Customer Reviews

Raquela; A Woman of Israel

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

this is a beautifully written book.it is actually the history of the forming of the state of israel but it reads like a novel.i found it to be extremely informative & written with great sensitivity. i had to put the book down for several days at a time to absorb the strong emotional content.this is a must read for all jews & non jews,alike.raquella was an incredibly intelligent, motivated & strong woman.she accomlished much in her life & was an extremely humble human being. enjoy our history!

This book is, in one sense, the biography of a woman whose family has always lived in Jerusalem but in another sense it is a novel of one woman's life as she grows up, falls in love, gets married, has children, loses her son and child.

It is also a novel of how politics and personal life intersect: here we find Arab-Jewish relations ruptured during the Hebron Massacre only to be re-constituted again after the formation of the State of Israel; here we find Raquela's son killed in one war amongst many; here we see the international aid traded for guns in the refugee camps. And above all, here we see the heartbreak and the triumph of one woman, one Jerusalemite, who lives in her own country.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Israel and Israelis, be they Arab or Jews or Christian.

I enjoyed this book very much and couldn't wait to finish it to see what happened next. I also learned alot from this book on how the people of that time had coped, had courage, and the strength to try and live their lives. I though of Raquela as an ingretible woman with lots of strenght and mental power.

I read this book when I was 15 years old. Wow! I was SOOO impressed with Raquela's courage and integrity that at that point I decided if I had a daughter I would name her Raquela. Nine years later, I had a baby girl and her name is Raquela. I read this book again a few years ago and was once again impressed. Just a month ago my husband, daughter, Raquela, and I were able to go to Israel and I saw Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus. My daughter was able to see and walk the same places as her namesake. Ruth Gruber beautifully laid this story out and I agree it reads like a novel and is very hard to put down.

This book is a wonderfully told life story of an amazing woman! I couldnt put it down!

This book is, in one sense, the biography of a woman whose family has always lived in Jerusalem but in another sense it is a novel of one woman's life as she grows up, falls in love, gets married, has children, loses her son and child.

It is also a novel of how politics and personal life intersect: here we find Arab-Jewish relations ruptured during the Hebron Massacre only to be re-constituted again after the formation of the State of Israel; here we find Raquela's son killed in one war amongst many; here we see the international aid traded for guns in the refugee camps. And above all, here we see the heartbreak and the triumph of one woman, one Jerusalemite, who lives in her own country.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Israel and Israelis, be they Arab or Jews or Christian.

Terrific story, well-told, exciting, thrilling, heartwarming, and real. An eye-opener to what really went on there and just how hard the Israeli people had to fight. I have never throughout all my education and reading understood Israel the way I did through Raquela's eyes. I had no idea the British were involved in that way, and was disappointed to learn of it. I learned a lot from this book from the perspective of an Israeli-born Israeli. The internment camps were dispicable, the people who ran them disgusting and almost as guilty as nazis.

This biography details in vivid tones the life of a ninth generation Jerusalemite. Through her life we see the history of modern Israel, joys and hardships, wars and victories, all in personal terms without any heavy-handedness. Because it reads like a novel, it is engrossing; because it is a true story it is amazing. Ruth Gruber paints a rich and vivid portrait of the woman and of the nation.

Extremely well written, a real page turner. I hated to put it down and would have read the whole of it in one sitting if I'd had the chance. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a great read, and who really cares to understand the heart of Israel's struggles for Statehood - from the human perspective.
First rate!

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I learned a lot about early Israel and was reminded about much I had forgotten.