Tami's American cousin Maya goes to Jerusalem University because she feels that how she can finally cement a relationship with her mother. She lives in a very religious part of the city with Gil, who takes out his mempories of his military time on the West Bank on Tami. Living below Maya is Holocaust survivor Shifra, who sees the American student as some sort of savior. The lives of these three women have intertwined as each struggles with modern questions of identity and healing. If they can break out of the sealed rooms of their minds, they may find personal salvation.

FROM A SEALED ROOM is a tour-de-force novel that provides the reader with an insider's glimpse into the personal problems confronting Israeli and American Jews. The characters are all fully developed and their interplay provides the impetus to the novel. Rachel Kadish brilliantly provides an emotionally poignant debut novel that will be talked about for years to come.