A review by retiredlibrarylady
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

4.0

Voices of women from Masada, this well-written historical novel is based upon the historical record of 2 women and 5 children who survived. I am not a big fan of stories told by multiple protagonists, but this one worked well for me, probably because it was in four parts, one for each character, rather than switching back and forth. There's some mysticism associated with several of the women, which put me off a bit, but you pretty quickly get caught up in the story. Basically, the Romans were out to exterminate the Jews, and various groups of Jews found their way to this mountaintop former retreat of King Herod. We follow several different groups on their difficult journey, and then see how they try to work together to create a community even as food and water become scarce and the Romans decide to eliminate this last bastion of resistance. The Jews are determined not to become Roman slaves and make a terrible choice. Hoffman is particularly gifted at created fully rounded women and they are the memorable parts of this gritty tale.