A Country Between

October 17, 2016
This candid, tenderly rendered love story begins in a Syrian monastery, where Saldaña (Bread of Angels), a Texas-born journalist, falls for Frédéric, a French novice monk. Saldaña writes about both her growing adoration and her concerns, first as the two make a leap into marriage and then when, only months later, they settle in Israel. Thanks to Frédéric’s church connections and the first of many incredible coincidences, as Saldaña writes, they find a home owned by French-speaking nuns on 2,000-year-old Nablus Road, on the Palestinian side of the city. The house is a microcosm unto itself, the first floor occupied by an Arab grocery store and Mexican nuns with a hidden garden. Saldaña nicely describes the people in her neighborhood, such as the falafel seller and town crier who reports on everyone’s comings and goings, as well as the shops with old Chanukah chocolates, Christmas decorations, and Israeli and Arab products side-by-side. In time, the couple’s bond with the people of Nablus Road solidifies; the Palestinian community embraces them, especially after they have a son. A year later, fighting between Israel and Hamas endangers the neighborhood. Saldaña describes in wonderful detail how, as their family expands, they stay in a place where so little makes sense, guided solely by their hope in the future.