Adam Shapiro

Written by hand in Ramle prison | Monday, August 17, 2009

I just completed your novel and I wanted to write and let you know how much I appreciate and was moved by your work.

Perhaps I should explain a bit about where I read the book. I am sitting in Givon Prison in Ramle, awaiting deportation (for the second time in 7 years). I was on a boat launched by the Free Gaza Movement to bring toys, medicine, cement and other supplies to Gaza when our boat was boarded by the Israeli navy and dragged to Ashdod. Your book is the only reading material I brought and I poured myself into it.

For the hours it took me to read, I was utterly transported, in both place and time.

When I neared the end, I found myself crying at reading the tragedy of the story – a tragedy that is all too well known to me and one in which I have immersed myself and tread through every day. And yet, I found myself moved beyond what I would have believed. The story you created and the way you told it, including the truthfulness of the characters, was profound.

Not to overdo the conditions of my detention, but I have to say that reading your work gave me extra strength and resolve for the time I was spending in the prison, and of course for continuing my own resistance and struggle.

I don’t recall having ever been moved by a book like this before. And I am profoundly grateful that you found your voice in this novel, and the voices of so many.