Liat is a young Israeli translator working in NY. By chance she meets Himli, a Palestinian artist also living in NY. They fall in love, knowing that their affair will end when Liat’s visa expires. “How can you love with a deadline, with a stopwatch running?” Politically, their love is impossible. Rabinyan tells a moving story which cannot have a happy ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this free readers edition. In exchange I am providing an honest review.

A few years ago I read an article about Jewish/Palestinian couples. I think the whole world knows that those two people groups are at war and to be in a relationship with someone your tribe is at war with is akin to treachery. But I remember these couples were basically saying how stupid it was and how a centuries old hatred between the Palestinians and the Jews had nothing to do with them today. While I agree with that in theory, I'm guessing the reality is a lot more complicated than that.

Rabinyan has written a tale of a Jewish/Palestinian couple. Liat, working on her Master's Degree in New York City, and Hilmi, a painter who has lived in New York City for the past four years on a Visa, meet one night - perhaps by mistake or perhaps by design. Liat's friend Andrew was supposed to be meeting her for a catch up over coffee, Hilmi turns up instead to give Andrew's excuses for being unable to show up. Liat and Hilmi are immediately drawn to each other - their respective backgrounds and the history of turmoil between their tribes has nothing to do with them, especially in New York City. It is in NYC that they can freely see one another, talk to one another, be with one another. There is no need for secrecy in a city that embraces them both and doesn't forbid their coupling. But even in NYC, so far away from Tel Aviv and Ramallah, the centuries old tension between the two tribes begins to come between Liat and Hilmi. She hides her relationship with Hilmi, refusing to allow him to make his presence known when she is talking to family back in Tel Aviv. He has no restraints, his family knows about her. This causes tension between them. Adding to the tension is her imminent return to Tel Aviv. She's only in the US for 6 months. She insists this is a temporary relationship, it cannot go further once she returns to Israel, Hilmi doesn't agree. Despite tensions Liat and Hilmi cannot be without one another and even when in Israel they find ways to stay connected - they cannot stop thinking of one another, they can't stop speaking to one another but they do not see each other again, it is too hard and too fraught with tribal tension for Liat to fight for a future together. This will become her regret to live with.

Dorit Rabinyan writes with beauty. Her descriptions make me feel like I am watching the scenes unfold on the big screen. This makes sense when you realize her background includes television - she knows how to write a scene that people can see. Her characters are poignant due to the tensions that surround them even as they try to keep themselves distanced from those tensions. This title, as one can imagine, caused quite a bit of controversy in Israel because of its acceptance of a mixed couple, specifically a couple who should be at war with one another. I love that Rabinyan writes a story that proves that love can win. Love prevails over racial tensions, cultural tensions, religions, and a myriad of other points of disagreement the human race creates. This is a really sweeping and beautiful story. I felt carried away by Liat and Hilmi's story and their ability to fall into one another in a nation that was more accepting of them than their own. We can embrace one another and our differences. Is that a pipe dream of Rabinyan's, or can it become a reality?

Heartbreaking modern Romeo and Juliet, this novel tells the story of an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man who fall in love. As you can imagine, this is a very fraught road for them to embark upon. This novel gives a human, raw perspective into the tensions in the Middle East.

Random House and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of All the Rivers. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

A chance meeting in New York City brings together two people whose lives will be forever changed.
Despite the fact that Liat is Israeli and Hilmi is Palestinian, the two find that their differences do not matter when it comes to love. As their relationship deepens, Liat is concerned with how her family would react and is worried what the end of her studies in the United States will mean for the two of them. Can two people, raised in the same region but in different worlds, be able to put aside all they have been told to believe and forge a different path?

The biggest problem that I had with All the Rivers is the fact that Liat is portrayed as weak and spineless. The author glosses over the fact that it took strength and determination on her part to leave her little corner of the world and venture into the unknown. The fighting and the issues between Liat and Hilmi was realistic, as the pair must reconcile all that they have been taught with what they have learned from each other. The ending was telegraphed, so I was expecting an emotional conclusion. Overall, the author did a good job of showing how perception can sabotage a relationship and how peace might be achieved. All the Rivers was a good story, but the author did not go far enough in tying her characters to the cultural and religious backdrop.

All the Rivers by Dorit Rabinyan
“In the end all the rivers flow into the same sea…"

A modern Romeo and Juliet love story between Liat, an Israeli translator from Tel Aviv and Hilmi, an artist from Pakistan. The story dives into a forbidden affair with an expiration date. Not only do their religion and politics cause complication between the two, but Liat has plans to move back to Israel in a few months. The two spend every moment together regardless, the story following their love as Liat learns that Hilmi can’t swim or drive, as she meets his unapproving brother and as she realizes the heartbreak of leaving him to go back to Israel and her family.

The story is written beautifully, yet I found myself wanting more. Was there enough conflict? Were most of their barriers only in Liat’s head? Was Liat selfish? I found myself adoring Hilmi, yet really could not relate to Liat. Perhaps this is because I didn’t grow up in a religious home, although I’m sure several Israeli women would relate to the struggle Liat endures every day in heart between her religion and her love for Hilmi. She often dreams of running away to be with him in secrecy forever, yet most of their fights ensue after they discuss politics, specifially her serving in the Israeli Defense Forces. I loved the story, the romance, the New York City setting and the political theme that left the readers truly thinking. I just wanted more spunk, more conflict, more raw emotion. I felt like so much more could have been done with this story, and that’s why I gave it three stars.

What I liked about All The Rivers :

- I loved the writing and the ease it took to read this story. This book is definitely a page-turner.
- The political conflict between Israel and Pakistan and the backgrounds between the two are explored, and is woven into the story in a very interesting way.
- The characters have depth. You learn their hobbies, the love from their families, their fears and wishes.

What I didn’t like about All the Rivers :

- The storyline jumped around a lot, making it very confusing to understand the chronological order of the romance. For example, an event would happen and then the beginning of the next chapter would begin with, “Three weeks before this incident happened, this happened.” It didn’t seem as if the order was thought out in a calculated way, and seemed random and unnecessary for the story. In some books it works, but this one just didn’t hit the target.
- The lack of conflict. I kept waiting for something to happen, but it never did. It was a pretty stagnant storyline.

Overrall, this was a good read. I would still recommend it to just about anyone, especially those who love a good romance. I rate All the Rivers 3 out of 5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had the pleasure of hearing Rabinyan discuss her book at a literary festival. The passion she had for speaking about her work definitely showed up in this story. Such a touchy, yet timely topic. Definitely recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I must say that All The Rivers by Dorit Rabinyan has just altered my perception on what a 5-star rating means to me. This book.... this book is a masterpiece. It is truly a top notch, unbelievably flawless, unimaginably beautiful work of art. Dorit's writing is poetic and lyrical. The descriptions of locations, emotions, settings, etc. don't just make you see and feel the situations, they make you breath them, live them, experience them with all senses awake and fully at attention. Reading this novel, fully engaged me in a way that I haven't been engaged with a book in a very long time.

I connected with the characters on a very personal level for multiple reasons. First, the writing brought them alive - but... not just as people, but as my best friends. I felt completely connected to every word, action, feeling, emotion. I am Jewish, born in the old USSR. I know what it means to be persecuted and to have a constant feeling of fear following you around. I also grew up in America where every race and religion interact and opportunities for friendships, interactions, and growth are always available. I have friends from every race and religion and I have learned amazing things about their cultures and ways of living - each is beautiful. Reading about Liat and Hilmi falling in love was beautiful and I wanted them to stay together forever from the first moment. I truly connected to each of thier individual perspectives.

This is the type of book I NEED to have on my shelf and point out to all of my friends as a must read novel. This is the type of book that I would run to the store and purchase for every friend who even considered the possibility of reading a book. This is the type of book that every young adult to senior citizen should read at least once thier their lifetime. I recommend this book to everyone.

I feel completed grateful for the opportunity to read this book and review it.

Enjoy and Happy Reading!

This original and unique book is fun and full of a sweet, passionate romance that you won't be able to get enough of, long after you put the book down!

Two nations-one land-and the fact could not be altered by all the borders and fences and barriers and roadblocks in the world. The land is the same land. In the end all the rivers flow in the same sea.

Arab and Israel two nations torn by years of war so what happens when the two come together in a relationship with preconceived ideals that becomes a hidden affair with no connection to the future and the reality of the past. What can become of this?

Liat now living in New York - a former Israeli soldier meets Hilmi an artist in Greenwich. Their attraction is instant and with New York in the background their relationship becomes a deadline as they both will return to their families in Israel. Families with different perspectives, they live in the moment trying to make sense of their nations past.

I found this book interesting and haunting. So much back and forth, hearts being torn between love and loyalty. A book that is definitely breaks down the culture barrier.

A Special Thank You to Random House Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

An almost immediate attraction, feeling a connection - a lovely thing to happen to two young people away from their home countries in New York City. But it's complicated - she's Israeli and he is Palestinian. Complicated because of the politics, complicated because of loyalty they have to their families, but yet there are still many lovely moments in this relationship between Liat, a student translator and Hilmi, an artist. I couldn't help but root for them to be a couple, to stay a couple, in spite of the feeling that this might be an impossibility. The point of view is Liat's but we come to know Hilmi as well through her descriptions of his art, and their conversations. They of course do have the conversation about it, very early on but they still see each other and they continue to have the conversation and arguments. In spite of their differences they see each other in ways they never thought possible But is that enough?

To say this is a thought provoking book is putting it mildly. It certainly made me think more about the political situation that we see on the news so frequently in a different way, on the level of two human beings that I came to know . It made me think about all of the failed efforts towards an agreement, and it made me think that even though in the novel we look at it through the relationship of two people, the complicated nature of it all is reflected. I wanted this to be just a love story, but of course it isn't. I found it to be beautifully written in parts, and would definitely recommend it.

I was offered a digital copy of this by the publisher and didn't jump immediately to get it . A shout out to my Goodreads friend Karen whose 5 star review prompted me to find that invitation. Thanks , Karen.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Random House through NetGalley.

What an intriguing novel! I've felt as though I were looking at the mess that is Israel and Palestine through new glasses. Of course there is the forbidden aspect of a loving relationship between an Israeli girl and a Palestinian man, but there is also the two different perspectives of life in that part of the world, a perspective which makes each point of view plausible. Against the wrongness of such a relationship we see the rightness of it — shared knowledge and understanding of certain aspects of everyday life. This story is beautifully written, thought provoking and filled with superb imagery and well worth reading on many, many levels.

This book carries the burden of having been banned (geez) so that might raise your expectations. Take the politics and preconceptions out and this is a basic love story. The language is restrained, the romance cautious, and the couple not wholly unique but Hilmi and Liat are a couple you'll want to succeed. Rabinyan does justice to her settings, especially New York, and to her characters. This isn't a long or dramatic book but it's worth your time. THanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

An Israeli woman and a man from Palestine meet at a cafe in New York, and a relationship is born. There are constant reminders and stories regaled about "home" to instill the picture that, had these two met in their homeland, their reactions to each other would have been very different. Here in New York, the commonalities with which they can identify come out -- they are in NYC, post 9/11, on temporary visas, treated as foreigners, and both are dark olive skinned and looked at with suspicion. They have no family nearby to warn them off or to pass judgment. There is no language barrier since both speak English. Their differences are minimalized. A very intriguing way to start out.

But from there, even as their love grows, their differences become obvious, mainly whenever in the presence of their family members or those who know the families. The language differences, and certainly the politics of their homelands. The viewpoint is from the perspective of Liati, the Israeli; so it is she that we get to know best, it is her joys, opinions, and worries that are expressed. Perhaps Hilmi was sympathetic because I saw him through her eyes -- quick witted, even tempered, talented, and very likeable.

Perhaps also the author is conflicted over a proper resolution to Israel's problems; I know I only get more deflated whenever I read about it. There is one intense argument in particular played out between Liati and Hilmi's brother over the fate of a divided Israel that ends in a stalemate. It's so revealing. So is the fact that this book has been banned from Israeli schools.

I think because some reviews compared this story to Romeo & Juliet, I felt a nervous tension throughout the story, wondering about the ending. I grew very worried for their fates. I cared! Truly a remarkable story.

I am grateful that a rep from Random House invited me to read and review this very special book, which most likely otherwise would have escaped my notice.

It was difficult to start and get thru..but I'm aware of the cultural issues because of my domicile...so I could relate

I saw a review of this book in the Wall Street Journal, that picked my interest. I was fortunate to receive an advanced copy through NetGalley. This is a story of Liat, an Israeli who is in New York for a 6 month assignment as a translator and Hilmi, who is a painter who has been in New York for a few years. After a chance meeting at a cafe, they hit it off immediately. One complication, is that Hilmi is an Arab from Ramallah in the West Bank. Their political views are very different and they look at their relationship as temporary, just until Liat goes back to Israel. Especially Liat knows, their relationship couldn't survive in Israel and even in NY, she hides this relationship from her family and Israeli friends. This is a very timely book of star crossed lovers. The ending is very surprising, not one you could see it coming. I did enjoy the book very much, I took one star off for a lot of unnecessary descriptions and details that didn't have much to do with the story.

I normally gravitate towards reading biographies, but the premise of this story sparked my interest immediately: a Romeo & Juliet type story of forbidden love, with the main players a Hebrew woman from Tel Aviv and a Palestinian man from Ramallah.

The story takes place in New York City, as both parties were transplanted there for different reasons. However, the young Hebrew woman Liat would only be in NYC for another five months before returning to Tel Aviv.

Liat and Hilmi's chance meeting ignites an almost instantaneous whirlwind love affair that takes the reader on a five month journey through the subways, streets, signs and sounds of New York City. There are two troubling undercurrents in their relationship: the knowledge that their secret love is forbidden by their families, coupled with the fact that Liat must return to Tel Aviv in five months. Back home, a short 40 miles separate their prospective homes, but it might as well be a million.

The writing is so superb it is sublime to read. The pages effortlessly turn. I usually read at a snail's pace, but devoured this book within just a few days feeling like I had been on a glorious ride.

It would do this book a great justice if it was made into a movie. I would love to see these characters that the author imprinted on my heart and mind be brought to the big screen. This is a very beautifully written, thought-provoking and poignant story that was a gift to read.

All the Rivers: A Novel by Dorit Rabinyan is a very powerful story, but also very hard to relate to or understand, and very eye-opening, if you are a Midwestern America, like me. Liat and Hilmi seem to be irresistibly drawn to each other, but at least in Liat’s case, very reluctantly. Is it all a physical attraction? Certainly Liat is attracted by his hair and his ears and his hands and the way he moves. She describes his body and his clothes over and over. He is charming and seems taken with her as well.

I saw this story referred to as a modern-day Romeo & Juliet, but it is not like that. These are not 14-year olds in wide-eyed young love, directly controlled by their parents. These are 30-year old adults, world travelers, with jobs and friends and previous experiences in life. The book description is also misleading. I don’t believe Liat ever considered having to make a decision, to choose, to “risk alienating her family, her community, and her sense of self for the love of one man.” This relationship was always temporary, on and off at that whenever they ventured into political discussions and arguments, and her sense of self was never at risk. They never came close to seeing the other’s point of view or entertaining the idea of looking for a way to remain together. They could have stayed in New York, but they never even considered that. The plan was always for Liat to return home, they were both close to family and homesick, and too molded by politics and history to consider change.

Rightly or wrongly, family and homeland came first. But Liat allowed herself to become angry and hurt when Hilmi did not stand up for her to his brother, while thinking nothing of wanting him to cease existing in her world when she was talking to her family. At times she was just a little too dramatic, and his absent-minded artist persona was hard to take at times.

The writing is strong and beautiful and the story is enticing. Descriptions of the food make you hungry, and descriptions of New York and Israel and Palestine are so vivid you feel like you are there.

Ultimately Liat and Hilmi’s relationship was not a doomed love story to me, but more a fling, an interlude, something that is never meant to be more than temporary: the summer love before you go back to work, the forbidden office affair, or perhaps more close to the royal and the commoner, where duty wins out. But as a story of how cultural rules and history can prevent love from ever really starting, about the pull of family and tradition and how politics and hatred shape lives and the future it was compelling and unforgettable.

All the Rivers is above all else a romance. Dorit Rabinyan’s novel is about the romance between an Israeli Jew and a Palestinian Muslim who meet when they are both in New York–safely free of family ties and social pressure. They are free to be who they really are and they really are deeply in love.

Liat is a translator, Hilmi is an artist. They explore New York and each other. It is a wonderful romance in so many ways and Rabinyan is beguiling when she writes about their attraction to each other. Their love has an expiration date, though. May 20th, the day Liat returns to her home in Tel Aviv, leaving Hilmi and all the contradictions behind. That expiration date haunts their romance, creates an artificiality because, at least for Liat, there is no chance of their love ever connecting to her real life in Israel. It’s almost as though New York is some sort of Brigadoon for star-crossed lovers.

I enjoyed this book a lot and, of course, it made me cry. I came to like Hilmi so much more than Liat, perhaps because we never are exposed to his inner dialogue and Rabinyan is radically honest in exposing the visceral bigotry that Liat feels toward Arabs, including Hilmi. He talks in his sleep and the sound of Arabic sounds menacing, even to her sleeping subconscious. That she asks him to disappear from her life for ten minutes while she makes a call, hiding him from her parents while he told his mother about her after their first day together. Though she does not name it, you sense she feels ashamed of him, as though she is dating down. He’s lucky to have her, while she really should do better for herself. She takes him for granted and sometimes treats him more as a pet than as a man she loves.

Rabinyan makes no effort to pretty up or hide Liat’s crabbed and limited sort of love; she makes Liat stunted by bigotry. Hilmi is never just Hilmi, he is Hilmi the Arab always. This was, I think, the place where the story is most true and courageous. Love does not conquer all–certainly not the kind of bone-deep nationalism that makes Liat assume that their love is wrong and impossible. If Rabinyan’s intent was to demonstrate how bigotry cripples a person, she succeeded. Liat is made small. Sure she loves someone she is not supposed to, but not enough to risk herself. Her love is compartmentalized, dying on the vine, because she won’t allow her love to challenge her nationalism.

In American literature and film, we have an unfortunately common trope, the Magical Negro. The Magical Negro is an unrealized character whose existence in the story serves to teach the white character some valuable life lesson, to help them understand themselves better. Their agency is limited and in the end, they usually die or go away, because they are not real people, they are the avenue of change that help the person who really matters to learn something. Hilmi is a Magical Arab and I guess writing that sort of character makes sense in a country that practices an even more explicit form of segregation and systemic oppression than we do. Hilmi is allowed to be angry, but never gets to stay angry. Instead he shrugs it off and is preternaturally cheerful and forgiving. He stands alone in a room and dances. He cares for Liat when she is ill with beautiful tenderness. He is spontaneous, artistic, free-spirited. When he exerts his agency and returns to Israel, he grows a garden for the people who will rent his house after him…and he never asks Liat to risk one thing. He is showing a more transcendent love in sharp contrast to her love with limits.

So, All the Rivers broke my heart. I wanted love to conquer prejudice, social pressure, family dynamics and everything else. It could not even conquer Liat. She limited love, accepting the strictures of a divided society, and never once questioned those values. It’s as though, for her, loving a Muslim Arab is a sort of annihilation of her Jewishness. We get a hint of why in an argument with Himli’s brother who points out that soon there will be more Arabs than Jews in Israel and it will be even more explicitly oppressive, a minority with its foot on the necks of the majority. Perhaps if you believe your existence relies on never accommodating the Other and perhaps, if your country’s policy is to continue to expropriate their land, drive them behind ever shrinking walls and constrict their lives with checkpoints and military threat, you can never let them be fully human, can never let them express their hopes, or consider even for one moment you could love them as an equal.

All the Rivers will be released April 25th. I was provided an e-galley for review by the publisher through NetGalley.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this book.

All the Rivers is both luminous and powerful. Liat (an Israeli) and Hilmi (a Palestinian) fall in love in post-9/11 New York, but can't imagine how that love will translate when they return to their different lives, cultures and customs within a politically fraught landscape.

All the Rivers is the story of an Israeli girl and a Palestinian boy that meet in New York and fall in love. The two of them falling in love is not supposed to happen, it is a forbidden love and they are not able to fully enjoy the relationship with their friends and family. Overall, I found the story to be boring. As I read all books, I picture each character and the setting in my mind and for this one, I never pictured anything aside from shades of gray. There seemed to be no color or life to the writing, it never made it past dull.