Defy the Wilderness

It is after fourteen years of self-imposed absence that writer Ann Randall returns to her beloved Israel. Now in Jerusalem, she attempts to interview veterans of the first Arab-Israeli war, while the furnace heat of the May khamsin bears down upon her. Still swamped by memories of Menachem, her ex-lover, she is thrown into turmoil by the dangerous figure of Boaz Schachterman, a ruthless right-wing hardliner. As a new wave of terrorism hits the city, Ann Comes to realize that only through a man like this can she reach the heart of the country she loves. "The passionate concern Lynne Reid Banks feels for Israel is impressively conveyed"- Nina Bawden in the Daily Telegraph "A powerful and professional novel"- The Times Literary Supplement