What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist who Tried to Kill Your Wife?: A Memoir
*Starred Review* Readers can be forgiven for expecting Harris-Gershon to tread on  familiar ground in his Memoir of Jerusalem. But this enormously compelling title smashes preconceived notions while delivering an unforgettable and provocative story about the roots of terrorism and the nature of victimhood.  Initiated after the author struggled for years with the emotional aftermath of his wife’s traumatic injuries from the 2002 terrorist bombing of Hebrew University, this book is as much about trying to write about what happened as it is an attempt to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict itself. In alternating chapters, Harris-Gershon details the couple’s personal story while juxtaposing it with his ongoing historical research. He doesn’t shy away from the complicated politics and provides a concise background to both the Israeli and Palestinian positions while recounting his own attempts to understand how they came to be locked in their adversarial relationship. As he works his way toward meeting the convicted terrorist who tried to kill his wife, Harris-Gershon finds himself considering how a man becomes a monster. Bracing, intense, and relentless, this is a book about how we as humans get to the darkest of places and the questions we must ask to find our way out. A transformative reading experience. --Colleen Mondor