Additionally, eliminating some of the rich detail gives much greater focus on the relationships. Unless she is introduced tonight, one of the main characters was cut. Also, there is the struggle of condensing a 500 page book into a 4-hour film. There were scenes in the program that very closely followed what I imagined from the book, except the colors and light are much brighter than many of the scenes I visualized from the written word.

How has the film lived up to the book?Īnother library friend and I agree that, so far, the mini-series does a good job at bringing the novel to life. Though some people might find the detail and description too lengthy, most people I know have given the book a positive review. Masada sits at the top of a mountain in the Judean desert and was the home to 900 Jews who were able to live and make a last stand against the Roman Empire around 70 C.E. The Dovekeepers follows four fictional women in the historical fortress city, Masada. Jewish literature is one of my favorite genres because of the rich culture, history and language. Giselle knew I would be interested in the mini-series because she was aware of how thoroughly I enjoyed the book. If you want to start at the beginning there is still hope (more information at the end of this post). If you read this in time, you can catch Part 2 tonight (same time, same place). My apology comes because Part 1 aired last night (CBS, 8-10 p.m.). The mini-series is produced by Roma Downey and Mark Burnett. My friend and co-worker, Giselle, let me know a couple of weeks ago that there would be a mini-series based on Alice Hoffman’s historical novel, The Dovekeepers. I apologize that I did not think to share this news earlier!

The dovekeepers book review