Review of 'The Rebel's Niece' by Shimon Avish

Imagine it's the year 70 and you're trapped in Jerusalem'sTemple compound as the Romans besiege the city. Is it better to surrender andlive your lives as slaves, or fight to the death because you believe that iswhat God commanded you to do?

This is the dilemma facing the protagonists of The Rebel'sNiece by Shimon Avish (MarbleStone Press, August 2023), the second ofthe author's novels about significant events in ancient Jewish history.

This fictional account of the traumatic years of the Roman conquestputs you straight into the action from the very first page. Sarah, a mother oftwo and niece of the messianic rebel leader Yochanan, flees her Galileanvillage along with her husband, Jacob, ahead of the Roman invasion. She beginsto question Yochanan's leadership when he sends many of the villagers tocertain death and forges ahead to Jerusalem, supposedly following God's instructions.

Thefamily sets up their tent in the Temple, knowing that the Romans are gettingcloser every day. But along with preparations for the ultimate battle, Yochananclashes with the other resistance leaders. Why were the Jews fighting each other instead of saving themselves to fight theRomans? Sarah wonders. The novel offers no clear-cut answer.

The Rebel's Niece devotes much attentionto the daily lives of its protagonists. Sarah and the other women are more concernedwith sleeping arrangements, babysitting, and mealtimes than with the looming destruction.

Still,the battles described in the book are bloody and assumedly historically accurate,based on the author's exhaustive research. The construction of the siege engines,the pounding of the battering rams, and the breachingof the city's walls are very clearly and colorfully depicted.

What is most surprising to learn is that the Romans were notinvincible. The Jews were equal in battle, if not in numbers. Perhaps ifthere hadn't been so much infighting and baseless hatred, Jerusalem would nothave been conquered and the Second Temple would not have been destroyed. When thecity fell, the Jews lost their holiest site but many would survive to fightanother day. The author's previous novel was aptly titled Masada: Thou Shalt Not Kill.

Overall, The Rebel's Niece is a compelling, thrillingaccount of one of the most significant events in ancient Jewish history. Theauthor promises three more novels in the series and readers can look forward torealistic accounts of those events as well.

Shimon Avish, aformer soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces and a founder of a kibbutz insouthern Israel, writes about significant events in ancient Jewish history. Hiswork draws on his adventures in soldiering, farming, product design, cabinetmaking, political science, international business consulting, and living in theU.S., Canada, and Israel. He completed his doctoral degree in political scienceat Columbia University and was a Fulbright-Hays Fellow.

Originally posted on The Times of Israel.

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