The Dovekeepers

June 13, 2011
Almost too dense to bear, Hoffman's 23rd novel is brimming with doom, based on the story of the mass suicide of Jewish Zealots at Masada as recorded by the historian Josephus. Set in the first century, the blood-soaked saga unfolds from the perspectives of four courageous Jewish women whose lives converge in the dovecotes of the rebel desert stronghold. Yael is an assassin's daughter who flees Jerusalem as it falls to the Romans, arriving pregnant with the child of her father's married colleague. Revka, her husband murdered by the Romans, comes with her two grandsons, rendered mute after witnessing their mother's disembowelment by Roman soldiers. Shirah, from Alexandria, possibly a witch, brings her beautiful daughter Aziza, who having learned the ways of men among the tribesmen of Moab, uses her warrior's skills to fight in this last stand against the Roman legions. Suspicious of one another early on, the women, each with her own secrets and talents, powerful lovers and magical spells, soon develop a loyalty so fierce that they are willing to sacrifice everything for each other and for the children they are entrusted with. Hoffman (Here on Earth) can tell a tale and knows about creating compassionate characters, but the leaden archaic prose style she uses tells more than it shows. Massive descriptive paragraphs slow the action, until, by the end, the reader is simply worn out.

Ancient Israel is an unusual setting for a work by Hoffman, who is best known for contemporary novels featuring incandescent heroines and earthy enchantment. Hoffman's venture into a historical venue offers a bold testament to the human spirit as its female characters face challenges of biblical proportions. The struggles of fleeing from Roman armies and subsisting in the Judean desert are described by the youthful Aziza, portrayed by Heather Lind, and Shirah, a wise woman who is artful in the practice of traditional magic and medicine, portrayed by Aya Cash. Both are convincing as the compelling women they portray. Jessica Hecht and Tovah Feldshuh also grace this dark spiritual tale with powerful narrations. Hoffman loyalists may shy away from this archaic story but are advised to give it a try as the author solidly delivers on her signature themes of women's solidarity and mysticism. A.W. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine