ZENIA'S WAY

by Abraham Polonsky ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 23, 1980

The Bronx, in the Twenties--and young Ram Mont grows up in the thrall of his Aunt Zenia: she's young, the rare female physician, and a socialist who plans on returning to Russia (the Mont family previously fled) to help fine-tune the new revolution. A midwestern suitor, Harry Rivers, a political activist himself, urges Zenia not to go; but Zenia's way is always her own, and she leaves. Up to this point, Polonsky's novel is thin and more than a little verbose and clumsy. (""That was her gift to me, that one day because of us, our efforts, our devotion, our courage, something could be done as if we as captains of the future had divided the world and she would go and take care of it from one end while I, as I grew, would take care of it from another."") But then, apparently aware of the limpness, Polonsky takes a long skip over 50 years' time: Ram, now in his late 60s and a famous civil-liberties lawyer, is reunited with 80-yearold Zenia in Israel. Why Israel? So that the novel can have them both taken hostage together by Palestinian terrorists, along with a group of 20 Israeli schoolgirls on a kibbutz. Gratuitous as this plotting may be, the second half of the book does then take on some legitimate weight: the fear and tension of the schoolgirls, Zenia's fortitude (her hard life in Russian prison-camps has prepared her for all this), and Ram's strategic acuity and philosophical calm. This hostage drama, though far from subtle, is at least clear and well-shaped--but, unfortunately, most readers will probably never get to it, having lost interest during the novel's wordy, weaker first half.

Pub Date: May 23, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Lippincott & Crowell

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1980

Categories: FICTION