USA Today book review October 2011 Alice Hoffman weaves fiction and fact in The Dovekeepers, a thrilling, passionate saga of four women who come together to tend the doves in Masada. Using the only written account of the siege, Hoffman salts her fictional tale with archaeological artifacts found at Masada — a swatch of tartan cloth; inscribed pottery shards; a pair of sandals — to imagine how the seven might have survived. And how the end came for others.
Hoffman's novels find magic in the mundane, and the mystical swirls through The Dovekeepers. Sudden rain, a circle of red hawks and a lion in the desert all hold hidden meaning. The doves represent sustenance and sacrifice; their bleached bones are studied for signs of the future.
Fans of Hoffman's more modern women will find the dovekeepers surprisingly rebellious for their day. They take married lovers and flout religious law to protect the ones they love. Did I mention passion? Once smitten, their men cannot keep away.
Hoffman spent five years researching Masada, and early on, her desire to share that knowledge clutters the plot. But soon the book pulses toward its stunning climax. Hoffman's fiction is always compelling, but the history within The Dovekeepers makes this novel haunting.
Wow...this should be a great book group meeting.
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