Lukas's novel tells the story of a synagogue, its documents,
and the people who protect and want to preserve them, across three distinct
time periods that span several hundred years.
In doing so, Lukas shows the strong links across many generations, while
playing out relations between the synagogue's Jewish leaders and the family of
Muslim watchmen. Lukas develops his
characters and their motivations effectively.
The novel is a delight to read, and offers a hopeful vision of humans
interacting with one another as humans and not categories.
