Spread over five years and two continents, Wildflower explores the turbulent personal lives of a group of young American Jews who find their way to Eretz Yisrael as a result of the great religious awakening of our times. As we encounter the main characters in the course of the novel, we can see their spirits blossom virtually untended, like wildflowers on the hillsides after the spring rains. Barbara, brooding and passive whose friends and family would do everything to make her happy if only she would reveal the innermost yearnings of her soul. Danny, her soldier cousin, impetuous and easily manipulated, who shows unshakeable faith in the rightness of his cause but falls victim to his own weakness and insecurity. Aviva, Barbara's friend, is shrewd, clever and manipulative, with driving academic ambitions and ambivalent feelings towards her limited religious observance. Chaim, talented , black-hatted and charming, who crosses oceans to build the warm and stable home he himself has never known. Mrs. Hirsch, Barbara's mother, perceptive and assertive, who wants the best for her daughter but must reconsider her ideas about what that involves. Ronny, the adorable toddler, who captures every heart except that of his natural mother. These individual life stories intertwine on the earth-and-stone background of a story filled with passionate feelings, heartbreak and indomitable hope that glows in the darkest hours.
by Rachel Pomerantz