The Dovekeepers [Hardcover]

This is an amazing novel based on the true story of the siege of the fortress Masada which took place in the year 70 AD. The title of the book: 'The Dovekeepers' refers to the women in the fortress who took care of the doves and this wonderful novel tells the story of the lives and loves of these unusual women who found themselves at Masada at the time of the siege.

Firstly we meet Yael, whose mother died whilst giving birth to her, and whose father, an expert assassin, cannot forgive her for her mother's death. Later we meet Revka, suffering greatly from the loss of her daughter in horrifying circumstances, who has to find the strength to care for her traumatised grandsons. Then there is Aziza, a beautiful young woman, who has been raised as a boy and fights as a warrior, but who falls in love with a fellow soldier. And we meet Shirah, mother of Aziza, lover of the great warrior, Ben Ya'ir, a woman with special powers who, try as she might, cannot save her children from their ultimate fates.

The book is divided into sections for each main character, but as all of these women are dovekeepers at Masada, the author skilfully weaves each person in and out of the other's stories, so we never leave one character behind at the expense of finding out about another. All of the women in this story, at some time, have met with adversity; they have loved, lost, suffered and survived. They are strong, courageous women who find they will need all of their strength and courage when faced with the tragic events which unfold during of the siege of Masada.

Alice Hoffman, inspired and moved by a visit to Masada, the fortress of King Herod, which was later occupied by nine hundred Jewish men, women and children, based her story on the historian Josephus' account of the siege and the tragedy which occurred when the Romans finally managed to break through the walls of the fortress. If you don't know the outcome of the siege, I won't divulge it now, but I will say that heartbreakingly only a very small number survived.

I have never read a book by Alice Hoffman before - I felt that her novels, whose main themes seem to centre on unearthly or magical powers, were not really my type of thing - but I'm very glad I picked up this novel. Maybe, because this book is set almost 2000 years ago, the magic and mystery seem perfectly suited to the time and place. However, whatever the reason, I can truly say that this marvellous story kept me enthralled and engrossed throughout.

4.5 stars.

Alice Hoffman is one of my favourite authors and I love her juxtaposition of the mundane and magic in contemporary settings. The Dovekeepers is far removed from our humdrum, daily lives as it is set in ancient Israel but the magic remains in this extensively researched historical novel.

Following the fall of Jerusalem in AD70 and the destruction of the temple, many Jews fled the Romans and crossed the Judean desert, establishing a Zealot settlement at the remote natural fortress, Masada. Overlooking the Dead Sea, this rugged outpost was considered virtually impregnable but the Roman Empire was determined to conquer Masada, once the site of King Herod's palaces. In AD73, Flavius Silva, the Roman Governor, succeeded in breaching the fortress but not before the Jewish inhabitants (numbering almost 1,000) organised a mass suicide, preferring a glorious death to a life of infamy. According to the ancient historian, Josephus, only two women and five children survived.

In The Dovekeepers, Hoffman tells the story from the Jewish women's point of view, using four different female narrators, Yael, Revka, Aziza and Shirah all of whom work in the dovecotes. They are exceptionally strong women who have suffered so much yet make their mark in what is most definitely a man's world. Yael, whose own mother died giving birth to her, is shunned by her father but, following the fall of Jerusalem, they eventually reach Masada. Revka, traumatised by the brutal death of her daughter at the hands of Roman soldiers, comes to Masada with her young grandsons, rendered mute by what they witnessed. Aziza, raised as a boy, longs to show her warrior skills but has to do so by subterfuge. Shirah, Aziza's mother, has to conceal her magical skills for fear of being an outcast again.

In a novel of epic range, the author brings us into the Judean desert in the 1st century - we feel the relentless heat, the harshness of the rocks underfoot, the endless hardship of daily life. All these women hope for is a better life for their children but they know what fate awaits them.

Yes, there is magic but it's dark and disturbing, something to be concealed by women who realise that whatever they do they can't escape what fate has already decreed.

At 500 pages, with detailed descriptions, this is a novel which requires focus and concentration. It is much more intense than Alice Hoffman's previous novels but it's well worth the effort. My only slight criticism would be that some of the descriptions veer on the flowery, over-written side but overall it's an engrossing read.

Alice Hoffman has succeeded in bringing a long-lost world into our contemporary lives and at times, one wonders if there are more similarities than differences! Highly recommended for patient readers.

In 70 C.E., nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert. History records that only two women and five children survived the siege ...

An extraordinary story.

And the foundation upon which Alice Hoffman has built an epic novel. An extraordinary novel.

She tells the stories of four women. Four very different women, who had very different lives, who came to Masada by very different paths.

Yael, Revka, Aziza and Shira.

They say so much about the relationships women have, the roles they play, what they give to the world ...

Mothers. Daughters. Grandmothers. Wives. Lovers ....

Nurturers. Protectors. Negotiators. Healers. Warriors ....

Their stories set out their histories, their journeys, and their lives as they become dovekeepers at Masada. I was reluctant to let go when one story ended, but each time I found a new story that absorbed me, and then I found the women I had met before, living and working alongside the woman I had just met. Everything came together beautifully.

Because everything is right.

The prose is both beautiful and readable. And, more than that, I could hear each woman's voice, and I came to know them, to understand them.

Four women. Complex,and utterly real.

And I came to know their world, seeing so many details richly painted. It was easy to turn the pages quickly but I knew that I needed to linger, to make sure that I took everything in. I was transported.

Years may pass, the world may change, but in essence the hopes, the fears, the dreams of women never change.

As the end approach the story could have lost its grip. I knew the history, I knew how it must play out. But I was involved, and I lived every moment.

Alice Hoffman has brought old, old history to life, and she has made it sing.

The dust jacket suggests that this is her masterpiece and I have to say, yes, it is.