NPR

Learning What's Sacred In Screwball 'Holy Lands'

Very little actually is sacred — at least to begin with — in Amanda Sthers' lively new novel about a Jewish pig farmer in Israel, his fractious family, and their voluminous correspondence.
Source: Amr Alfiky

Pithy, loaded letters and emails aimed at their vulnerable targets fly more like missiles than missives in Amanda Sthers' lively epistolary novel about a combative, estranged family scattered between Israel, France, New York, and Los Angeles. At the beginning of Holy Lands, it seems as if nothing is sacrosanct to this pugnacious foursome. During the course of this short novel, that changes.

Sthers is a prolific French novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. her tenth novel, which she has

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR6 min read
Shipbuilders Harness The Wind To Clean Up Global Shipping
Container ships use heavy fuel oil called bunker fuel. They’re more efficient than trains, trucks and planes. But bunker fuel is highly polluting, and container ships produce about 3% of the world’s emissions.
NPR4 min read
How Do You Build Without Over Polluting? That's The Challenge Of New Catan Board Game
A new version of the popular board game Catan aims to make players wrestle with a 21st-century problem: How do you develop and expand without overly polluting the planet?
NPR4 min readCrime & Violence
Heated Arguments At The Supreme Court In Newest Abortion Case
At issue is a clash between federal and state law about how pregnant women must be treated in the emergency room.

Related Books & Audiobooks