Looking for a little romance? In the King’s Arms provides a Romeo and Juliet type story, stirs in English country life, poignant Holocaust history, and the struggle of two divergent insular worlds trying to reconcile their differences.
Lily Taub, a beautiful, intelligent Jewish American girl, is the daughter of Holocaust survivors. Their horrific experiences have her dreaming of singlehandedly fighting anti-Semitism, yet also yearning for a more worldly life. She leaves New York City for Oxford University and meets sophisticated, bright, and upper class Peter. She then falls madly in love with his charming and handsome younger brother, Julian. The enchantment and early stages of falling in love are beautifully captured. Lily is invited to the family manor for Christmas break. There she encounters Julian’s parents’ blatant anti-Semitism, is witness to unconventional family dynamics, and is enmeshed in a terrifying accident. The plot twists are predictable at times, but do serve to advance the story to its hopeful and ultimate conclusion.
Sonia Taitz weaves a witty, literate, and heartfelt story filled with engaging characters and relationships. The reader is moved by and invested in Lily’s realization of who she is, where she comes from, and her hopes for a more tolerant and healed world.
Renita Last is a member of the Nassau Region of Hadassah’s Executive Board. She has coordinated the Film Forum Series for the Region and served as Programming and Health Coordinators and as a member of the Advocacy Committee.
She has volunteered as a docent at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County teaching the all- important lessons of the Holocaust and tolerance. A retired teacher of the Gifted and Talented, she loves participating in book clubs and writing projects.