The Red Balcony

A Novel

By: Jonathan Wilson

Narrated by: Peter Noble

Based on actual events, a gripping novel of sex, love, history and justice in the tinderbox of British Mandatory Palestine, by the acclaimed author of A Palestine Affair

"The story of what is arguably Israel’s foundational murder trial—a tale of multiple identities and loyalties." —Joshua Cohen, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of The Netanyahus

“Pleases on several levels: as an adventure tale, a star-crossed romance and a detailed period piece.” —The Wall Street Journal

It’s 1933, and Ivor Castle, Oxford-educated and Jewish, arrives in Palestine to take up a position as assistant to the defense counsel in the trial of the two men accused of murdering Haim Arlosoroff, a leader of the Jewish community in Palestine whose efforts to get Jews out of Hitler’s Germany and into Palestine may have been controversial enough to get him killed.

While preparing for the trial, Ivor, an innocent to the politics of the case, falls into bed and deeply in love with Tsiona, a free-spirited artist who happened to sketch the accused men in a Jerusalem café on the night of the murder and may be a key witness. As Ivor learns the hard way about the violence simmering just beneath the surface of British colonial rule, Jonathan Wilson dazzles with his mastery of the sun-drenched landscape and the subtleties of the warring agendas among the Jews, Arabs, and British.

And as he travels between the crime scene in Tel Aviv and the mazelike streets of Jerusalem, between the mounting mysteries surrounding this notorious case and clandestine lovemaking in Tsiona’s studio, Ivor must discover where his heart lies: whether he cares more for the law or the truth, whether he is more an Englishman or a Jew, and where and with whom he truly belongs.

Based on historical events

The assassination and the trial, including the false confession, were historical. The riots and massacres by the Arabs actually happened. The core of the fiction was the affair with the woman of the red balcony, which I found to be the least interesting aspect of the book.

Strong Start, Weak Finish

This novel begins with a compelling story about a trial set in Palestine under the British mandate, between World War I and World War II. Tensions between Jews and Arabs, the British, and Jews of differing opinion are well presented with compelling characters. It’s a helpful window into that era of history wound around a murder mystery.

However, just as the trial is coming into view with all of its complexities, the plot shifts suddenly away from it for no apparent reason. No spoilers, but the trial and the end have little to do with all that preceded them. If the point is how pointless everything is, why am I making a point to read it?

time and place come alive

Jonathan WIlson's story, The Red Balcony is a bout a Man named Ivor Castle who is British Mandate Palestine, around 1933, to assist in a legal defense of two Russian Jews who are accused of murdering a Jewish diplomat. That man had made a deal with Hitler, allowing German Jews to escape to Palestine for a fee of 1,000 pounds. In exchange Palestine would lift the boycott on German exports.

Ivor is Jewish, but has experienced very little anti-semetism, and doesn't understand the politics of the area. He hasn't seen the effects of Hitler's terrorism, or the difficulties of life in Palestine. He hasn't seen Jew against Jew, or Jew against Arab/Muslim. His innocence and naivety allows the character to represent all of us. He is constantly learning, and as we follow his story, so are we.

While in Palestine, Ivor falls in love with a potential witness, and begins a passionate affair. Of course this is a huge ethics violation, and I struggled with his choices and movements.

The story of the trial is gripping but what really made the book shine was the setting of time and place. The author really brought me into that world, and I came away with a better understanding of the region.

Potentially fascinating story, not realized

Potentially fascinating and riveting story, but the promise is not realized.
I couldn’t listen any more after the first two and a half hours; shallow love story that does not do justice to the turmoil in this volatile region and the effects after the murder. Perhaps later in the book it will emerge better, but those first two hours were enough for me.