Well, as I suspected, the reviews of The Book of Trees have been mixed. Quill and Quire liked the scene of my main character buying a pair of edible underwear as a shower gift in a mainly positive review. On the other side, The American Jewish Library was "shocked and dismayed by [my book's] distorted and one-sided approach to the complex issue of Israeli-Palestinian relations. We had expected better from Orca and from an author whose first book, GRAVITY, was reviewed very positively in the AJL Newsletter."
I had fully expected this kind of reaction, and was even surprised it took so long to happen. Reviews on Amazon also seem to follow extreme views. I guess that's no surprise, since attitudes toward Israel are so polarized. Some friends were so outraged by the idea that I would write a book exploring Palestinian grievances against Israel that they refused to read it. I wish they would, and engage me in a meaningful dialogue. That's all I really want, for people to talk, not orate.
