Ah I really, really wanted to like this book for two reasons: 1) I read Far To Go years ago and was blown away by it and 2) I worked on an Israeli kibbutz years ago and for these reasons I felt sure I would love it. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get on with it. I tried to persevere but it felt like wading through treacle in the end so I gave up :(

A most moving novel that I couldn't put down and yet had to stop to take a breath every so often. Alison Pick's subject in her latest novel is about the early Jewish pioneers who left the Russian pogroms behind to fulfil Herzl's Zionist dream of a Jewish homeland in the 1920s.

It is told from the point of view of three characters helping to build a kibbutz with their bare hands from lands bought from the Arabs who nevertheless, understandably, don't want to move. Each character is memorably portrayed: Ida, a young woman who brings with her a pair of candlesticks from home given by her mother after her father's brutal killing but in her effort to keep them Ida unwittingly causes a tragedy; David, some years older than the other new settlers, has already alienated the Arabs and been forced with his wife and daughter to move to set up this new community; Hannah, David's wife, left her parents behind when they moved and cannot align the socialist beliefs of the kibbutz community with her feelings for her family, in particular her young daughter, Ruth. All are overseen by someone who, from the beginning, we know is dead but who played a pivotal role in the story.

The minor characters are also brilliantly drawn and the story is most timely. The history of the founding state of Israel is such an emotive subject but Strangers With The Same Dream illustrates how difficult that dream has been to achieve. These early pioneers must be now turning in their graves. I cannot do justice to this book but will be recommending to everyone I know. Thank you to NetGalley and Tinder Books for the opportunity to read and review it.