Ebook222 pages3 hours
What to Do About the Solomons
By Bethany Ball
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5
()
About this ebook
A “funny, sexy, and smart” multigenerational saga following the secret lives of an (over) extended Jewish family—from Israel to America (Judy Blume).
More than oceans divide the Solomons. And now, it’s a scandal. Prodigal son Marc Solomon, an Israeli ex-Navy commando living in Los Angeles, is falsely accused of money laundering through his California investment firm. As his home is raided, Marc’s wife, Carolyn ―concealing her own dicey past―makes hopeless attempts to hold their family of five together. Not surprisingly, news of Marc’s disgrace makes its way from Santa Monica to a kibbutz on the Jordan River Valley, and the rest of the mortified Solomon clan: Marc’s self-absorbed wannabe movie star sister, Shira; his rich, powerful and fed-up construction magnet father, Yakov; his childhood sweetheart, Maya; and his brother-in-law Guy, a local ranger turned “mad artist.” As the secrets of the community are revealed through various memories and tales, we witness the tenuous bonds that can keep the Solomons together, and the truths and rumors that could ultimately tear them apart.
Elegant, witty, and provocative, What to Do About the Solomons weaves contemporary Jewish history through a distinctly modern and very savvy tale of family life. “I ended [it] absolutely swimming with affection, not just for the characters but for the multiple worlds that created them . . . there’s something profoundly lovely―and loving―about the Solomons” (New York Times Book Review).
More than oceans divide the Solomons. And now, it’s a scandal. Prodigal son Marc Solomon, an Israeli ex-Navy commando living in Los Angeles, is falsely accused of money laundering through his California investment firm. As his home is raided, Marc’s wife, Carolyn ―concealing her own dicey past―makes hopeless attempts to hold their family of five together. Not surprisingly, news of Marc’s disgrace makes its way from Santa Monica to a kibbutz on the Jordan River Valley, and the rest of the mortified Solomon clan: Marc’s self-absorbed wannabe movie star sister, Shira; his rich, powerful and fed-up construction magnet father, Yakov; his childhood sweetheart, Maya; and his brother-in-law Guy, a local ranger turned “mad artist.” As the secrets of the community are revealed through various memories and tales, we witness the tenuous bonds that can keep the Solomons together, and the truths and rumors that could ultimately tear them apart.
Elegant, witty, and provocative, What to Do About the Solomons weaves contemporary Jewish history through a distinctly modern and very savvy tale of family life. “I ended [it] absolutely swimming with affection, not just for the characters but for the multiple worlds that created them . . . there’s something profoundly lovely―and loving―about the Solomons” (New York Times Book Review).
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Reviews for What to Do About the Solomons
Rating: 3.236842105263158 out of 5 stars
3/5
19 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Plenty of quirky characters about this Israeli family with members both Israel and the US. I look forward to more writing from Ball. Her skill in creating a story that kept me reading to the end. Yes, I could put it down, but I was always glad when I had time to pick up the book again.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was a very strange read. It's about a family living in a kibbutz and how the kids grow up and go live their lives. There are a lot of secrets and rumors. The story is so intriguing it just keeps you engrossed and you just keep reading more.The author gives you little hints about each child, well adults now, that peak your interest. When I first started reading it, I was thinking that I was not going to like it. However, very shortly into it, I just could not put it down. It's just hard to put into words exactly how the author attracts you but believe me, she does. A strange read that intrigues and pulls you in.Thanks to Grove Atlantic for approving my request and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5"What to do with the Solomons? The Solomons will do for themselves.""One day honey, the next day onions."This novel focuses on the Israeli Solomon family, patriarch Yakov and his wife Vivienne, and their 5 children. They mostly remain in Israel, some on a kibbutz, but Marc, the favorite son has moved to Los Angeles with his family. As the novel opens, Marc has just been arrested and charged with some vague, but serious, financial crimes.The novel is told non-chronologically in a sporadic manner with abrupt changes of pov character, setting, time and plot points. This makes the novel very difficult to follow and to become engaged in. I felt it to be very scattered and incomplete, with no emotional center, and too many characters and events glossed quickly over--it was like the pilot for what is hoped to be a long-running family saga tv series. I actually read through this twice, the second time making an outline of each "episode" or section, noting the characters involved and the events describe. It didn't make me like the book any better.1 1/2 stars
Book preview
What to Do About the Solomons - Bethany Ball
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