The Rebel of Savannah

After visiting Savannah - and specifically after visiting the old synagogue in Savannah, Mickve Israel - I was very much interested in the history of Savannah and the growth of the Jewish community in Savannah. In fact, as I was digesting all we'd learned on our visit to the synagogue, I said to my husband, "I wish I could find a historical fiction novel about the Jewish community in Savannah." I did some cursory searching of my own. Their history is very much tied to the Spanish Inquisition and the expulsion of the Jews from Portugal. I had no luck!

I was having a conversation with a friend who mentioned she mostly reads Judaica fiction. She also has Sephardic roots. I asked her if she knew of a book that might fit my need. She recommended The Rebel of Savannah. It sounded perfect.

It was incredibly interesting, but it wasn't perfect. It was not the story I was hoping to read and it really did not satisfy my desire to learn more about the history of the Jewish community in Savannah. (I read it on Kindle and I'm not sure if that's why it was so poorly formatted, making it even more difficult to read than it might have been otherwise. It also needed some pretty major editing. Was I somehow reading an Advanced Readers Copy?)

In The Rebel of Savannah, Hayim Tawal, Chananya Weissman and Mazal Mizrahi tell the story of the development of the colony of Georgia and the role of the Georgians during the Revolutionary War. The Rebel of Savannah happened to be a Mordecai Sheftall, Jew, son of the founder of the Jewish community in Savannah, a Prussian Jew who organized the first Jewish congregation. Mordecai was the highest ranking Jewish officer in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

The novel seems to be very well researched. For me, though, it focused too much on narratives of specific battles. And often I found it difficult to follow the storyline. Once I realized this wasn't what I was looking for, I could have put this book down and moved on to the next book. There are so many good books out there. But, as I said, it was a very interesting story non-the-less. Would I recommend this one? Conditionally. If you're interested in learning about the early days of the colony of Georgia and it's role in the Revolutionary War - including fairly graphic battle scenes - this novel is for you.