The Dovekeepers, by Alice Hoffman

I came across The Dovekeepers the same way I come across a lot of books and that was over the processing table at work. The cover intrigued me. And while I know full well what the old saying says about books and their covers, this cover did not lie; it promised an interesting read, and the book followed through.

The second thing that intrigued me to read this book was a quote from Toni Morrison, “Beautiful, harrowing, a major contribution to 21st-century literature.”After reading that, I thought, “Okay, now I have to read this book.” And I’m so glad I did!

The book begins in 70 C.E. in Jerusalem and is based on true events. At this point in our story, the Romans are raiding the holy city, and droves of Jewish people are fleeing to the desert with their families, in search of Masada; a fortress built by Herod the Great around 37 B.C.E. as a refuge for himself. But in The Dovekeepers, this great fortress becomes a refuge for numerous Jewish families and a group of Jewish extremists called the Sicarii.

The story is narrated by four women who are all equally fascinating and unique. They work side by side, everyday in the dovecotes together at Masada. They all have darkness in their past and secrets to share, and have to lean on each other through the difficult time of what later becomes known as the First Jewish-Roman War.

This was a wonderful read! Every sentence is beautifully crafted. Alice Hoffman’s vision of what it would have been like to hide-out in Herod’s great fortress is astounding. I wanted to crawl inside the book and experience it for myself (aside from the whole mass suicide thing, of course.) Seriously, read this book! You won’t regret it!