Thriller set in Northern Israel in 1996

16th January 2023

Dirt by Sarah Sultoon, thriller set in Northern Israel in 1996.

Northern Israel is a very specific and critical territory, bordered by Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine and its position is important in the conflict that has been raging for decades. the geographical setting is also integral to the novel and if you are a little hazy on the dynamics between nations, you will at least glean a little information about the worrying conflict that still flares up regularly.

Jonny is a junior reporter and is keen to make his mark. He hears about the death of an Arab Israeli, on a kibbbutz in fictional Beit Liora in Northern Israel, where young people live and work, tending the avodados, bananas and the chickens they raise. A kibbutz is a community where – oftentimes – young people can learn the value of joint enterprise and co-existence, whilst usefully working the land for the common good. Jonny is immediately off up country, calling in on his Grandmother on the way, who seems to have some intelligence on the activities nearby.

Lola has joined her friend in working on that very kibbutz, where the death has happened. As she gets to the know people, all working together for the good of the closed community, she finds herself drawn in deeper into the quagmire of local machinations than she could ever have imagined.

Both Jonny and Lola are people who for different reasons have a sense of dislocation, both in different ways searching for fulfilment and connection. Neither has had an ideal upbringing and their loneliness and basic need to belong is palpable – and forms much of the driving force that underpins their behaviour.

The sense of the kibbutz, a community living behind security fences, bordering potentially hostile territories, is well depicted, the heat and sometimes stultifying proximity of fellow kibbutzniks feels claustrophobic. The threat of missiles is an everyday factor and medical packs are a ubiquitous part of daily routine. Bunkers beckon when the sirens sound and life resumes in a sealed off world until the all-clear is given.

Dirt is a different kind of thriller that explores the legacy of upbringing, which is powerfully set in the context of on-going strife.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

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