From A Sealed Room Author:Rachel Kadish A family in Jerusalem shares a specially prepared room in their apartment, the sealed room that all Israeli households retreated to during the Iraqi scud attacks of the Gulf War. The room serves as a metaphor and backdrop for a series of crises: psychological, physical, emotional, and medical. Tami, an unfulfilled wife and mother, is estranged f... more »rom her son Dov, who is in the army. It is only when Dov's best friend dies in a military mishap that mother and son connect. Other characters are trapped within the scourge of war, the memory of the Holocaust, and the quest for self in Israel. Maya, a fragile American student in need of emotional support, has an abusive relationship with Gil, an artist with serious psychological problems and a dishonorable discharge from the army. Shifra, an older woman, is beset by memories of prewar Poland and apocalyptic visions. All of Kadish's characters are connected by blood or proximity, and there doesn't seem to be an area of Jewish life overlooked; the concerns of both ultraorthodox and secular Jews enter the story as well. -- Library Journal« less