Written and designed by Warren Lehrer. Images and objects by Sharon Horvath.
ISBN: 979-8-9897802-0-4. Fiction/Art. Published by EarSay. June 1, 2024.
6.75” x 9” x 50 pages. Wraparound dos-à-dos binding; 4-color throughout, printed by HP Indigo in
LIC, NY, on Mohawk Superfine, an acid-free paper. This first edition is handbound with string and buttons by Elizabeth Castaldo.
Jericho’s Daughter is Lehrer’s anti-war, feminist reimagining of the biblical tale of Rahab, the Canaanite “harlot” who lived in a mud hut inside the outer brick wall of Jericho. One of only a few characters who appear in the Old and New Testaments, Rahab is lauded by both Jews and Christians as a reformed sinner and a symbol of faith in a singular, all-powerful God. That was the version Lehrer learned in Hebrew school. In this reconsideration, he places Rahab center stage, revealing a very different perspective of the enigmatic character and the meaning of her story.
The beautifully produced, full-color book is illuminated with original images and objects created by Sharon Horvath. Her paintings and collages are made from many materials including pigment, polymer, ink, paper, canvas, wood, plastic packaging, adhesives, and magazine photos from the 1950s through 2023. The book is bound in a bifurcated, dos-à dos binding, once used to bind Old and New Testaments together. Part 1 of Jericho’s Daughter takes a closer look at Rahab’s interaction with two Jewish soldiers sent to scout out the military readiness of Jericho, and the deal she struck with them. Part 2 consists of a Catalogue of Artifacts (and facsimiles), including translated excerpts of Rahab’s secret diaries written during her decades as an Israelite wife and mother.
The writing, design, imagemaking, and collaboration (which included Horvath making images in reaction to Lehrer’s text, and Lehrer writing in response to Horvath’s images) were completed prior to October 2023 and the latest horrific war breaking out in Israel and Gaza. The gruesome killings from both sides makes Lehrer all the more determined to tell this story—and make a plea (as Rahab does within the book) for an end to the cycle of blood and death. A percentage of the proceeds from Jericho’s Daughter will go to Women Wage Peace, the largest grassroots peace movement in Israel.
EarSay is publishing Jericho’s Daughter simultaneously with Lehrer’s first fully electronic book, Riveted in the Word, inspired by the true story of a writer’s hard-fought battle to regain language after a devastating stroke. Both books are based on short stories written by Lehrer and employ haptic, bifurcated structures that reveal lives that have been ripped apart and begun anew.
sample spreads
from Part 1: Jericho’s Daughter
from Part 2: Catalogue of Artifacts
