In 72 CE, 900 Jews sought refuge on the top of an ancient Herodian fort called Masada to escape from Roman persecution and the desecration of their temple in Jerusalem.  In the ensuing months these refugees would hold out against an entire Roman army who lays siege and seeks to destroy them.  In the end, Josephus, the Roman historian, reports that only two women and five children survived the siege at Masada.

Based on these bare historical facts, The Dovekeepers, a novel, is the story of four different women who came to Masada in different ways, carrying different burdens, and seeking a place of refuge but finding instead a place of war and destruction: Yael, whose mother who died in childbirth, and rejected by her father, an assassin for the zealots; Revka, the baker’s wife, saw her daughter raped and killed by Roman soldiers and now cares for her mute and traumatized grandchildren; Aziza, raised as a boy in a Bedouin tribe, chafes at the limitations she faces because of her gender, and Shirah, her mother, born in Alexandria, gifted in the art of medicinal herbs and midwifery and has the ability to see others’ secrets even as she tries to hide her own.

Hoffman lets each woman tell her own story and as each voice adds their own perspective and insights we begin to see the whole of life for the refugees at Masada. As the women work in the dove cote, taking care of the doves and gathering the manure to feed the soil for the olive and fig groves, we see the connections they make with each other and with the men they encounter and their growing  understanding that the Masada they came to for refuge will now be their final resting place.

Hoffman has obviously done extensive research for this novel and she creates characters who are interesting, engaging, and whose stories we want to listen to. She also does not fall into the trap of creating women who are too modern in their sensibilities for their time and place, but rather has her characters wrestle with their role and place in society in ways that seem historically appropriate and natural.  I would have liked to have had more sense of the geography of Masada but overall Hoffman’s descriptions were interesting and helpful and her ability to bring to life one of the most poignant and terrible moments in history is outstanding.

Brenda’s Rating: ****(4 out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Sharon, Marian and Lauren

Books Study Worthy: Yes!

Read in ebook format.