By DOROTHEA SHEFER-VANSON
It’s a very metaphorical eagle: my latest book, ‘All Quiet on the Midwestern Front;a Tale of Deception, Betrayal and Vindication,’ which has been two years in themaking, has now been published on Amazon and is available as an ebook and apaperback. It is my longest book so far, numbering just under 500 pages, and I onlyhope that readers will enjoy the ride. Like my previous books, this one has a coverbased on a water-colour painting of mine that has been admirably produced by mytalented son Eitan Shefer. The picture shows a quiet suburban street in the AmericanMidwest with an ambiguous – possibly threatening – figure in the foreground.The book describes the events that befall Avi Samuels, an ambitious Israeli scientistwho is spending a year in Seabrook, a sleepy university town in Nebraska, only to find
that the head of the department seems to be hostile towards him, while articles andletters from readers in the local newspaper proclaim rabidly anti-Israel, even anti-Semitic, opinions. Despite these and other setbacks, Avi is determined to do goodscientific work while he is in Nebraska.Avi’s wife, Rachel, suffers from boredom and loneliness at first, though the wife ofthe head of the department tries to provide her with some company. However, Racheldoes not feel comfortable with the lady’s overbearing personality, and it is only whenshe starts going to art classes at the local community college that she starts to find aninterest in life. The main focus of her interest is the art teacher, Duane, who seems tobe equally attracted to Rachel, and so the inevitable love affair, with all its complicatedramifications, ensues.Rachel and Avi’s children, teenage twins, one of each gender, encounter difficultiesat school, finding the American education system alien and complicated, and thestudents unfriendly. In addition, they have to contend with language and culturaldifferences that place them at a disadvantage vis-à-vis the system. Their frustrationeventually lands them in trouble and it is only after the school principal intervenes thatthey are able to come to terms with their new life.The reader is made privy to the machinations of the Brotherhood, a group of rabidlyracist individuals who are plotting to bring death and destruction to minority groups inSeabrook and the rest of America. Whether the head of Avi’s department is involved inthis or not is one of the strands that constitute the plot of the book.Various other characters move in and out of the narrative, with Avi’s colleague andneighbour, Tom Friedman, and his wife Nancy, featuring prominently in the course ofevents. Some of the university’s cleaning staff also play a role in helping Aviovercome the various setbacks he encounters as he seeks to make a scientificbreakthrough in his chosen field.The Nebraska climate also makes its mark, determining to a considerable extentwhat happens to the different characters.As the book comes to its conclusion, the various ends are tied up, the scientificbreakthrough may or may not have been achieved, and the plot to sow death anddestruction throughout America appears to have been foiled. At least for the moment.I hope that everyone reading this buys a copy, whether for Kindle or to hold in theirhand, and if they write a review on Amazon my gratitude will know no bounds.