The Lonely Tree

by Yael Politis

Overview

A love story that brings to life the history of Israel, from the 1930’s to the Six Days War in 1967, with the initial focus on events at one isolated border kibbutz – Kfar Etzion.
Tonia is the daughter of modern orthodox Polish immigrants, who are fervent socialist Zionists. Amos is a passionate patriot, whose Yemenite family has lived in Jerusalem for seven generations. Though irresistibly drawn to one another, Tonia and Amos are very different. They share a deep love of family and homeland, but Tonia is a reluctant participant in the effort to achieve statehood, believing that attempt will only inflict another devastating catastrophe upon the Jewish people. She dreams of living somewhere safe and secure, away from the constant threat of annihilation. Amos steadfastly believes in the ultimate success of their struggle and is prepared to make any sacrifice to that end.
These characters bring a unique chapter of history to life, seen through a new perspective. The iconic Lonely Tree of the title still stands in the Etzion Bloc today.

Awards
Book of the Year Award, YouWriteOn, London Arts Council, 2009
Eric Hoffer Award, General Fiction, Honorable Mention, 2012

388 Amazon ratings 4.5 average This is what some of them said:

“A thoughtful and intriguing story that transported me in time … I highly recommend this book for its powerful and descriptive writing style.” Marilou

“I have read many survivor stories relating to WWII, however not anything like this. Though the author declares the people are not real ... I was so engrossed throughout the entire novel, it certainly FELT as though each and every character was sitting in the room with me and telling me their story, word for word! What an amazing debut novel.” Holly J. Mulrooney

“What a splendid writer, what a story … If you have read her tales of Olivia and Mourning Free, she will not disappoint you with this (I think earlier) book. I was spellbound for four days. Still am.” HannahHinchman

“... incredibly deep and moving. Her characters are so well developed, I feel as though I know them.” CJfblo

“This book is very well-written, well-paced, and a terrific read. The first few pages are a bit slow-going but then it pulls you in for a unique glimpse of the life of a Jewish girl in the 1930s and 1940s.I am familiar with this period but learned a lot that I did not know. I did a little fact checking (though I agree with other reviewers that this is a hard book to put down) without finding any inaccuracies. And the love story is great. Every woman should have an Amos. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.” Lynn

“Politis does a very good job bringing the raw drama of the times and place into bold relief … History lives and breathes and bleeds in these pages” – Pam Spence, The Ohio Jewish Chronicle

“One of the best novels I have read this year!” rdgpmd

Product Details

BN ID:	2940166117168
Publisher:	Yael Politis
Publication date:	11/27/2023
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	286,529
File size:	586 KB

About the Author

I grew up in Dearborn, Michigan, in the house on the cover of Book 3 of the Olivia series, not far from the location of Olivia's farm.
While studying at the Universities of Michigan and Wisconsin, I spent two summers in Israel and ended up coming back to make my life here. Since then I've spent a lot of time traveling between the Middle East and the Midwest, loving both my homes.
While living on Kibbutz Ein Tsurim I learned the story of the Etzion Bloc during Israel’s War of Independence – from people who had lived through it. It was many years before I dared to try to put it down on paper. At that time, fantasies aside, I considered writing nothing more than a hobby.
I did, however, post the first chapters of The Lonely Tree on a writers' workshop run by the London Arts Council. There it received a Book of the Year award and Holland Park Press of London asked to see the complete manuscript. Not long afterwards I received an email from them. “We want to publish your book.” Hey, you never know when a fantasy is going to come true.
For years I had been researching the backdrop for Olivia's story and based many of the details in the Olivia Series on letters and journals passed down through my family, over seven generations of lives lived in the American Midwest. I also received a great deal of information and insight from my sister Martha, who lived with her husband in a modern log home, hunted her own land, cut her own firewood, and was as independent and stubborn as Olivia. Then self-publishing happened. The prospect of being able to publish that story independently was a great motivator, and I finally completed and published the five books of the Olivia series.