Book Review - The Lawgiver by Herman Wouk

Herman Wouk is a major US writer and this was written when he was 97 so I am coming to his work a little late in his career. This a novel based on letters between the characters updated for the 21st Century as it includes emails, memos, texts and transcripts of interviews. Herman and his wife also feature as it is based on the travails of getting a film about Moses made whilst he is trying to write a novel based on Moses, where the chief investor wants Herman's approval of the script. You get deeply immersed in Jewish Hollywood as investors, scriptwriters, directors and producers all put their own spin on what should happen. There is a lovely inclusion of an Aussie hunk actor flown over for a screen test that never happens, a couple of romances and a family estrangement thrown in for good measure. This is a good and funny read and has a rather sad afterword as Herman's wife died between finishing the novel and this edition being published. Wendy