baker's wife from a distant town whose husband
and daughter were murdered by Romans, turning her gentle scholar son-in-law into a vengeful warrior. Revka is the second woman who survived Masada.

Shirah- Wise medicine woman who practices magic. Mother of four children. She is the second wife of the leader of the fortress, although her marriage to him is concealed. She is in love with her husband, who doesn't leave the sterile first wife and is not strong enough to admit he had once married Shirah and had a child with her. Shirah's love ruins her at the end.

Aziza- Shira's daughter who tries to live a soldier's life by defying convention.

All four women have secrets and scars in their lives.
Their experiences, feelings, and sacrifices parallel the experiences of women everywhere.

Although the novel has a strong historical background, the stories are totally fictional.

This is a dark story, laden with guilt, grief, depression, blood, and bad luck. Although some of the actions of the characters felt contrived at times, as if the author forced them into it, I thoroughly enjoyed every part of this book, due to the excellence of the storytelling.

taking your time to read it because the stories are complicated and the book is quite long.

Alice Hoffman loves to include magic in her stories, even if she never lets the magic take center stage but lets it act only as an ornament. She weaves her stories with great skill and the masterful use of a storyteller's language.

Alice Hoffman was born in New York City in 1952, grew up on Long Island. She attended Adelphi University and Stanford University's Creative Writing Center, receiving an MA in creative writing. She has written quite a few books among which are: Illumination Night, Property of, The Drowning Season, Angel Landing, White Horses, Fortune's Daughter, At Risk, Here on Earth, Seventh Heaven.

It has history, drama, and excellent storytelling. The entire story feels so real even if it hints at a fairy tale. This author can immerse the reader into her characters' pains and joy.

The story, in general, reflects the struggles of the Jewish people while Judea fell to Romans. In particular, however, it is the story of all women everywhere, and that was what made me love it.

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Created Feb 19, 2012 at 5:35pm • Submit your own review...