THE AMBASSADORS (2014)

Spanning generations and sweeping around the globe, George Lerner’s beautifully ambitious debut novel takes readers on an unforgettable journey that moves between the streets of New York and the searing upheavals of late 20th century Africa.  Anchored by a sharp sense of time and place, The Ambassadors examines one family’s passage through war and exile as they come to understand each other and the history that shaped them.

Jacob Furman has always chosen the call of duty over his wife, Susanna, and their son, Shalom.  When he is deployed to Rwanda to arm the Tutsis who had suffered a genocide, Susanna and Shalom are once again left to contemplate his absence.  An esteemed anthropology scholar orphaned in the Holocaust, Susanna buries herself in work, searching for the biological roots of human language.

Meanwhile Shalom struggles in search of his identity and seeks purpose amongst a group of musicians.  After years apart, a fragile reunion sparks a sense of family they never had before, connecting the three in a web of emotion not just to one another, but to the political events that have defined our century.

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