The Land Agent

‘”A genuine tour-de-force” – Lesley McDowell on ‘An Exquisite Sense of What Is Beautiful’. Palestine 1920s. Working as a land agent for one of the richest men in the world, Polish-Jewish immigrant Lev Sela finds himself swept into a passionate relationship with Celia Kahn, a beautiful Scottish pioneer, after stumbling upon a strategic area of land that doesn’t exist on any map. The resultant struggle for ownership involves the Jews, the Arabs, the Zionists, the British, a Russian engineer with ambitions to build a hydro-electric power station and the Bedouin living there. Touching on issues of identity, idealism, displacement, community, socialism and feminism, The Land Agent is the third title in J. David Simons’ magnum opus ‘From Glasgow to Galilee’ – a loose trilogy following his award-winning novels The Credit Draper and The Liberation of Celia Kahn.

Reviews of The Land Agent

"…a beautifully-made historical novel. In its fast-moving and accessible storytelling, in its emotional punch, and in its brilliantly-realised evocation of a time and place." – Booktrust. "Bernard Malamud meets Hilary Mantel – This is succinct, thoroughly absorbing storytelling, which casts – light on the origins of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A timely, terrific novel by a writer at the very top of his game." – David Belbin. "An historical novel big on romance and contemporary relevance. The Land Agent creates a vivid picture of Jewish Palestine in its original state, when the idealism of socialist settlers competed with the more hardnosed vision of Zionists for how to build the future homeland." – Michael Goldfarb.