Synopses & Reviews
In 1986, Laura Blumenfeld's father was shot in Jerusalem by a member of a rebel faction of the PLO responsible for attacks on several tourists in the Old City. Her father lived, but Blumenfeld's desire for revenge haunted her. This is her story.
Traveling to Israel, Blumenfeld gathers stories and methods of avengers as she plots to infiltrate the shooter's life. Through interviews and extensive research, she explores the mechanics and the psychology of vengeance.
But ultimately it is a journey that leads her back home -- where she is forced to confront her childhood dreams, her parents' failed marriage, and her ideas about family. In the end, her target turns out to be more complex -- and in some ways more threatening -- than the stereotypical terrorist she'd long imagined.
A rare, ambitious, personal, and intellectual tour of dark urges often denied, Revenge: A Story of Hope is a beautifully written story about family, loyalty, and home, about the personal passions behind public events, and about the thin line between love and hate.
Synopsis
Ten years after a member of the PLO rebel faction shoots and wounds her father, Laura Blumenfeld decides to investigate. Traveling through Europe, America, and the Middle East, Blumenfeld takes "lessons in revenge" as she gathers stories and methods of avengers worldwide to infiltrate the shooter's life.
Based on interviews with Yitzhak Rabin's assassin, members of the Albanian Blood Feud Committee, the chief of the Iranian judiciary, a mayor in Sicily, an Egyptian hashish smuggler, fifth-grade girls, prostitutes, and many more, Blumenfeld defines the mechanics of revenge. In the end, her target turns out to be more complex -- and more threatening -- than she'd long imagined.
A rare, ambitious, personal, and intellectual tour of the dark urges that haunts us all, Revenge created a national phenomenon that takes readers beyond loyalty and home and into the personal passions that divide love and hate.
About the Author
Laura Blumenfeld holds a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University and has been a staff writer at The Washington Post since 1992. She has also written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Elle, and the Los Angeles Times. She currently lives in New York City.