The Miniaturist (Jessie Burton)

The Miniaturist is another exquisite piece of literature that had me checking Wikipedia, googling Dutch names and tracing streets and squares on Google Maps to learn and read more about the historical aspects of the story and the city in which it is set.

I spent a few days in Amsterdam last July and stayed in a hotel in the area of Nella's house. Her descriptions of the canals, the Dam, the Stadhuis (now an upmarket shopping centre) and the VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie - the United East India Company) created many moments of nostalgia and a yearning to visit the city again and learn more.

One reviewer has likened this book to an edition of Downton Abbey but this cheapens the story and the characters and demeans what Burton has achieved to the level of nonsensical TV soap opera. 

This story is so much more than this. It's a rich story that saddens and surprises the reader at every turn, and I dearly hope there is a sequel that takes us into Nella's later life.

Mornings in Jenin (Susan Abulhawa)

I love historical fiction and stories about real people, events and points in time, past and present. More than one story has prompted me to go to history books and find out more about the events woven into the book.

I've read a lot of stories set during the Russian revolution and during the two World Wars including many stories about Polish, Czech and German Jews as well as books about the migration of the Irish, the skirmishes of the ancient Scots and the times of English Kings and Queens. Much of what I know about China started with books such as The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan and Wild Swans by Jung Chang.

And while there are libraries full of stories and accounts about the plight of the Jewish people throughout history, stories about the experiences of the Palestinians from the time of the Ottoman Empire and the implementation of the British Mandate are few and far between.

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa starts to fill this gap.
This heart wrenching story traces an extended family from the end of World War 2 through to 2003.

As soon as I read the last word I went running for the history books (and Google) to read all I could about Jenin, a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. How this idyllic ancient village became a major administrative centre and a refugee camp for 30 000+ Palestinians makes for some eye opening reading. I've always been a little puzzled about Israel's modern history and how it unfolded. Mornings in Jenin tells the other side of the story.

From: http://looklex.com/e.o/jenin.htm

It's easy to be ever so judgemental when watching the news about the latest atrocity somewhere in the world. I will never watch or read news about the activities of Israel and its borders in quite the same way.