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Holy Lands
Holy Lands | Amanda Sthers
6 posts | 11 read | 6 to read
A witty epistolary novel, both heartwarming and heart-wrenching, about a dysfunctional family--led by a Jewish pig farmer in Israel--struggling to love and accept each other. As comic as it is deeply moving, Holy Lands chronicles several months in the lives of an estranged family of colorful eccentrics. Harry Rosenmerck is an aging Jewish cardiologist who has left his thriving medical practice in New York--to raise pigs in Israel. His ex-wife, Monique, ruminates about their once happy marriage even as she quietly battles an aggressive illness. Their son, David, an earnest and successful playwright, has vowed to reconnect with his father since coming out. Annabelle, their daughter, finds herself unmoored in Paris in the aftermath of a breakup. Harry eschews technology, so his family, spread out around the world, must communicate with him via snail mail. Even as they grapple with challenges, their correspondence sparkles with levity. They snipe at each other, volleying quips across the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and Europe, and find joy in unexpected sources. Holy Lands captures the humor and poignancy of an adult family striving to remain connected across time, geography, and radically different perspectives on life.
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RobinGustafson
Holy Lands | Amanda Sthers
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I first heard about this novel on Bookworm with Michael Silverblatt back in February. Sthers translated the novel from French to English herself. She‘s also adapted and directed the film version! Really enjoyed this funny, yet at times heart-wrenching epistolary novel. #witmonth #saturdayreading

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hazykiid
Holy Lands | Amanda Sthers
Panpan

Ok so I read the pre-release version, so I can only speak to that. I‘m sure that once it was released there were many changes to it, but the version I read was just dumb. It was so 2-dimensional and was trying so hard to be deep but it just didn‘t. It was an easy read, because the entire thing is written through letters and emails, but it just wasn‘t good.Especially the ending where it forced a big event but didn‘t wrap up the book properly.Meh...

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Bookalong
Holy Lands | Amanda Sthers
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Pickpick

5🌟This book sucked me right in. I absolutely loved how it is done in letter form. Through these letters and emails we get an inside look at a family of four all living very different lives, attempting to accept one another. Throw in religious beliefs and everything gets more complicated. The character study here is facinating!! Each one offered something different. The writing is spot on! I laughed and cried. A very poignant read.

17 likes3 stack adds
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TheBookStacker
Holy Lands | Amanda Sthers
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Plan to try to knock these 2 books out between tonight and tomorrow. Anxiously awaiting my copy of Crooked Kingdom so I can continue that!

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aealair
Holy Lands | Amanda Sthers
Mehso-so

I read this in the original French. There were some funny parts, some heartbreaking parts, but it just didn‘t quite come together for me. It didn‘t really feel like a complete book. I‘m very curious to see how they turned this into a movie.

Butterfinger Welcome!! 6y
Eggs Welcome to Litsy 🌺 6y
AlwaysForeverReading Welcome to Litsy!!📚📖💜💛💙 6y
1 like3 comments
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Cinfhen
Holy Lands | Amanda Sthers
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Mehso-so

Thank you #NetGalley for an ARC of this original story. David, a retired NY cardiologist flees his ex wife & 2 grown kids to become a pig farmer in Israel. YES, YOU read that correctly. Told through letters & emails this epistolary novel at once witty & ridiculous follows the family & one hippie Rabbi as they come to terms with their current life situation. Insightful social & political commentary wrapped in a bite size treat. 3/5 stars

emilyhaldi Fun!‘ 🐷 6y
Mdargusch How can I resist that cover!!! 6y
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Cinfhen The cover is my favorite 🐷piggies dancing the hora 🐽🐽🐽🐽it‘s too cute @Mdargusch 6y
Reviewsbylola Sounds weird af. 6y
Cinfhen It was completely over the top @Reviewsbylola but it took under 2 hours to read 6y
101 likes6 comments