The Binding of Isaac

Dr. Michael Shocket, a retired lecturer living in Hertfordshire, is the author of several text books published by the Cambridge University Press, poems in various magazines, and hisautobiography, "Know me Tomorrow," was published by United Press in 2003. "The Binding of Isaac" is his first novel. He is a member of the Council for Christians and Jews, and his religious views are reflected in the pivotal character of Abraham. A worthy descendant of the patriarch, after his son, Isaac, who suffered brain damage at birth, is sentenced for the rape and attempted murder of his step-sister, Abraham experiences a loss of faith. Peter, a Nigerian barrister, and the son of an African vicar, represents the boy in an appeal against his prison sentence. He falls in love with Rosie, Isaac's younger sister. The fathers, one a devout Christian and the other a strictly orthodox Jew, both at variance with fundamentalism, establish a unique friendship. Most of the characters in "The Binding of Isaac" battle against religious, racial and social prejudice. The reader will find a disturbing picture of the public's attitude towards people with learning disabilities. On a lighter note the author, a self confessed "romantic," provides us with three bitter-sweet, interwoven love stories.