Utterly compelling… A sweetly exotic tale for young and old alike.
The lands of ancient Israel supply the backdrop to Azrieli’s fascinating and deeply intriguing latest, which explores a young man’s path to self-discovery and enlightenment. Determined to win the stunning daughter of the High Priest of Edom, a country to the south-east of Canaan, sixteen-year-old Sall sets on a harrowing journey, leaving his home and city behind. Fraught with deceits, trickeries, and hardships, Sall’s journey takes him from Edom to Jericho and further to Damascus in his search of the mythical elixir of love. Azrieli’s prose has a dreamlike quantity, and the narrative shines with passages of vivid imagery as Sal gains an added dimension of perception from going through relentless sorrows. In Sall, readers find a courageous hero determined to realize his dream despite the circumstances. Azrieli makes the connections among his various characters seem so natural that the whole situation feels utterly realistic: Sall’s relationship with his parents is both convincing and endearing; the bond between Sall and Bozra will just about break the reader’s heart. Against the backdrop of ancient Israel, Azrieli explores the path to self-searching and spiritual understanding and sheds insight on the power of hardships and miseries in a person’s life and how they shape one’s character. Readers, both young and old, will find themselves turning pages nonstop, wishing this won’t end. Replete with sharp observations, hysterical asides, and vivid depiction, this surreal work is sure to win Azrieli many fans.
The Elixirist: A Novel
By Avraham Azrieli
Pub date September 4, 2020
ASIN B08HKPZC2P
Price $2.98 (USD) Kindle edition, $9.99 Paperback