conflict – Miriam Drori, Author

The “Fictional” World of Loyalty and the Learner

How fictional is the world inhabited by Nathalie, Asaf and friends (and foes)?

On Day 2 of the blog tour for Loyalty and the Learner, I’m pondering this question. Here’s why:

Before I go any further, you can find links to all the tour posts so far in this post.

Yesterday, GB Williams posted this when writing about my book:

…I also know little of life in Israel, other than what we see on the news, which I have tried to forget as the real world is a different one to the world this story inhabits. That’s what fiction is for, taking us away from the real world.

I actually wrote this novel more than a year ago, its publication having been delayed for several reasons. But even before the seventh of October 2023, and going back long before independence in 1948, Israel has been plagued by conflict and wars, by enemies who will agree to nothing less than its complete destruction. It has always known terrorist attacks of various sorts.

By the way, despite all that, I believe Israeli cities are among the safest in the world, especially for women.

Not one of my novels set in Israel – Neither Here Nor There (not currently available), Style and the Solitary and Loyalty and the Learner – mention wars or attacks, other than Asaf saying of Israel’s problems in Loyalty and the Learner, “One of those is the security situation.”

Why?

There are plenty of novels set in Israel that highlight the security situation and explain it much better than I ever could. I wanted to portray ordinary life here, to show the beautiful and the not so beautiful but without the wars. Does that make the world of my novels fictional?

I don’t think so. The reality is that Israelis live in two parallel worlds simultaneously. We work in offices or building sites or fields. We go shopping in markets and supermarkets and smaller shops. We exercise in the gym or by walking, runnning, cycling, dancing. We love to spend time with our families.

The other world is more frightening. We hear about it on the news and hope it won’t come any closer to us, but of course it does, even if it’s only when we run for shelter. No, it’s never only that, because we all know people who’ve been affected much more, who’ve lost family members and had their worlds changed forever in a single moment.

In normal times, but not during the past year, it’s possible to spend whole days, maybe even a week or two, without thinking about wars or attacks. Unless, of course, you’re in the army, or have a child in the army, or find yourself under attack…

Really, it’s often possible to forget you’re in the Middle East for a while. And so, I suggest the world of my novels is not as fictional as you might think.

Loyalty and the Learner is published through Ocelot Press and can be purchased via Amazon and other online stores.

SIM Talk 8: Tourists Beware!

What visitors to Israel should be aware of before flying out, and landing in

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Israel?

Is it war, conflict and terrorism? As a tourist, you’re very unlikely to encounter any of that. We (not me, personally, but the authorities) work very hard and put all sorts of measures into place to keep you safe while you’re here. So, don’t worry about that.

What else comes to mind? Probably hot weather and a land of deserts. You might think you can leave coats and umbrellas at home. You might think: tropical.

Well, think again. It hardly ever rains… in the summer. But in winter, we have plenty of rain. Sometimes the heavens open and you can get drenched in minutes… seconds. You might be lucky – most winter days are dry and some are even warm and sunny. But come prepared for rain. Jerusalem, Safed and other parts of Israel can even get snow.

Palm tree in snow

Why am I thinking of this now? Because a friend just came for a brief trip. During her three-day visit, rain poured down almost all the time. And she wasn’t prepared.

Another visitor once came for a ceremony, for which he had to stand outside in pouring rain, and the following day he was stuck indoors when snow fell.

When we lived in the beautiful area of Jerusalem called Yemin Moshe, we occasionally seemed to be standing in a river when we walked up and down its stairs.

Those deserts… they’re only in the south of the country.

You have been warned!

~~~

Do you want to write (or talk) about one or more of the SIM topics – Social anxiety, Israel, Misunderstandings? The details are here.