Rebecca Wolf paints a profound picture of human interconnectivity in her debut novel ALIVE AND BEATING. In Israel’s cosmopolitan Jerusalem, six lives (and indeed more) interlink as they hope for a miracle to debilitating health challenges—all requiring organ transplants.
These six authentic and varied characters include Leah, a twenty-one-year-old Orthodox Jewish woman who is the firstborn of eight children and a perfect role model for her siblings. Due to chronic kidney disease, she fears she’ll never get married amid mounting pressure from her overbearing mother. Then there’s Hoda, a Palestinian hairdresser whose kidneys are failing as she struggles to fend for two teenage sons amid worries of internal and external influences prodding them towards martyrdom. There’s also a single mother, Yael, whose lungs struggle to function as she worries about leaving her eight-year-old daughter with her loving but overprotective elderly parents. Meanwhile, David is an Iraqi restaurant owner whose liver is failing and who feels like a “lump on a couch” as his wife derides him. We also have Severin, a Catholic priest mulling over adopting an abandoned newborn while waiting for a new pancreas. Finally, two teenage boys named Youseff and Yosef (Arabic and Jewish respectively) both suffer from heart diseases and learn that friendship can transcend culture and religion as they wait for their miracle organs in a shared hospital room.
Wolf’s characters (inspired by a true story) enrich the narrative with their different personalities and lifestyles, creating an absorbing experience bolstered by immersive worldbuilding. This is solidified through descriptions of crowded cobblestone streets filled with the smells of different spices and buildings made from Jerusalem-standard white peach stone, expressions of cultural and religious beliefs by Muslims and Jews who decline to donate and accept organs due to religious prohibitions, and conversations including the one between Hoda and her martyr-minded mother-in-law who declares that “We are traitors for living here, among Israelis. We are separated from our family, our land! We should be part of the resistance, not part of the occupation!”
These stories provide insight into the everyday lives of Jews (Orthodox and Secular), Muslims, and Christians in Jerusalem. Although multiple characters are depicted, the pacing is well-balanced—making their introductions feel natural rather than overwhelming. The downside is that each character’s story ends on a cliffhanger. While this stokes anticipation, as there is an expectation that there will be a convergence and resolution of their stories, they are unfortunately not revisited individually. The book ends with the omniscient narrator leaving many unanswered questions, including ones about whether a few characters got their transplants. This is rather abrupt and unsatisfying.
Nevertheless, Rebecca Wolf’s ALIVE AND BEATING is still immersive, evocative, and worth the read.
Rebecca Wolf’s debut novel ALIVE AND BEATING is an insightful, humorous, and soul-stirring harmonization of seven stories into one piercing tale of sacrifice, pain, and hope.
~Gabriella Harrison for IndieReader