The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Sometimes the most difficult reads are the most rewarding. The Dovekeepers took me a long time to read. I put it down at several points and had to come back to it. The writing was lyrical and dense with information. The book was obviously well-researched and is based on historical events. The voices of the characters rang with authenticity and their strength was earned through many trials. I could feel the desperation, the unquenchable thirst (both literal and figurative). The emotions were sensual, primal, and often brutal. The sheer courage of these women, their ultimate humanity and resolve reward the reader. Also, the events depicted here are not well-known, but deserve to be told. Hoffman tells this story with beauty, mysticism and an unrelenting commitment to the truth. I was profoundly moved. This is story that will remain with me for a long time.

Quotes:

“…what men yearn for they often destroy” (p. 7).

“The world was made of salt and smoke, and there was no choice but to go forward” (p. 119).

“If we lost our faith, we would become like the clouds that swell across the western sky when the wind pushes them into the desert, promising rain but empty inside” (p. 156).

“I had come to consider compassion a knife in the hands of the angels of disaster” (p. 246).

Mini-series now available for viewing. http://www.cbs.com/shows/the-dovekeepers/