The Garden

This is a wonderful book, the sequel to AFTER THE WAR. THE GARDEN is much longer than AFTER THE WAR. It sheds more light on the life of Ruth and her family when they get to Isreal. I read this book without knowing it would help me understand Middle Eastern conflict of today. Confused about Yassir Arafat and Sharon? Than read this book. It is the root struggle of the conflicts of Isreal today. This book will make you feel compassionate towards both Isreali and Arab peoples - I reccomend this to people who can understand both sides of a conflict without a bias opinion.

This story depicts a, now, sixteen-year old Ruth Mendenberg who is forced to fight Arabs in Palestine to hold onto the little piece of independence she has experienced at Kibbutz David. Ruth endures many intrapersonal conflicts throughout her journey to freedom. She knows that she has to fight in the war but worries if she can do this in a fair manner, without disappointing her fellow Jewish comrades. Ruth does not want to disppoint herself, for she knows that she is the only one who has to absorb the guilt of killing another human being. At times, Ruth becomes so frustrated by all of the violence, she wonders if she knows the difference between right and wrong anymore. The temptation is thrust under her nose to kill those enemies who killed the ones she loved. "An eye for an eye" is one of the many radical ideals her brother, Simon, proclaims as he fights with the Irgun soldiers. Ruth is torn in making the decisions that will affect her life forever. Will she do what she believes is right and just during this tumultuous time? All she knows for sure is that she wants to return to a time when she planted her beautiful garden which brought her heart peace. This story is full of thought-provoking questions relative of all of our lives.