"The Princess of Dan," A Book Review

I should be pretty grateful for the books I get to read and review on my blogs, because if it wasn't for the fact that they were given to me for reviewing, I never would have gotten to read them. "The Princess of Dan" by Nechama Sarah Gila Nadborny Burgeman, Menorah Books, is one of that genre.

So what really is the genre of  The Princess of Dan?

The Princess of Dan is fiction, a novel which merges reality and vision, the present and prophecy. The main character, Sarah Danborne, grew up in the 1960’s in an upper middle class home in the United States. During her early adult years, Sarah’s life circumstances led her to Israel where she met many other young women who also found themselves relocated and struggling to stabilize their lives and build their homes in the context of a larger vision. Each one has her own story, a variation of a human theme. (From the Back Cover)

For sure it's a very spiritual book. It's based on the Bible, Kabbala, Jewish mysticism and chassidic thought. I don't know the writer personally, but it's pretty obvious that she based certain talents, if not characteristics of the main character, Sarah Danborne, on herself. They are of the same generation, artists, play the harp and have, actually run, a spiritual retreat. So how much is a fictionalized autobiography?  I can't say, since I don't know the author. I could have known her, since we're of similar ages, and if I hadn't gotten married relatively young and made aliyah soon after with my husband, we would have had met up for sure.

Nechama Sarah Gila Nadborny Burgeman has pictured very vividly in her mind and book the time of the Third Temple. I must find out if Catriel Sugarman's ideas for Third Temple Time is similar. He's the craftsman who constructed an amazing wooden model of the Second Temple and for a number of years had a long-running series in Torah Tidbits, which "took place" in Third Temple Times.

On one hand I can keep on insisting that my way of looking at the world is very different from the philosophy in the book. But on the other hand, I'm the one who has instituted Women's Prayer on Rosh Chodesh at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh. I feel totally connected to Chana and the spiritual power here in Shiloh. That makes me much more connected to The Princess of Dan than I had first thought.

Reading The Princess of Dan is a spiritual and emotional adventure. Try it.

Product Code: TPDNNB

ISBN: 978-1-940516-06-6

Binding: Paperback/ 424 pages

Dimensions: 8.4” H x 5.4” W

Weight: 1.3 lb

Global shipping available.