There is no war so great, love cannot overcome it.
Jerusalem, 1967, one day before the sudden outbreak of the Six Day War. In Jordanian East Jerusalem, Omar's Muslim family are preparing traditional Kurdish dishes for his older brother's wedding. Meanwhile, across the barbed wire border in Israeli West Jerusalem, Asaf’s Jewish family are also preparing traditional Kurdish dishes for a wedding. Omar slips through the heavily guarded border dividing the city with his Jordanian father’s diplomatic pass, where he meets Asaf in the busy Jerusalem marketplace.
Despite the boys’ searing differences in religion and nationality, their cultural connection sparks a friendship that holds the promise of young love. Slipping across barbed-wire borders, their brief relationship becomes trapped in the flipping pages of history and shifting borders of the Middle East. As Jewish and Arab armies battle across Jerusalem, Omar and Asaf must fight for their own chance at love.
Praise for Harry F. Rey’s other historical fiction works:
What impressed me most was the ease with which Harry F. Rey brought all these people together, made them join the storyline, had them discuss sometimes highly philosophical subjects with what really felt like genuine sentences that any of them could have said in that particular time and place. I highly recommend it not only for lovers of historical fiction, but simply to all those who love a perfectly well-written, well-researched book that grabs the reader’s attention from the first to the last page, takes them on an unforgettable journey, and keeps lingering in their mind for a long time afterwards.
-- Dieter Moitzi, Rainbow Book Reviews
Why in Paris? is truly extraordinary. In Why in Paris? Harry F. Rey explores every aspect of the human experience. Lust, greed, friendship, fate, love… and freedom. And at its most basic form, the human right of freedom from persecution, of course. Beyond that, the complexities of all varieties of artistic expression are questioned. The amount of research that went into Why in Paris?, the skill of crafting this amazing tale, and the depth to which Anders and his companions explore their world, leaves me breathless.
-- Kimmers Book Banter
Harry F Rey beautifully captures the post-Bohemian vibe of districts of Paris (and a cast of characters) usually hidden from tourists. The scene-setting in the run up to WW2 was 'chefs kiss'. I loved Anders innocence, the bitchiness of Claude (I kind of fell in love with Claude from the first page) and the delicious beauty of Jean. A hard recommend.
-- Author Fearne Hill
Six Days in Jerusalem is a star-crossed lovers historical gay romance novel about two boys - one Arab, one Jewish - trapped in the flipping pages of history and falling in love against the shifting borders of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.
