Will I love The World and All That It Holds?

I was captivated by the central relationship, a love affair between two grunt soldiers in World War I. That's quite unlikely, but it hints at a positive outcome or dangles a thread of something hopeful. And that kept me hooked through the decades-long saga of war, displacement, exile, and loss from Europe across the Middle East to China—in a refugee caravan, on foot!—ending in the present, in Israel.

Hemon, an immigrant to the U.S. from Sarajevo, writes in English, his second language, which, for me as a writer, makes this kaleidoscopic story an even more dazzling achievement. He's playful with… show more.

I know I’m allowed to recommend books from any year, but I’m going to keep myself to books published in 2023.

It was a tough year for me – my mother died, my husband lost his job, my sister was nearly killed by a drunk driver – and this epic, unforgettable novel reminded me about what outlasts all adversity and allows us to go on living: love. It tells the story of two soldiers in the First World War who escape the front and survive as refugees by their wiles, their humanity, and their solidarity with one another.

This is… show more.