Kirjahaku

A story told by a narrator who has no clue of the adultery and betrayal around him. Ian Aubrey, sent to the U.S from U.K as a boy during WWII, is writing a biography of his ancestor John Aubrey whose posthumously published "brief lives" was the first use of this title.

The Oklahoma Cherokee Nation believes their ancestors were with Moses in the Exodus. There is DNA support for this belief. There is a bond of suffering in the Holocaust and the Trail of Tears. The Nation is concerned that climate will make it impossible to live in Tornado Alley. The Prime Minister of Israel is obsessed by fears of an Arab 'population bomb', an Iranian atomic bomb, and Jihadist 'Arab Springs'. He tires of his 'bad neighborhood' and wants to relocate his people. The Prime Minister learns of the Cherokee relation (if the Cherokees are Jewish, we are Cherokee) and visits Telaquah, the Cherokee capital. At a Summit meeting the Chief and PM plan to resettle Israelis who will bring high technology and international contracts. However, the U.S. does not recognize the Israelis as Cherokee. A counter plan to settle the Cherokee Nation in Israel meets Rabbinic resistance. The women in these male dominated cultures are strong and serious. The PM's American born Agnostic Archaeologist wife wonders what is a 'homeland.' Sherry, the First Lady of Oklahoma Cherokees, an Anthropologist struggles to reconcile Cherokee mysticism with her Baptist beliefs. "There is nothing in Christ inconsistent with Keetawah spirituality." With us as well are combatant Professors, the Chief Justice of Israel, Muslim members of Knesset, disappointed Russian migr s, the Palestinian President, all struggling to organize their world in a way beneficial and acceptable to their people. There are many surprises, some informative statistics, and some just plain funny incidents. The book intends to manage material with respect to all parties.

Brief Lives British born novelist Ian Aubrey, descendant of the eccentric 17th century diarist John Aubrey, is having difficulty writing a biography of his ancestor and of confronting his own life. Ian was among English children sent to the United States during WWII. He was raised by a strict but caring New England cousin until he left for New York City to attend Columbia University and later join the theater and literary worlds of New York. His friends include a prestigious publisher and his wife; a British diplomat; a playwright who has only been produced Off Broadway and his patient wife. A descendant of Russian Counts whose parents still use the title and her husband who is a respected Computer Scientist. At the book's opening Ian's marriage is in ruin partly because his stage designer wife holds him responsible for their daughter's suicide at sea. Among their friends it is more generally believed that the daughter had had a small boat accident in a storm. The relations within this up scale society are marked by deception, adultery, and betrayal. No character seems aware of what is happening around them. Tension develops when Ian sees his wife's bra in the playwrights summer home. They intensify when the playwright invites the publisher's wife to sail with him on a photo tour to the Galapagos . There is gossip, accusation, and threat in the atmosphere. After the going off party, the sloop, enveloped in black smoke, disappears from view. The boat has sinks in smoke. Suspicion of foul play sinks into the consciousness of watching friends. At the memorial service at Saint Bartholomew Episcopal Church in New York, there are buzzings of 'murder' and 'bomb'. Later that summer, beautiful daughter of Russian aristocrats visits Ian on the Cape. She is worried about her husband who has been drinking heavily and has taken up the study of mushrooms. She realizes that this could be a dangerous pastime. Ian and she go for a sail on his Catboat, are surprised by a storm, anchor on a lee side island, and to Ian's surprise, make uncomfortable love. In her absence, Charles, feeling alone and misplaced and sensing tension in his marriage, attempts suicide by eating a poisonous mushroom. Ian is left to think, 'this is the way the world ends, this is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper.'