The Surly Dragon

Synopsis: (Amazon) 

What would you do if your brother, turned out to be your enemy? 

When a child tries to understand something about his parents' relationship, his vision is distorted, funny and touching. If his father has a lover, how could he not be cheating on his wife? Is it possible that all three, and even the lover's husband knew and agreed to this? 

"..Dad tries to Shake off Hoda unsuccessfully He's Stuck to her back. I do not understand what's happening, should I call for help?.." 

Little Abram's thoughts raced when he saw his father in the workshop studio with his sick mother's maid, who also happens to be the mother of his best friend. He did not understand why Atef, his best friend, had left him after this incident. 

When he grew up he had realized what he had seen. He was furious with his father for his betrayal. The Anger and the hurt had turned into an obsession, as Avram is Jewish and Atef is Arab . The complex relationship will fascinate you, and all the doubts and questions that arise in the child's mind, will lead you to gradually uncover this family's secrets. 

Author's Site: Dorit Silverman
Publisher: self-published
Purchase: No link... Amazon is trying to charge for this when you can get it free through BookBub
Reviewed For: This was a freebie from BookBub

Misanthrope's Assessment: 

This was a quick read.  It was confusing at times and there were some technical errors... this book would benefit from a good editor.  The tale of the book, was an interesting one... the blurb says it all.  The blurb also is telling of those technical errors... I fixed the name Hoda... it had it as Huda on Amazon (but not in the book), the name of the protagonist in the book is Avram, not Abram (same difference, but not really). 

The last section is important (book is divided into three sections), and I feel that the content of the first two could focus less on geography and randomness to build up to the confrontation between Avram and his granddaughter over her boyfriend... who turns out to be Avram's brother's grandson... which leads us to another problem that doesn't even get addressed, there is too much focus on the Jewish vs. Muslim/Arab that the grandfather has.

The story needs work, but there is promise here.  I am glad that I did not pay for it.  I am almost curious if this is a translation.  If so, then I think the quality of the translator should be questioned.