One in Thine Hand: A Novel Set in Modern Israel
Lund, Gerald N. 1982. One in Thine Hand: A Novel Set in Modern Israel. Deseret Book Company.
Rating:
4
Summary:
Accurate portrayal of Mormon thought
Brad Kennison has just returned from Viet Nam. Before that he served a mission for the Mormon Church. Now, at 24, he isn’t sure what he wants to do with his life. Feeling like he needs to get away from Utah, he takes the money he saved up while in the service and heads to Israel – he doesn’t know why nor does he know what he is looking for, but Israel is where he feels drawn to. On the way he becomes acquainted with a newly converted Mormon, Ali, who is from Jerusalem, was Muslim, but was converted to Mormonism while studying in the U.S. Brad and Ali become good friends and Ali helps him get situated in Jerusalem. Brad didn’t really have any plans, but hoped to stay in Israel for a couple of months and hopefully find a job.
With Ali’s help, Brad is introduced to Levi Shadmi, who owns and runs a hotel. But the person that is really relevant to the story is Levi’s daughter, Miri (short for Miriam). Miri is a fireball and ardent Israeli (not quite as ardent of a Jew). Miri and Brad start out as arch enemies, but as they get to know each other better their relationship becomes romantic and they fall deeply into love. But, there is a major problem – Miri is Jewish and Brad is Mormon. Both religions look down upon marrying someone outside of the faith, so Miri and Brad have to work that out before their relationship can move ahead.
Review:
I gave the book two stars for being fairly well-written and accurately portraying a Mormon mentality. Though I am no expert on the Middle East, it appears that Gerald Lund does have some knowledge of Israel and uses it throughout the novel to good effect. The story itself isn’t too bad, though there are some pretty incredulous occurrences (specifically the Rambo-esque scene when Brad, Miri, Nathan, Sarah, and Ali break out of an Egyptian military camp). For the most part, the book makes sense.
As for the drawbacks… Well, the first is the actual premise – that Brad was guided to Israel to find Miri specifically. In a sense, that philosophy does represent the beliefs of some Mormons (among other religious groups) that there is one person that we are destined to find and marry, but, since I no longer believe it, it’s kind of a silly plot device. Also, the book is subtly laced with Mormon patriarchal/traditional gender ideology. Especially when Miri pretty much gives up her life, her religion, her family, and her homeland to become a Mormon birthing machine stationed in Salt Lake; feminists would have a heyday with this novel.
But the major criticism I have of the novel is that it is written from a ‘Mormons are right’ perspective. Though I think Lund is trying to capture the idea that Mormons consider marrying outside of the Church, in the end, Brad would rather give up what could potentially be a wonderful relationship for religion. There are multiple problems with this (perhaps not with the story but with that mentality). First, why does the Jew have to give up her religion to pacify the Mormon? Why can’t it be the other way around? Or, why don’t they just love each other and continue to believe what they believe? Of course, Lund would argue that both religions, being as exclusive as they are, would punish such an arrangement. He is right, but that leads to my next point – the divisiveness of religion. Throughout the book, whether intentional or not, Lund continuously illustrates how divisive religion can be. Ironically, he portrays Mormonism as being as divisive as say, Judaism and Islam, but the point is that religion is still problem causing. And the last point concerning the ‘Mormons are right’ perspective is that, though Lund does an accurate job of portraying the Mormon perspective, I don’t really know enough about Jews or Muslims to know if he is accurately portraying their perspectives – but I have a sneaking suspicion that he is not. What’s more, because Mormonism tends to be as exclusive as it is, Mormons that read this book may actually think that all Jews and Muslims think the way they do in the book and, of course, that they will all eventually convert to Mormonism. Well, in case anyone reading this thinks that way, the chances of all Jews and Muslims converting to Mormonism is between pretty slim and none.
Overall, though the book is interesting, unless you are Mormon, it will leave a nasty after taste – the religious idea that only Mormons are right and everyone else is wrong and must eventually convert. Perhaps the book does some good for Mormons by helping them begin to see other perspectives, but ultimately, the book just argues that the other perspectives are wrong. If you’re Mormon, you’ll probably enjoy it. If not, well, read it at your own risk.