Promised Land: A Novel of Israel
Staff Reviews
A great sprawling saga that begins where EXODUS leaves off. A refugee family of Jews migrate from Cairo to Israel hoping for a better life, leaving behind the boiling pot Egypt has become. But they find themselves living in a tent city. Their teenage daughter Tamara is lured to the city and befriended by two brothers. This begins a love triangle that defines all their lives.
Description
"Martin Fletcher, who headed up NBC TV’s Tel Aviv News Bureau, knows his territory and it shows on every page. Promised Land is a great sweeping epic, reminiscent of Leon Uris’ Exodus; a moving story of triumph and tragedy, new love and historic hate, expertly told by a cast of unforgettable characters. Fletcher’s writing is superb and rises to the level of importance that this story demands and deserves. Historical novels don’t get much better than Promised Land." —Nelson DeMille, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Cuban Affair
Promised Land is the sweeping saga of two brothers and the woman they love, a devastating love triangle set against the tumultuous founding of Israel.
The story begins when fourteen-year-old Peter is sent west to America to escape the growing horror of Nazi Germany. But his younger brother Arie and their entire family are sent east to the death camps. Only Arie survives.
The brothers reunite in the nascent Jewish state, where Arie becomes a businessman and one of the richest men in Israel while Peter becomes a top Mossad agent heading some of Israel’s most vital espionage operations. One brother builds Israel, the other protects it.
But they also fall in love with the same woman, Tamara, a lonely Jewish refugee from Cairo. And over the next two decades, as their new homeland faces extraordinary obstacles that could destroy it, the brothers’ intrigues and jealousies threaten to tear their new lives apart.
Promised Land is at once the gripping tale of a struggling family and an epic about a struggling nation.
Praise for Promised Land: A Novel of Israel
Advance praise for Promised Land
“Martin Fletcher finds the real story of Israel, tucked away in people who believe their lives hold something of value. Just like us. Doesn't matter if their dreams soar or shatter. They band together to overcome great odds. This master storyteller doesn’t just tell a tale. He helps us experience it. History seen through a storyteller’s eye, sticks in the mind. You will love this book.” —Bob Dotson, New York Times bestselling author of American Story
"a mesmerizing and enjoyable read." —The Washington Book Review
"This historical family saga [...] invites inevitable comparison with Leon Uris’ Exodus, the action picking up in 1950, directly after the historical events Uris depicts...Fletcher, well known for his National Jewish Book Award...and for his character-driven novels...knows his subject and dramatizes it to great effect." —Booklist Starred Review
"A deftly crafted and inherently riveting novel showcasing author Martin Fletcher's erudite skills as a compelling storyteller" —The Midwest Book Review
"Promised Land is a sweeping novel of personal and national evolution within Israel as it attempts to forge its respectable, permanent place in the local, national and international communities. Readers will immediately become engaged in this memorable, well-crafted work of historical fiction." —Historical Novel Society Magazine
"The book provides a gripping look at the sacrifices so many made to build up the country whose birthday we’re celebrating. And a genuinely surprising ending will leave readers with a smile, and maybe a few tears." —Jewish Exponent
"Martin Fletcher, who headed up NBC TV’s Tel Aviv News Bureau, knows his territory and it shows on every page. Promised Land is a great sweeping epic, reminiscent of Leon Uris’ Exodus; a moving story of triumph and tragedy, new love and historic hate, expertly told by a cast of unforgettable characters. Fletcher’s writing is superb and rises to the level of importance that this story demands and deserves. Historical novels don’t get much better than Promised Land." —Nelson DeMille, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Cuban Affair
"Award-winning journalist and novelist Fletcher crafts a compelling historical novel that is sexy, suspenseful, and successfully mixes humor and high drama." —Library Journal
"Entertaining. This post-war epic is...a solid piece of story telling. Fletcher, one-time Tel Aviv bureau chief for NBC, knows his Middle East history and does a good job of charting complicated international politics and Israel's secret campaign against Nazi war criminals." —Kirkus
“A riveting novel that picks up where Exodus left off. Martin Fletcher has written a sweeping yet intimate story of Israel’s first two decades, seen through the eyes of the founding generation. His saga of a growing family follows the struggles, intrigues and jealousies of two brothers, one a young businessman building the state, the other a secret agent protecting it. Fletcher's meticulously researched book takes you deep into this astonishing achievement.” —Tom Brokaw
"Martin Fletcher, one of the most astute newsmen of our time, turns out to be a remarkable storyteller. And what a story he has chosen to tell, the coming into being of Israel, set against a family saga in the style of the great European novels. Promised Land is a novel that has much to teach your head and even more, your heart." —Joseph Telushkin, New York Times best-selling author of Rebbe, Jewish Literacy, and Words that Hurt, Words that Heal
“With his trademark deft style and expert voice, Martin Fletcher has penned the first in a three-part epic family saga, set against the rich tapestry of the creation of the State of Israel. Masterful in scope, yet intimate in lens, Promised Land is a rich tribute to the human spirit and a triumphant chronicle of one of the important events in modern history.” —Pam Jenoff, NYT Bestselling Author of The Orphan’s Tale
"Who better than Martin Fletcher, a distinguished journalist and a supremely gifted writer, to tell the story of Israel’s birth with nuance and complexity? Leading us from pre-War 1937 Munich to a triumphalist Jerusalem in post Six Day War 1967, Promised Land, though technically fiction, lays bare truths and passions that enable us to understand Israel, in all its complexity, as we never have before. A triumph and a gift." —Daniel Gordis, National Jewish Book Award Winner
"A thrilling page-turner. Fletcher's latest book manages to weave in the history of Israel as a young and fragile nation with the painful history of those immigrants who sought shelter after the war. A riveting and illuminating read!" —Alyson Richman, Internationally bestselling author of The Lost Wife and The Velvet Hours
"Promised Land delivers on many levels, from the fictional introduction of real historic figures to the complicated love story and surprise ending. It's well worth the read." —Hadassah Magazine
