From 1917 to the end of the 20th century, we discover Rachel, her family, her friends. We are in Palestine, the Ottoman Empire is collapsing. Jews are arriving from Europe, the British hold power in this country where they must juggle between Jews, Arabs, Christians, and Muslims. Ethnicities are not straightforward; one can be Jewish and Arab, Christian and Arab. The Turks have left, and the country is gradually becoming populated by Jews. Here too, there are frictions between those coming from Central Europe and those from Palestine.
Rachel is a playwright; her plays attempt to express tolerance among peoples. There are the Kibbutzim, the attacks. Rachel continues her career, which will take her everywhere to perform her plays. We witness the birth of Israel and the opening of wounds between Jews and Palestinians.
This country, cradle of the three major religions, is divided by hatreds that seem impossible to appease. Rachel, the girl from Jaffa, shares with us her destiny, which is also that of this cradle of humanity, yet bloodied by wars, guerrillas, and attacks. Rachel believed and still believes in a possible understanding between the peoples of this Near East.
This is the essence of this novel by Metin Arditi, which tells us in the form of a journal the story of a woman whose portrait is striking and whose life resembles an opera.
Thierry Jan, writer
