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lediamond4's review
emotional
informative
slow-paced
3.0
This wasn’t quite what I expected. I thought it would be a more personal account (or accounts) of the Israel-Palestine conflict. The parts about Dalia and Bashir, their own individual journeys and how their paths intersected were all really interesting. And while the broader, historical context was also interesting, I don’t think the two lines up very consistently.
cassiope_fastigiata's review against another edition
4.0
I never would have picked this up on my own - it was a book club read. I have tried to read books about Israel and Palestine as I have never understood the situation very well, and never seem to retain what I have read. This book tells the story of the last sixty-seventy years through the voices of two people whose lives intersect, one who had to leave the house with the lemon tree as a child, forced to flee with his Palestinian family, and the other who grew up in the house, her immigrant parents having taken it, and the lemon tree, over when she was just a baby. Very readable.
edininny's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
5.0
ktlemone2's review against another edition
3.0
4.5*, almost a 5 for me! I absolutely loved that this book was completely non-fiction. Sometimes I find non-fiction a bit difficult to get through, but The Lemon Tree outlined the story of a Jewish and Arab family, which instantly had me hooked. I have been wanting to learn more about the conflict in Israel and I felt like this book laid an incredible foundation about the different sides and their motivations. Highly highly recommend this book to understand the human side of the conflict. After reading this I am left with so many questions and my heart hurts for the two sides of this conflict.
The only reason this book isn’t a 5 for me is because it ended quite abruptly. I did love that the book ended with a message of hope that the future generation of Israel and Palestine will hopefully bridge the gap between these tensions and overcome the rugged past
The only reason this book isn’t a 5 for me is because it ended quite abruptly. I did love that the book ended with a message of hope that the future generation of Israel and Palestine will hopefully bridge the gap between these tensions and overcome the rugged past
schmidtellie's review against another edition
2.0
The story is sweet, and the history is important, but the writing style flattened it all out.
lottie1803's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
rerosenthal85's review against another edition
4.0
A remarkably well-balanced and fair representation of the history and perspectives of the storied adversarial relationship between the Israeli and Palestinian people groups. Though the story centers around the way the paths of Dalia Eshkanazi and Bashir Khairi happen to cross, a thorough history is given, providing frame of reference as well as an easy-to-read background of the stories of these individuals and their families. The incredible amount of research that Tolan clearly took on to make this non-fiction work read like a novel, and to offer fair and complete representation of those whose stories he tells, is honestly breathtaking. No matter what your views or opinions are regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and continuing story, this book is more than worth your time to read.