Island of Dreams

More about the book

In 1977, a doctors' strike brought Malta to the brink of civil war. When Sarita Toledano, a descendant of one of the island's oldest Jewish clans, was killed by a letter bomb, her family scattered throughout the world. Thirty-four years later, her daughter, Claire, and her nieces, Ellie and Vanna, reluctantly return to decide the fate of two ageing aunts. What they find is a place once more in great turmoil; in the wake of the "Arab Spring", thousands of boat people are being washed up on Malta's shores. Inevitably, past and present merge as, all round, the cousins are faced with reminders of the turbulent events that led to their forced departure. As they again confront the central tragedy of their lives, they begin to re-define themselves and their allegiances to family, religion and country.