Ishmael's Oranges

It's April 1948 and war hangs over Jaffa. One minute seven-year-old Salim is dreaming of taking his first harvest from the family orangetree with his father; the next he is swept away by 'the greatcatastrophe' into a life of exile.Meanwhile Jude is growing up in thenorth of England, a girl from a Jewish family which has survived theHolocaust.

When their paths collide in swinging-sixties London and theyfall in love, they think they are aware of the many challenges ahead ofthem, but before long they both face unexpected choices. Can they defythe lessons of their childhoods and build a life together? Or cannothing stop old seeds ripening to bitter fruits?

Revisiting itscharacters as the decades pass, Ishmael's Oranges tells the story oftwo cultures clashing through the lives of Salim and Jude as therelentless tides of history wash over the many crossroads lands of theMiddle East. Spanning three generations, it follows the journeys ofthose cast adrift by war - as well as by their own impulses - untilat last they find themselves thrown headlong into it, and asks what isthe birthright of the generations that follow?

Through Salim, Jude andtheir twins, we explore the longest conflict of our era in universallyhuman terms: the families we build, the loyalties we owe, and thestories we pass on to our children.