Book Review-The Lemon Tree

The Lemon Tree:the spirits are talking to us and reminding us
Author: Ilil Arbelnever to forget where we came from in order to
Publisher: iUniverseknow where we are going.Ilil`s admirable ear
ISBN: 0595339824With the advent ofattuned to the rhythms of speech and her keen
self-publishing and the boutique or smaller publishingeye for images, vividly brings to life her mother`s
houses, there has been a proliferation of personalnarration of the death of the latter`s little brother
biographies and memoirs.Sasha, who, before his death, had planted a lemon
This is not necessarily bad omen, as narrativesseed in a flower pot, hoping one day to be able
recounted by ordinary people are very oftento transplant a lemon tree to Israel.Most
more engrossing than those pertaining to those ofsignificantly, while facing persecution and
many well-known individuals, who may have livedimmeasurable obstacles, Ida`s family, the
during the same era and within the sameWissotzkys, exhibit immense courage, overcoming
geographical location.Readers will recognize thatdifficulties and pain, as they travel with their
there seems to be a more exacting blueprint ofbeloved lemon tree plant from Siberia through
lives and experiences of these unknownManchuria, Shanghai, Port Said and eventually
individuals, as they probe into their ownarriving in Israel.Although, it is sometimes very
personalities and the events they encountered.Thedifficult to exactly remember the past, you can
Lemon Tree, authored by Ilil Arbel, is astill, to a certain extent, recreate it by re-entering
remarkable example of this trend, whereinand reliving it with your memoirs, images and
fortunately, the author did not miss theimagination-thus leaving your descendants a
opportunity to take advantage of her mother, Idatreasured legacy. And herein lies the message of
Rosenfelds story telling skills, as she jotted downThe Lemon Tree.Norm Goldman is the Editor of
her mothers tales of the family`s journey duringNorm is also a travel writer and together with his
1919 from their native home in Siberia to Israel,artist wife, Lily, they meld words with art focusing
or as it was known at the time, Palestine.Theon romantic and wedding destinations.You can
result is a brief yet gracefully written work thatread Norm`s articles and view Lily`s artwork at
deftly captures the way events happened, as ifsketchandtravel.