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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Feb 2016, 320 pages
Paperback:
Feb 2017, 352 pages
Book Reviewed by:
Davida Chazan
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A powerful story of betrayal: between father and daughter, between husband and wife, and between nations and people, set in the complex period between the two world wars.
In 1920s Jerusalem, eleven-year-old Prudence watches her architect father launch an ambitious (and crazy) plan to redesign the Holy City by importing English parks to the desert. He employs a British pilot, William Harrington, to take aerial photographs of the city, and soon Prue becomes uncomfortably aware of the attraction flaring between Harrington and Eleanora, the young English wife of a famous Jerusalem photographer. Palestine has been a surprisingly harmonious mix of British colonials, exiled Armenians, and Greek, Arab, and Jewish officials rubbing elbows, but there are simmers of trouble ahead. When Harrington learns that Eleanora's husband is part of an underground group intent on removing the British, a dangerous game begins.
Years later, in 1937, Prue is an artist living a reclusive life by the sea when Harrington pays her a surprise visit. What he reveals unravels her world, and she must follow the threads that lead her back to secrets long-ago buried in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, 1920
The man opposite Prue was trying to force a canary through the train window and such a hash he made of it: a yellow fluttering blur, bright black accusatory eyes, and then – pouf – gone. The empty birdcage on the table in front of him was a perfect dome with a wooden swing in its middle suspended for a bird to rock and pretend to fly. She longed to touch it, but didn't dare.
He hadn't remotely noticed her, despite the fact that they were the only two Europeans on the train. Most passengers appeared to be Armenian, Egyptian, Jerusalemites and others Prue couldn't easily identify. She watched him steadily, hoping he would look over at her, but he never did. His cheeks were awfully red and he was sweating despite the cold; she guessed he was English. A framed picture on the back of the train door stated RAPID AND COMFORTABLE TRAVELLING FACILITIES TO ALL PARTS OF PALESTINE with connections to EGYPT, SYRIA, AND BEYOND, wherever BEYOND might be,...
The first thing you'll notice about this novel is it's absolutely stunning prose...What we end up with is a type of collage of images that dress the plot with different types of textures and fabrics; rich language puts things in light or shadow as the situations warrant them. This is the most compelling aspect of this novel, and probably the main reason I couldn't stop reading it...continued
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(Reviewed by Davida Chazan).
Most of the action of Joinson's novel, The Photographer's Wife, takes place in Jerusalem. Just the name suggests so much. Known as the seat of three major religions, it has gone by the names the City of David, the City of Peace, and even the Holy City. It is also the city that I've called my home for over 30 years. Joinson's book notes how just the mention of the city evokes immediate reactions in people who have never been here. I can certainly attest to that, since I cannot recall the number of times people have asked me "What is it like to live there?" People never think that living here is essentially the same as living in any other famous city. We have a home, jobs and things to do, just like if we lived anywhere else. Many people ...
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