Wherever You Go

May 31, 2010
Leegant's debut novel, after her story collection, An Hour in Paradise, follows three Americans who long for definitive answers from their Jewish faith. Yona Stern returns to Jerusalem in an attempt to reconcile with her sister, Dena, from whom she's been estranged for 10 years after sleeping with Dena's husband. Dena has since married a man committed to the uncompromising Jewish settlements. Mark Greenglass, a scholar who has replaced his drug addiction with a religious addiction, leaves Jerusalem to return to New York for a teaching gig and to reconnect with his parents and the woman he loved but couldn't save from a dissipated life. And Aaron Blinder, a college dropout resentful of his father's success writing bestselling novels about the Holocaust, searches for a group to join in Israel to give his life meaning. While each individual tale has its urgency and pathos, the story becomes gripping only in the latter part of the book when the three paths collide in a frightening incident caused by an impetuous, irresponsible act by Aaron. Unfortunately, that is the shortest section, making the whole feel unbalanced, but Leegant's strong, sensory writing compensates.

June 15, 2010

In alternating chapters, Leegant's debut novel tells three divergent stories about the complicated ties between American Jews and Israel. Yona Stern travels to the West Bank to attempt reconciliation with her sister, who now lives in a settlement there. Mark Greenglass, a Talmud teacher having a crisis of faith, visits his parents in Brooklyn and attempts to help his drug-addicted former girlfriend. Aaron Blinder, a disaffected college student, finds himself in a radical compound that turns a blind eye to the terrorism perpetrated by some of its members. Leegant's clear theme is to show the dangerous places extremist ideology leads. VERDICT While the three stories eventually converge, until then the switch from one to the other is sometimes jarring, especially when the reader is trying to remember the names of minor characters between chapters. However, those who seek politically charged stories brought to a human level, such as the work of Barbara Kingsolver, will not be disappointed.--Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2010
Leegants compelling debut novel weaves together the lives of three characters searching for personal and religious reconciliation in volatile settings. Yona travels from New York to Israel to visit her estranged older sister, Dena, who lives near Hebron in the West Bank. After the loss of their parents and a past of infidelity that drove the siblings apart, Yona longs to reconnect with her unforgiving sister while navigating her own sense of redemption. Mark Greenglass, a respected Jewish lecturer, visits his family in New York, where he faces his tumultuous, drug-addled past as well as a growing indifference toward his faith. At the edge of Jerusalem city limits, college student Aaron Blinder arrives at a radical outpost after dropping out of his yearlong semester abroad program. Socially awkward and crumbling under the pressure from his father, a famous writer, Aaron quickly feels at home with the camp. But when an act of violence propels the intersecting of Leegants characters lives in a shocking climax, they are finally forced to confront the aftermath of their life choices.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)