Comments (0)Tales of the Ten Lost Tribes
November 6, 2009Phyllis Levin
Tamar Yellin
St. Martins Press 2009, $13.99, 212 pages (softcover)
Author Tamar Yellin, whose earlier novel, the prize-winning “The Genizah at the House of Shepher,” delved into the Holy City of Jerusalem while telling a beautifully-wrought story, turns her attention in her latest book to the legends of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, long ago lost to history. Her research into the subject is evidenced in the epigraphs to each of the ten tales, each named for one of the tribes and giving a hint to the character described therein.
The tales are connected and given the form of a novel by the unnamed narrator, whose life Yellin traces from its earliest beginnings, as he relates his encounters with those who become his friends and guides on his journey, both literal and figurative, throughout his life.
Lost himself as to his place in the world from early on, the narrator is a restless traveler, unable to settle in any one place. Inheriting his father’s interest in the ten lost tribes and his uncle’s rootlessness, he embarks on a lifelong quest for a place to call home. Along the way, he meets up with ten other lost souls who, like him, are searching for a meaning to their lives.
His encounters begin with the wandering, romanticised uncle, from whom he obtains a coveted fetish, a lemur’s foot purporting to show one the correct destination. Among those befriended on his travels are a ship’s steward who insinuates himself into the lives of his passengers, but is himself known by none; the insatiable bookseller, constantly searching for The Book!; an erudite professor whose exile from his homeland cripples all of his relationships; the girl who believes herself to be invisible, who becomes more so with familiarity; and others, each flawed in some way.
The narrator’s final encounter in the jungle, with the mysterious Isidore, leads him full circle to re-visiting those in his life who, like him, are seeking most desperately for somewhere to call home.
Yellin’s tales will prove fascinating to anyone who has ever felt the need to belong.