(Fiction, 288 pp. 2018)
In this novel, three stories intertwine to tell the story of the Cairo genizah. First, a Berkeley literature student explores his Jewish mother and Muslim father’s tangled roots by researching the history of Cairo’s ancient Ben Ezra synagogue (home to the fabled genizah). Meanwhile, a Muslim orphan centuries ago becomes the synagogue’s watchman. Finally, British twin sisters Agnes Lewis and Margaret Gibson depart Cambridge in 1897 on a mission to rescue sacred texts that have begun to disappear from the synagogue.
Kirkus Review
Review by Esther Nussbaum, Jewish Book Council
Review by Natalie Bakopoulos, San Francisco Chronicle, April 22, 2018
Review by Brandon Yu, East Bay Express, March 14, 2018
Lydia Kiesling interviews Michael David Lukas, The Millions, March 13, 2018
