The Lonely Tree

Tonia moves with her family from Poland to British Mandate Palestine, first to her uncle's small apartment in Tel Aviv and later to the kibbutz that her father Josef helped to establish. Due to the hardships of life in the kibbutz and against the backdrop of what is happening in Nazi-occupied Europe, she longs for security and comfort. Then she meets Amos, tall with ever so long legs and dark complexion, her 'Italian boy'. Both have their hearts set on different ideals, yet they are unmistakably drawn to each other. They make an interesting pair. Amos is a handsome and exotic Yemenite who fights in the Jewish underground, to which Tonia's father is vehemently opposed. Despite their different backgrounds Tonia and Amos fall in love. This budding romance is interrupted by the siege of Tonia's home, Kfar Etzion. The desperate fight is described very movingly in this fictionalized account of the siege and fall of the Etzion Bloc. Afterward Tonia makes a great sacrifice in order to realize her dream. She moves to Grand Rapids, Michigan in the US, hoping her family will follow her. But is this where she belongs?