It was said numerous times in the book, Chavala Landau is a remarkable woman. And she was. Her determination, efficiency, and sheer will to survive was definitely inspiring; her strength combined with her street-smart no-nonsense attitude gave her the ability to achieve her dreams; the reader can't help but cheer her on. This is a story about a Jewish family, the Rabinsky-Landau's, who trekked from the slums of Odessa to Palestine and beyond; surviving on instinct alone. While the characters were greatly developed, the story itself seemed to be all over the place. At times it was difficult for me to keep track of where certain characters were going to or coming from; Haifa, Jaffa, Jerusalem, Athlit, so on and so on. I found the part of Russia to be very boring, and although most people would applaud, I felt that there was too much focus on military strategy, or ammunition, or who's getting ready to protect what, when we have the Landau boys meeting girls and proposing on the second date. Maybe if the story were balanced it may have been different, but I just found the Jewish history to be dull, and other parts rushed through.
