Inspired by true events, this best-selling Israeli novel traces a complex web of love triangles and family secrets across generations and borders.
The uneventful life of a jeweler from Tel Aviv changes abruptly after Fareed, a handsome young man from Damascus, crosses illegally into Israel and makes his way to the ancient port city of Jaffa in search of his roots. In his pocket is a piece of a famous blue diamond known as Sabakh. Intending to return the diamond to its rightful owner, Fareed is soon swept up in Tel Aviv's vibrant gay scene, and a turbulent protest movement. He falls in love with an Israeli soldier and his boyfriend, the narrator of this book. We learn the story of his family's past-a tale of forbidden love beginning in the 1930s-and what connects Fareed and the jeweler.
The Diamond Setter ties present-day events to a forgotten time before the creation of the State of Israel. Moshe Sakal's poignant mosaic of characters, locales, and cultures allows us to imagine the Middle East beyond its conflicts. "Richly evocative." -Booklist
"A kaleidoscopic journey into the Middle East of the present and the not-so-distant past…As the mystery of the diamond unfolds, characters' paths cross in unexpected ways-reminding the reader that we are all, in some way or another, connected." -Kirkus Reviews
"If you enjoy richly plotted intergenerational stories inspired by true events, Moshe Sakal's The Diamond Setter offers bountiful pleasures…a gloriously immersive journey into different cultures." -Forward
"…what's best is the unselfconsciously sensuous writing (with a range of sexuality easily accepted) and the beautifully depicted sense of a time gone by when borders were open and Jew and Arab commingled." -Library Journal
"[An] essential read…[one] of 2018's biggest titles…a vital depiction of queer life in the Middle East." -Entertainment Weekly
"There are…sparkling, beautiful passages in this novel…The Diamond Setter is very relevant: Jaffa and Tel Aviv represent a modern city's role in justice, the quest for equality, and continuing rationality in a very irrational area of the world." -Huffington Post
"Sakal makes room for his narrative to encompass huge issues: the geopolitics of the Middle East, gentrification, sexuality, borders, aging, and the bonds of family. Yet this book never feels ponderous: Sakal keeps things moving briskly throughout…the charm of the novel's characters and the humanism with which Sakal tells this story go a long way." -Words Without Borders
"Well written, masterfully translated by Jessica Cohen, and rewards rereading." -New York Journal of Books
"Lush, imaginative, and seductive, Moshe Sakal's The Diamond Setter offers a perfect combination of passion, suspense, insight, and beauty. Jessica Cohen's brilliant translation only further enhances the reading experience, making it into a true literary treat." -Ruby Namdar, author of The Ruined House
"A fascinating glimpse into an early twentieth-century Middle East, where familial entanglements and intimacies of all kinds still flourished between Jews and Arabs." -Judith Frank, author of All I Love and Know
"Moshe Sakal's books make me miss a life I never lived. In The Diamond Setter, he surpasses himself [with] the blue diamond's wonderful journey across continents and nations. A rare book by a rare writer." -Ari Folman, Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominee for Waltz with Bashir
"The blue diamond 'Sabakh' becomes the underlying common thread that interweaves fascinating and beautiful characters, bridging different generations and countries in this captivating novel from Moshe Sakal. The Diamond Setter is a mystery that unfolds brilliantly. I cannot recommend it enough." -Hasan Namir, Lambda Literary Award–winning author of God in Pink
"Moshe Saka
