Daughter of Jerusalem: An American Woman's Journey of Faith

by Sharon Geyer

Daughter of A Timely Look at Three Faiths by a Gifted Storyteller. Writing with spare and lovely prose, Sharon Geyer deservedly won honors (the San Diego Prize for Narrative Nonfiction 2004) for her book, Daughter of Jerusalem. A memoir of a life spent on two continents, amidst three faiths, and a testament to how God remains faithful to those faithful to him, even through seemingly unbearable hardship. Geyer was only 18 when she met her first husband, an Iranian exchange student, at Cal State in Los Angeles. One of six children of a milkman and a homemaker, she was like most naïve American girls back then. With dreams of adventure and romance in a foreign land, she moved with her husband and son to Teheran. There she endured loneliness, scorn, and abuse at the hands of her husband and his family. But she found friendship and faith there, too a deep and abiding Christian faith. A second son was born in Teheran, but her marriage worsened and eventually she was granted a divorce. Exiled to Israel, it would be many years, and she would have many adventures, before she ever saw Rodwin and Shadwin again. Geyer s is a wondrous tale of love, friendship, and faith in a place where hatred and hostility reign. She paints vivid portraits of everyday people who Mama Badri, her elderly mother-in-law, the only member of her husband s family to show her kindness; an aging American doctor who ministers for free to the poor of the Galilee; a roommate in Jerusalem who believes and convinces others that she is the actual, literal Bride of Christ. All come exquisitely alive under Geyer's pen. Daughter of Jerusalem will introduce readers to a place and a time about which much has been written, but little can be explained. Walk with Sharon Geyer through Muslim temples and the hills of the Holy Land, and you will know both Iran and Israel, and a handful of their people, as well as if you had lived there yourself.

Genres: Memoir

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 9, 2003

Reviews

[Wendy Plant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really well written book. And I enjoyed it. It probably deserves four stars but there’s not a lot of story to the last half of the book. However it is just the story of her life. her descriptions of Jerusalem in the late ‘60’s were incredible. It was just how I remembered the city from my visit 20 yrs later. For that I could give the book 5 stars! I wasn’t always sure what to make of her theology, but it was an interesting read of one woman’s journey from America to Iran and then Israel. And her journey to Christ