City of Secrets

Stewart O'Nan has written a captivating plot of espionage and intrigue that also gives the reader insight into what life was like when Jews escaped Europe to Jerusalem in 1945.  At this point in history, Israel was not yet a state flowing with milk and honey.  This is a story that gives the reader insight into the relationship between Arabs, Jews living in Palestine, Jews coming over from Europe and all the different groups interactions with the British.  The British rulers control Palestine and have strict quotas for immigration of Jews.  The Haganah and other underground groups are working to expel the British and make Palestine an open state that will welcome all Jews.

Israel is still called Palestine when our main character, Brand comes to escape the horrors of the Holocaust. He has survived but at the tremendous cost of losing his entire family.  He is constantly wrestling with the question; why did I survive when so many did not?  He takes on his false identity and joins the underground for the protection it offers.  He feels a need to give back and make a statement.  This time he tells himself he will not go like a sheep to slaughter.  So he joins a resistance group, the Irgun, a pro-violence, paramilitary organization.  As part of the Haganah their mission was to drive out the British and make Palestine a homeland for the Jews.  Brand is a man who has lost respect in himself. His contact, Asher, seems to believe in him. He starts to think they may be right as he drives members of the Irgun to destinations, also transporting guns and bombs, and taking part in raids.

Brand is not so sure he agrees with the resistance's theory of attacking as a means solving problems. He is entrusted with secret information about bombing buses, buildings and trains.  He is given a gun to carry.  Brand is given a old Peugeot, stolen and refitted with a false bottom to hold guns and bombs, using a false registration along with his false papers is a taxi driver.

He also is the driver for many of the cell's assignments. But there are many questions that cannot be asked.  There are so many secrets.  There are the secrets of identity, everyone has a false name and a new business.  There are secrets of the organization, who is involved or not. There are the secret missions.   He would prefer the Jewish Agency's method of nonviolent resistance.

One of his passengers is  Eva, now known as "The Widow", who meets with various men during the day.  Brand drives her to her appointments.  Eva is a Latvian survivor who also works for the Irgun and she explains, "You weren't around for the riots. They killed hundreds of us.  They broke down doors and cut children's throats.  It's like they went mad."  These weren't the same Arabs," he said. She says, "We're not the same Jews.  That's the point.  We won't sit around and be killed anymore. That's what they have to understand.  We'll fight."  ... "You have to remind them., otherwise they'll go back to their old ways."

He and Eva realize they have so much in common especially being lonely and missing the loved ones lost to the Holocaust.  Brand and Eva keep each other company on the lonely nights, when they are missing their families and their previous lives.

This is a story of the life in Palestine under the British Mandate.  O'Nan gives the reader an idea of what it was like trying to live in Jerusalem with the British and the Arabs, always going through checkpoints and watching out for yourself and others.  Not knowing who to trust, or when there would be an act of violence.  Never sure if one should step in to defend someone else or keep a low profile and avoid unnecessary personal questioning.  These are some of the moral dilemmas Brand wrestles with.

Also this is a story of one man's fight to maintain his principles after suffering such great loss. Caught up in a feeling of wanting revenge but also knowing that is not the right way to achieve inner peace.  Brand, caught in the web of the Irgun's dangerous missions, starts to realize this is not the way he wants behave.  He struggles with wanting to show strength but also wanting to be a righteous person.  This is a story of the complex morality of the people, their actions and intentions.  This is a story of personal change and growth.  In the end, Brand wants to reclaim the person he really is.