Abdiel and Maya, two Polish Jewish children separated by World War II, survive the horrors of the Holocaust and are reunited in a refugee camp in Poppendorf, Austria. In 1948 they settle into kibbutz life in the emerging State of Israel. Their lives become intertwined with a Palestinian Arab family, bringing both happiness and heartbreak as religions and cultures clash and forbidden passions rage.

At the Wailing Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, Abdiel stands, shaking with emotion, beside his young son Uri and sheds a single silent tear created by his dark past. Uri, upset by his papa’s pain, questions his distress, only to be met with silence.

Abdiel’s terror at the prospect of revealing the secret of that tear has a profound impact on his family.

Mysterious letters from Abdiel’s brother, Daniel, a survivor of Auschwitz, adds to his torment. Why does Daniel choose to remain hidden?

Uri enters medical school and is not only confronted with the suffering of his Jewish countrymen, but the pain of the Palestinians who fight for a place in the land they call home. Yet Uri’s greatest battle is his rage, which almost ends his life.

This multi-generational historical novel combines fact and fiction. Set in the tumultuous history of Israel/Palestine, it takes the reader to the heart of the complexity and intensity of this ancient conflict.