The Dovekeepers

Kind of 'The Red Tent" meets Indiana Jones. This was an amazing chronicle of life in post-Christ Jerusalem, told from the perspective of four women. Women in that day were largely without rights, but these four are particularly disenfranchised and yet retain remarkable strength. The women tell slightly overlapping parts of the story, in succession; which adds a wonderful depth to the action. We all bring different history to the situations we f...read more

This was one of our reading club selections and to be honest, I was reluctant to read it. My experience with a different Alice Hoffman novel, The Museum of Extraordinary Things, led me to believe this author focuses on the dark and macabre, which isn't my cup of tea. However, as I looked into the plot and topic for The Dovekeepers, I became intrigued with the events of the last Jewish revolt and the siege of Masada.

I decided to give this author...read more

This was a beautifully written story which is based on the horrific events as recorded by ancient historian, Josephus. It is the story of how 2000 years ago, 900 Jews held off the Romans at Masada. It is the story of four women and how their lives each lead them to this mountain in the Judean desert.
Hoffman brings to this story to life through Yael, Revka, Azizah and Shirah, the dovekeepers, they are the secret-keepers. Four very complex, indep...read more

2012-Amber

Not sure if this was one of our selections, but Denise thinks it was in 2012