Back to Jerusalem is a novel written by Jan Surasky, the 2012 Rage Against the Dying Light award-winning author, a story about Boudicca and her battle with the Roman Empire. Back to Jerusalem is a novel about a different kind of battle faced by women living in the 1970s. Set in the small town of Jerusalem, New York, Jenny Thompson grows up on her family’s farm, just hours from the New York City. Jenny is talented and dreams of going to college and following the life of a successful artist. However, like so many young women of her time, Jenny feels pressure from her mother and her society to put her dreams on hold. Women of this era are expected to marry well, have children, and support their husbands as they climb the ladder of success.
Jenny is beautiful, compassionate and very talented. Bud proves that he’s not the best husband and he’s not the best father either. She wants a more loving and fulfilling life. She moves to New York City. There, Jenny struggles, but over time builds a successful life for herself and her beloved son growing up. She is becoming known for her beautiful landscape paintings and photography of her.
In New York, Jenny sees cultures collide and finds ways to coexist seamlessly, without drama. She thinks of Jake Martin, her childhood friend and playmate. Jake was a Mennonite. She remembers what a great person Jake was and how he dreamed of becoming a revered lawyer. He wanted to help the poor. Jake had meant a lot to Jenny growing up, but her mother and her Methodist upbringing would not have accepted her world and his. Her mother would never have approved. The question was if her path and Jake’s would ever cross again. And if they did, would it inspire her and she him as they had once, so long ago? When Jake’s photo appears on the front page of the New York Times, Jenny dreams that they will, but she learns that Jake has a fiancée. Fate would have to intervene if this couple ever met again.
Jan Surasky has created Back to Jerusalem as another great book. Through Jenny, this novel accurately depicts the plight of women caught in the strong grip of society’s expectations of them in the 1970s. Liberation is slow in coming for many women. Jenny lived her life the traditional way for as long as she could. It’s hard, but she finds her way back to her talent as an artist. She is successful in every way and she has done it all by herself. The only thing she lacks from her is true love and fulfillment. The question is if she goes back to Jerusalem, will she find him? To find out, it’s a must read.
This novel is truly a love story, written in a narrative that will speak to those who are romantics at heart, those who desire a bit of mystery, and those who seek what is real in life. It is a book for any woman who has fought against all odds to succeed in the face of a society that says she shouldn’t try. And Back to Jerusalem is an encouragement to women around the world, to never give up on their dreams.