Back to Jerusalem is a novel written by Jan Surasky, the 2012 Rage Against the Dying Light award-winning author, a story about Boudicca and his battle with the Roman Empire. Back to Jerusalem is a novel about another kind of battle faced by women living in the 1970s. Set in the small city of Jerusalem, New York, Jenny Thompson grows up on her family’s farm, just hours from the New York City. Jenny is talented and dreams of going to college and following the life of a successful artist. However, like so many young women of her time, Jenny feels pressure from her mother and society to put her dreams on hold. Women of this era are expected to marry well, have children, and support their husbands as they move up the ladder of success.

Jenny is beautiful, compassionate, and very talented. Bud proves he’s not the best husband and he’s not the best father either. You want a life more full of love and fulfillment. Moves to New York City. There, Jenny struggles, but eventually builds a successful life for herself and her beloved growing son. She is becoming known for her beautiful landscape paintings and photography.

In New York, Jenny sees that cultures collide and find ways to exist side by side seamlessly, without drama. Think of Jake Martin, childhood friend and playmate. Jake was a Mennonite. Remember what a great person Jake was and how he dreamed of becoming a revered lawyer. I wanted to help the poor. Jake had meant a lot to Jenny growing up, but her mother and her Methodist upbringing would not have accepted her world or his. His mother would never have approved. The question was, would they cross his path and Jake’s again? And, if they did, would it inspire her and she inspire him as they had once, so long ago? When Jake’s photo appears on the cover of the New York Times, Jenny dreams that they could, but discovers that Jake has a fiancé. Fate would have to intervene if this couple met again.

Jan Surasky has created Back to Jerusalem as another great book. Through Jenny, this novel accurately describes the plight of women trapped in the tight grip of society’s expectations of them in the 1970s. Liberation is slow to come for many women. Jenny lived her life the traditional way for as long as she could. It is difficult, but he finds his way back to his talent as an artist. She is successful in every way and has done it all on her own. The only thing missing is true love and joy. The question is if he goes back to Jerusalem, will he find it? To find out, it’s a must-read.

This novel is truly a love story, written in a narrative that will speak to romantics at heart, those who desire a bit of mystery, and those who seek the real in life. It’s a book for any woman who has fought against all odds to succeed in the face of a society that says she shouldn’t try. And Back to Jerusalem is an encouragement for women around the world to never abandon their dreams.

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