A Country Between: Making a Home Where Both Sides of Jerusalem Collide

by Stephanie Saldana

"A Country Between reminds us that grief is as indispensable to joy as light is to shadow. Beautifully written, ardent and wise." -Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Secret Chord, People of the Book, and March
Moving her family to a war zone was not a simple choice, but she's determined to find hope, love, and peace amid the conflict in the Middle East.
When young mother Stephanie Saldana finds herself in an empty house at the beginning of Nablus road-the dividing line between East and West Jerusalem-she sees more than a Middle Eastern flash point. She sees what could be home.
Before her eyes, the fragile community of Jerusalem opens, and she starts to build her family to outlast the chaos. But as her son grows, so do the military checkpoints and bomb sirens, and Stephanie must learn to bridge the gap between safety and home, always questioning her choice to start her family and raise her child in a country at war.
A Country Between is a celebration of faith, language, and family-and a mother's discovery of how love can fill the spaces between what was once shattered, leaving us whole once more.

• ISBN10: 1492639052
• ISBN13: 9781492639053
• Publish Date: 7 February 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Sourcebooks, Inc
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[Heather]

This memoir is the story of an American woman who was considering becoming a nun in a Syrian monastery.  She met a French novice monk there.  Eventually, they left and married. 

Through a series of unplanned events, they found themselves setting up their first household in Jerusalem.  It was near the dividing line between Palestinian and Jewish areas near the Damascus Gate.

"The sun rose in the east speaking Arabic and set in the west speaking Hebrew, and we tried to find our way in between."

 

This is the story of trying to make a marriage while dealing with your husband's deep grief about leaving the monastery.  It is worrying about what might happen every time you leave the house.

"...a great many of the dramas that happen in the Middle East begin with the simple intention of leaving the house to buy vegetables."

 

This is a very lyrical memoir of their lives in this house.  I think that it started too slowly.  There was too much information about her childhood.  It slowed down the pace of the book.  Now I know that there was a first memoir about meeting her husband and the decision to leave the monastery.  This was also covered here for those of us who didn't read the first book.



There is some discussion of the larger political issues that affected their day to day lives but mostly she discusses the affect of policy on her street.  She discusses roadblocks and violence.  She talks about taking her kids to play in touristy areas.  Her neighborhood is a microcosm of all the religions that call Jerusalem home.

It can also be funny.

 

"When the Franciscans came into view in their brown cassocks, Joseph’s face became overcome with wonder. He ran to them and quietly bowed his head. Then he whispered, in solemn greeting, “Heigh-ho. Heigh-ho.”"

 

Ultimately I would have liked more politics to understand what was happening but that isn't the point of this book.  Read this one if you like beautifully written slice of life stories.

"If I can ask you to remember only one thing, then let it be this: keep watch. You have not been born into an easy world. But every now and then, in the midst of our daily lives, a miracle strikes."

This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story