Fields of Exile

This new novel by Nora Gold is very  pertinent to what is happening today on college campuses all over the United States and as Gold makes clear in this novel in Canada also.  This is a story with many layers.  First there is the situation of prejudice and anti-Semitism on the college campus and how that is being dealt with or in this case not handled well.  On another level this a story of relationships.  There is the relationship between Judith and her father, the relationship between Judith and Bobby and also the interactions between Judith and her classmates and in a way the State of Israel.  Each of these plot lines can be examined in and of itself for an interesting discussion.

Together they set up a novel about a 30 something woman who seems lost after returning home to Canada from Israel to nurse her father in his last days.  As a last wish to her father she agrees to stay home for a year and get an advanced degree at the local college.  At the beginning of the novel she appears to be an immature young woman who cannot stand up for herself.  She can hardly wait to escape back to Israel.  As the novel progresses, with the support of an old romantic flame, Bobby, Judith seems to mature and find her voice.  She tries to speak out at school about anti-Semitism she is witnessing.  She learns about friendship and trust.

She is growing up and maybe she wonders if that is why her father exacted the promise from her that he did.  Bobby gives her an idea of what her father was thinking, when during an argument he blurts out, "...your father totally nailed it. ..He was right. You're able to commit yourself to an ideal or to something abstract, but not to anything real, like another person.  Or anyway, not a living person. You probably love Herzl, Rabin, and the poet Rachel better than you love anyone in the real world."
Author Nora Gold comments on Judith's character and why she is so determined to return to Israel saying, "I think, though, that when you are dealing with people's "dreams", you often encounter "lack of realism", "immaturity", etc.  Judith seems to me typical of a certain type of person who has invested a great deal in a dream and can't come to terms with the possibility that it is in some ways flawed."

In an interview chat with author, Nora Gold, she spoke about her reasons and thinking as she was writing the book.  This always gives such wonderful insight and makes the book come to life.  Gold has lived and traveled to Israel as an adult.  She also went to Zionist camp as a child and she said it changed her life.  After that she does not feel the book is biographical at all.  Gold says she was concerned about the anti-Israelism at colleges today and wanted to write about it.
Along with that the other topics presented in the book will also be fodder for some great discussions for book groups; courage to stand up for what you believe in, betrayal, loyalty, friendship, politics and love.