Alice Hoffman's newest book The Dovekeepers was my first book of 2012 and I think I picked a great one! The book follows the life of four women, Yael, Revka, Aziza and Shirah, who travel through the desert eventually finding themselves at an encampment on the mountain Masada. The women, their children and grandchildren live for months in a village resembling their former homes with bakers, tanners, homes and love. As one of the only enclaves of Jews in Judea, eventually the encampment falls to the Romans, though not in the way the Romans and readers would have expected.
I loved this story, but I loved it even more after reading that the story is based on the ancient history of Josephus, which states that two women and five children survived the siege of Masada. At the end of her book, Hoffman lists other works detailing the history of Masada and of Jews during this time, and I think I will be reading them, too!
Shirah's section of the book was a little bit slow, in my opinion which is why I'm giving it 4 out of 5 stars. I'll definitely be reading some of Hoffman's other books though, during my Year of 100 books!
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