Book Club Kit

Dear Readers,

If it weren't for book clubs, publishing would be on the ropes, along with much of the intellectual life of American society. So, to start with, thanks for keeping literature alive.

I know that most of you who are familiar with my work think of me as a nonfiction author—through my books or New Yorker articles. But I've also written a number of plays, a couple movies, and three previous novels. They are all means of storytelling, each with its unique advantages and limitations. The one thing that novels permit—that no other art form allows—is entry to the minds of the characters.

After many years of living, teaching, and reporting from the Middle East, I was stymied by the question of what makes this conflict so durable. I'm about the same age as Israel. This war has been going on my entire life. In that time, we've seen apartheid end in South Africa, the Soviet Union dissolve, a Black man elected president. Wars have come and gone. But Israel and Palestine remain enemies. As a journalist I can write what I see, but that only goes so far. The answer to the question lies in the imagination of people on both sides.

But what story to tell? The nice thing about crime is that it demands an investigation. Means and motives must be explored. Relevant histories are excavated. A profound crime, such as the one that begins my new novel, can challenge assumptions and stereotypes. In short, there is nothing better than a good detective story to dive deep into the hidden layers of society, ransacking the secret places, and struggling with every ounce of courage and intellect to uncover the truth, however dangerous it may be.

Thus I offer you THE HUMAN SCALE. It is set among the tumult of the West Bank, Israel, and Gaza. And yes, it is a wrenching tragedy. But along the way you will be introduced to characters who embody the two cultures that are trapped in this conflict. Yossi Ben Gal is the deputy chief of police in Hebron, one of the most contested cities in the West Bank. The son of Holocaust survivors, he believes that Israel is the only hope for the survival of the Jewish people, and he has devoted his life to protecting it. When his chief is murdered, it appears that Hamas is behind the crime. That same day, a stranger appears in Hebron, Tony Malik, a Palestinian American, who was seen with the chief shortly before his murder. It turns out that he's an FBI agent who has come to attend the wedding of his cousin. These two men, so alike in some ways, are separated by the tides of culture, history, and religion; in short, they hate each other. But they each have a personal reason to solve this crime, and they can't do it alone.

The characters who populate this story are drawn from people I have met over the years. Many of the conversations are ones that I have heard or participated in. I wanted the book to feel as authentic and current as it possibly can be. On top of the crime story there is romance—actually, two developing love stories. One is that between Malick's lovely young cousin, Dina, who is engaged to Jamal, a peace activist. The other is the highly charged relationship between Malick and Yossi's scholarly daughter, Sara. All of this is packed inside a real contemporary thriller, with mystery and action woven into what I hope is an exciting adventure.

I don't think it will be a spoiler to say that the destination of the narrative is October 7. I had already written a draft of the novel when that appalling event occurred. I actually had ended the story with a war, but it wasn't nearly as awful as the one that resulted from that attack. I had a dilemma. I realized that October 7 was a deep wound in Israeli and Jewish society, and the book could seem to be exploiting that tragedy. I could try to set the story in the past or the future, but neither choice would address what actually happened. And so I decided to go into this darkness.

No doubt readers will be challenged by the story and by the fact that they will be encountering characters whose perspective is at odds with their own. It is my hope that understanding will fill in places in the readers' imagination that might otherwise be filled with hate. That's the only solution to this endless struggle—that each side will be able to see the world through the eyes of the other. THE HUMAN SCALE is my meager contribution to the day when peace will finally arrive.

Thanks for reading this note, and I hope you enjoy the novel.

— Lawrence Wright