The Lemon Tree

Tough to review. I know I carry my own prejudices into this. The book is purported to be a story of a Palestinian man going back to his home in Israel that had been forfeited during/for the creation of the state of Israel, and his meeting the current resident and the story of the relationship between those two. In reality, the whole first half of the book is Israeli history, or rather the history of the formation of the state of Israel. Unfortunately, it appears to be told in a somewhat pro-Palestinian/anti-Israeli manner. And the rest of the book also seems to be very pro-Palestinian. I realize that the author is an American Jew, and he may be bending over backwards NOT to make it visibly pro-Israeli because of that, but the impression is that he's gone way too far in the reverse.
Either way, the picture of the woman, Dahlia, seems well-rounded, and she truly appears to be a "good", fair-minded, person. The man (whose name I could never keep in mind very long, perhaps because I really didn't care for him) to be a typical Palestinian who definitely had grievances, but refused to offer any compromise or possible solutions.

This book weaves a political history of the conflict in Palestine with the story of two people, an Arab and a Jew (and their families), through the decades.

This historical portion (this is a non-fiction book) is rich in its narrative that starts with the Ottoman Empire (for the Arab family) and World War II in Bulgaria (for the Jewish family). It then continues into a discussion of the various wars (1948, six-day, Yom Kippur), the political alternations in both Israel and Palestine, up to the current moment.

The personal story is a touching one of two characters who like each other even as they see themselves on opposite sides of a situation that has no easy solutions.

You might find yourself sobbing with emotion at some parts, and reading with rapt interest in other parts. It is very well written and the weaving of two narratives is done quite well.

Some small weaknesses involve small details in how some institutions are not introduced before their actions are discussed - they get introduced later. Not a big deal if you grew up with the material.