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heidihaverkamp's review against another edition
4.0
"The sun rose in the east speaking Arabic and set in the west speaking Hebrew, and we tried to find our way in between." Stephanie and Frederic, she a U.S. and he a French citizen, begin their marriage and have their first child on Nablus Road, a dividing line down the middle of Jerusalem. They meet at a Syrian Catholic monastery, before the civil war. Saldana is a beautiful writer, although sometimes she drifts into a bit too much prose poetry for me. She's definitely a romantic but, hey, to survive in a place like Jerusalem - a place I have loved to visit, though I've never lived there - I think you have to be a romantic. She takes you deep into what it's like to live in that strange, violent, holy city: in her words, street vendors, soldiers, doctors, priests, nuns, her husband, and son come alive, and have such depth. So do trees, churches, streets, birds, a piano, even bread. Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Joy, war, suffering, bigotry, hospitality, family. A wonderful and painful memoir, especially if like me, you've left part of your heart behind in Jerusalem.
skychaos's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.0
Nice writing but as it is a memoir there is no real plot.
hinalovestoread's review against another edition
4.0
Originally published on Hina Loves To Read>/b>
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway ages ago (in 2017). In a time when Goodreads giveaways were not limited to the US and Canada.
I participated in the giveaway because of the name of the book because I had not known Stephanie Saldana prior to that day (or even after that until I actually read this book now in 2020).
Now to Saldana’s life (as the book is a memoir).
The start was a bit slow because it takes time to get to know the people one is reading about and unlike fiction, not everything in one person’s life can be attractive or interesting to another human being.
But, the story picked up real fast. And past chapter 2, I was completely immersed in the story of Saldana’s life. So much so, that I felt present in all the events of her life she has talked about in her book.
It all started with two people meeting each other in a monastery – one of them a novice monk – and falling in love.
The narrative was engaging in a way that it kept on edge as I anticipated what will happen next while it left me with little historical tidbits here and there which makes me want to visit Jerusalem myself (this is something that is almost impossible with a Pakistani passport).
This is a story of an ordinary woman with many extraordinary ups and downs in her life and how everything seems to be larger than life itself. All the ensuing drama made me want to finish the book in one go but that was impossible for me as there was so much to imbibe from the story of Saldana’s life.
The story of her life flowed seamlessly form one incident to the other despite the fact that the story spans over years and some incidents do swing between Past and Present but it all makes sense in the ensuing chaos of the life of Saldana.
Talking about the historical and political aspect of Palestine and Israel, it was vaguely on the forefront of the world spectrum but it was never real life one’s life events are real. This book and the life Saldana made with her family in A Country Between brought that reality near and it made all the destruction and sadness and the beams of joy in among all those vivid for me in a way it had not been done before.
I am so glad that Stephanie Saldana wrote the book and that I got to read it.
Definitely a 4 star read.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway ages ago (in 2017). In a time when Goodreads giveaways were not limited to the US and Canada.
I participated in the giveaway because of the name of the book because I had not known Stephanie Saldana prior to that day (or even after that until I actually read this book now in 2020).
Now to Saldana’s life (as the book is a memoir).
The start was a bit slow because it takes time to get to know the people one is reading about and unlike fiction, not everything in one person’s life can be attractive or interesting to another human being.
But, the story picked up real fast. And past chapter 2, I was completely immersed in the story of Saldana’s life. So much so, that I felt present in all the events of her life she has talked about in her book.
It all started with two people meeting each other in a monastery – one of them a novice monk – and falling in love.
The narrative was engaging in a way that it kept on edge as I anticipated what will happen next while it left me with little historical tidbits here and there which makes me want to visit Jerusalem myself (this is something that is almost impossible with a Pakistani passport).
This is a story of an ordinary woman with many extraordinary ups and downs in her life and how everything seems to be larger than life itself. All the ensuing drama made me want to finish the book in one go but that was impossible for me as there was so much to imbibe from the story of Saldana’s life.
The story of her life flowed seamlessly form one incident to the other despite the fact that the story spans over years and some incidents do swing between Past and Present but it all makes sense in the ensuing chaos of the life of Saldana.
Talking about the historical and political aspect of Palestine and Israel, it was vaguely on the forefront of the world spectrum but it was never real life one’s life events are real. This book and the life Saldana made with her family in A Country Between brought that reality near and it made all the destruction and sadness and the beams of joy in among all those vivid for me in a way it had not been done before.
I am so glad that Stephanie Saldana wrote the book and that I got to read it.
Definitely a 4 star read.
momreaderh's review against another edition
4.0
Very interesting and well written. A little too much hearty-flowery talk for me, but I think many people will enjoy this story of different cultures meeting up.
poeticsinglemama's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
kae_itzme's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
mamaishtari's review against another edition
5.0
Beautifully written. So many phrases and passages that moved me.
mimima's review against another edition
3.0
Sweet memoir with some great stories and wonderful prose (ask my Dh about the siren scene, he laughed and laughed.) Plus, it mentioned one of my heart books.
abookishaffair's review
5.0
In "A Country Between," Stephanie and her husband (their love story alone could have made a whole 'nother book) make a new life in Jerusalem. It's a gorgeous exploration of the historic city that has been so marked by fighting. It's a place of different groups of people pressing against each other and trying to carve out their own place. It's also an incredibly personal story of love and of building a life together. Filled with gorgeous prose, this book brought me to tears by the end - a certain feat!
This book is written as a letter to their first son, Joseph, talking about their new life in this city. Stephanie and her husband never set off to live in Jerusalem but it was as if it called to them. I loved the descriptions of the places in the book. Jerusalem is definitely some place that I would love to visit today and I would love to visit it even more after reading the vivid descriptions in this book. I really loved the descriptions of the people that become the family's family abroad. There are so many different people that make up the fabric of the author's experience.
The writing of the book is gorgeous. There is the travel aspect of the book certainly but there is also a very personal family-oriented bend to the book. There is the love between Stephanie and her husband. The description of how they fall in love is just gorgeous. There were also a lot of good passages on being a parent and the kind of love that relationship between a parent and child imparts. These are the parts that made me teary - so very vivid for someone who is a parent themselves!
This was a great book with great writing! I would love to read more by Saldana in the future!
This book is written as a letter to their first son, Joseph, talking about their new life in this city. Stephanie and her husband never set off to live in Jerusalem but it was as if it called to them. I loved the descriptions of the places in the book. Jerusalem is definitely some place that I would love to visit today and I would love to visit it even more after reading the vivid descriptions in this book. I really loved the descriptions of the people that become the family's family abroad. There are so many different people that make up the fabric of the author's experience.
The writing of the book is gorgeous. There is the travel aspect of the book certainly but there is also a very personal family-oriented bend to the book. There is the love between Stephanie and her husband. The description of how they fall in love is just gorgeous. There were also a lot of good passages on being a parent and the kind of love that relationship between a parent and child imparts. These are the parts that made me teary - so very vivid for someone who is a parent themselves!
This was a great book with great writing! I would love to read more by Saldana in the future!
heatherr's review
This memoir is the story of an American woman who was considering becoming a nun in a Syrian monastery. She met a French novice monk there. Eventually, they left and married.
Through a series of unplanned events, they found themselves setting up their first household in Jerusalem. It was near the dividing line between Palestinian and Jewish areas near the Damascus Gate.
"The sun rose in the east speaking Arabic and set in the west speaking Hebrew, and we tried to find our way in between."
This is the story of trying to make a marriage while dealing with your husband's deep grief about leaving the monastery. It is worrying about what might happen every time you leave the house.
"...a great many of the dramas that happen in the Middle East begin with the simple intention of leaving the house to buy vegetables."
This is a very lyrical memoir of their lives in this house. I think that it started too slowly. There was too much information about her childhood. It slowed down the pace of the book. Now I know that there was a first memoir about meeting her husband and the decision to leave the monastery. This was also covered here for those of us who didn't read the first book.
There is some discussion of the larger political issues that affected their day to day lives but mostly she discusses the affect of policy on her street. She discusses roadblocks and violence. She talks about taking her kids to play in touristy areas. Her neighborhood is a microcosm of all the religions that call Jerusalem home.
It can also be funny.
"When the Franciscans came into view in their brown cassocks, Joseph’s face became overcome with wonder. He ran to them and quietly bowed his head. Then he whispered, in solemn greeting, “Heigh-ho. Heigh-ho.”"
Ultimately I would have liked more politics to understand what was happening but that isn't the point of this book. Read this one if you like beautifully written slice of life stories.
"If I can ask you to remember only one thing, then let it be this: keep watch. You have not been born into an easy world. But every now and then, in the midst of our daily lives, a miracle strikes."This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story