Review: Beshert by Erin Gordon

On a bus in Tel Aviv shortly before Shabbat, Chelsea, a tourist from Colorado, is about to make a grave error. Noam, a local on his way home from work, spots what’s happening. Though he helps avert the disaster she’s set in motion, their lives are forever altered.

Recovering from a trauma back home, Chelsea has traveled to Israel hoping to restore her shaken faith. A scientist and a proud secular Israeli, Noam is working through his own traumas, which include a dead girlfriend and a phobia he’s ashamed to face. Though Chelsea and Noam hail from opposite sides of the globe, they find something in each other they’ve never experienced before. But how can an atheist Jew from Tel Aviv and a Christian from Colorado Springs create a life?

Hitting the sweet spot between novelty and familiarity, Beshert will appeal to fans of Emily Giffin and Sarah Jio. With a novel premise and a vivid Middle Eastern setting, the story is told from two perspectives and explores what happens when your core identity is challenged.

My Review:

This book really took me on a journey.  I couldn’t get enough of it. 

Chelsea, a devote Christian, travels from Colorado to Israel, after breaking up with her fiancé.  She was searching for clarity and wanting to reconnect with her faith.  She had booked a Holy Land tour.  She met Noam on a bus and they hit it off immediately.  When they parted ways, they didn’t expect to see each other again.  Little did either know, they would meet again and they would form a friendship which would lead to romance.  But, it wasn’t an easy task falling in love with someone who was of a different faith, or no faith at all, as in Noam’s case.  He considered himself an atheist Jew.  There was a lot at stake and a lot to learn if they were to ever have a lasting relationship. 

I really got caught up in this story.  I wasn’t ready for it to end at all.  There is so much more that I want to know.  The author’s writing made the book really come to life, especially the descriptions of the places Chelsea and Noam visited.  The story was emotional, inspiring and heartfelt.  It is a well-rounded book that I won’t soon forget.