Henna House

An evocative and stirring novel about a young woman living in the fascinating and rarely portrayed community of Yemenite Jews of the mid twentieth century, from the acclaimed author of The Family Orchard.In the tradition of Anita Diamant s The Red Tent, Henna House is the enthralling story of a woman, her family, their community, and the rituals that bind them.Nomi Eve s vivid saga begins in Yemen in 1920, when Adela Damari s parents desperately seek a future husband for their young daughter After passage of the Orphan s Decree, any unbetrothed Jewish child left orphaned will be instantly adopted by the local Muslim community With her parents health failing, and no spousal prospects in sight, Adela s situation looks dire until her uncle arrives from a faraway city, bringing with him a cousin and aunt who introduce Adela to the powerful rituals of henna tattooing Suddenly, Adela s eyes are opened to the world, and she begins to understand what it means to love another and one s heritage She is imperiled, however, when her parents die and a prolonged drought threatens their long established way of life She and her extended family flee to the city of Aden where Adela encounters old loves, discovers her true calling, and is ultimately betrayed by the people and customs she once held dear.Henna House is an intimate family portrait and a panorama of history From the traditions of the Yemenite Jews, to the far ranging devastation of the Holocaust, to the birth of the State of Israel, Eve offers an unforgettable coming of age story and a textured chronicle of a fascinating period in the twentieth century.Henna House is a rich, spirited, and sensuous tale of love, loss, betrayal, forgiveness, and the dyes that adorn the skin and pierce the heart. New Read Henna House Author Nomi Eve For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr You can read the synopsis on another page For me this was a book to read twice the first time to rush through the pages to quickly find out what will happen to the characters next, and the second time to slowly savor the descriptions of th...Beautifully written and deeply researched novel set in a Jewish community in Yemen from the early 1900s and to nearly the present day I was captivated by the details of a time and place that I knew nothing about The pace was a bit slower than...Henna House by Nomi Eve is a beautifully written story of a young woman growing up in Yemen during the 1920 s and 1930 s Right away, I was transported back in time to a very primitive world, a world without any kind of modern day conveniences, a world where religion and superstitions played a central role in the lives of the people The world is brought to life by the voice of the narrator When we first meet Adela, she is a bright, young, precocious little girl, the youngest child in a very la Henna House by Nomi Eve is a beautifully written story of a young woman...Nomi Eve isn t playing when she composes fiction Henna House is not a tale delivered by the author with a light hand to her readers In another sense, this decidedly isn t literary play I would not describe the form as experimental, exploratory, or organically tailored to the content in a responsive or flexible way Instead, the narrative here is as purposeful in tone and effect as any I can presently recall Eve s narrator s voice has been well honed, andstrikingly, the discourse in thi Nomi Eve isn t playing when she composes fiction Henna House is not a tale delivered by the author with a light hand to her readers In another sense, this decidedly isn t literary play I would not describe the form as experimental, exploratory, or organically tailored to the content in a responsive or flexible way Instead, the narrative here is as purposeful in tone and effect as any I can presently recall Eve s narrator s voice has been well honed, andstrikingly, the discourse in this text is never less than unabashedly powerful Throughout the detailed work, the reader senses the heart of the matter being directly set forth nothing is roundabout or oblique let alone trivial In sum, this novel delivers exceptional drama without ever struggling with the bounds of good taste o...What a beautifully written story This was a group of people I really knew nothing about and I ve always been interested in henna This is about Adela Damari starting in the 1920s in Yemen It follows her life as she tries to avoid the Confiscator who takes Jewish children as part of the Orphan s Decree and they are instantly adopted by the local Muslim community I enjoyed the relationship between Adela and her ...This was a disappointing miss for me Went in expecting a dramatic story of a Yemenite Jewish girl learning Henna in order to set her free What I got was a story with characters doing things that made me feel nothing.Adela Damari has all the makings to be a powerful antagonist She made a valiant effort, but ultimately didn t come off the page for me This book starts out with her fearful of the Confiscator a man who threatened to take Adela if her father died before she was married to ano This was a disappointing miss for me Went in expecting a dramatic story of a Yemenite Jewish girl learning Henna in order t...This is a beautifully written, meticulously researched book At first I thought I was reading about a young girl in Biblical times Yemen The Jews and the Muslims are living side by side with the Muslims ruling and controlling every minute detail of the lives of the Jews The homes, clothing, living conditions, and cultural s are biblical It was quite shocking to realize that the story starts around the 1920 s Then I thought about how many people, especially girls and women are still livin This is a beautifully written, meticulously researched book At first I thought I was reading about a young girl in Biblical times Yemen The Jews and the Muslims are living side by side with the Muslims ruling and controlling every minute detail of the lives of the Jews The homes, clothing, living conditions, and cultural s are biblical It was quite shocking to realize that the story starts around the 1920 s Then I thought about how many people, especially girls and women are still living in similar conditions in much of the world, and it was not hard to believe that such an almost pre historic existence could exist concurrently with the first trans Atlantic flight of Charles Lindburgh, the Baseball career of Babe Ruth etc.All that aside, this is a beautiful, rich story of a young girl growing up in a small primative village where girls are betrothed as toddlers, married as soon as they bleed, and live rather bleak lives Jewish childre...Before talking about what I didn t like about the book I d like to talk about its importance and encourage people to read it With Yemen currently in extreme crisis 2015 I encourage readers to pick up this book There is a lot of information, clearly told, about Yemen from 1930s to post WWII All political and cultural upheaval is confusing to outsiders and without some background knowledge, it is evendifficult In the 1930s Yemen was divided between a Britain protectorate containing Ade Before talking about what I didn t like about the book I d like to talk about its importance and encourage people to read it With Yemen currently in extreme crisis 2015 I encourage readers to pick up this book There is a lot of information, clearly told, about Yemen from 1930s to post WWII All political and cultural upheaval is confusing to outsiders and without some background knowledge, it is evendifficult In the 1930s Yemen was divided between a Britain protectorate containing Aden and a Yemeni Muslim kingdom containing Sana a Aden was a busy port city and crucial to British forces during WWII Sana a was a rural community enmeshed in tradition This is the story of Adela, a young Jewish girl growing up in Sana a Like many of the Jews there, her father is a craftsman, a shoemaker whose livelihood depends on ...This is in the running to be my favorite historical fiction read of 2014 and will definitely be on my favorite historical fiction reads of all time list Described as similar to Diamante s The Red Tent, I found it to remind me muchof Hoffman s The Dovekeepers Desert villages, a little girl who wants to read and not be married off to an old man, the microcosm of families, and Adela s knowledge of her expanding world were all a rich story unto themselves, but the final third of the book is This is in the running to be my favorite historical fiction read of 2014 and will definitely be on my favorite historical fiction reads of all time list Described as similar to Diamante s The Red Tent, I found it to remind me muchof Hoffman s The Dovekeepers Desert villages, a little girl who wants to read and not be married off to an old man, the microcosm of families, and Adela s knowledge of h...Every once in a while, I read a book and think, I should just give up I can t do this I can t write LIKE THIS Gorgeous, descriptive, lush prose The kind that makes you want to crawl into the book and stay there Gripping characters and plot I loved...

• English
• 21 May 2017
Nomi Eve
• Hardcover
• 320 pages
• 1476740275
• Nomi Eve
• Henna House