Esther: A Jerusalem Love Story

Max, a 25-year-old London-based reporter, is smitten with Esther after only 30 minutes in her presence. Essie is five years his junior and has come calling, through a mutual friend, to seek career advice: she wants to be a journalist, too. After several months of running around London together, Max realizes that she is too adventurous and free spirited to settle down. He also learns that she has strong feelings about religion; both Max and Essie are Jewish, but Essie has abandoned Judaism entirely, seeing it only as a set of meaningless restrictions with no spiritual value. When Essie and Max journey to Israel for a funeral, Essie finally falls in love--with the nation. She remains and joins a kibbutz, while Max returns to England. Both Max and Essie marry other people. Eventually, Essie divorces and writes a prize-winning novel. After 24 years of marriage, Max's wife, Ruth, begins to have an affair with a man she had been romantically involved with as a young woman. The wounded Max travels to Lebanon on an assignment; there he meets Essie again. They confess their love, but know they can never be together. Readers with a taste for tragic romance should clear their calendars for an evening, grab a box of tissues and enjoy this haunting story of a love that could not be. (Sept.)