John and Yoni - Twin brothers - two religions - two nations - one soul!

Mike Carmel

The result of an illicit tempestuous affair between a young psychology student and her married lecturer in 1979, twin brothers John and Yoni are involuntarily separated during their first month of life and raised in different adopting families. John grows up in Liverpool, England, in the Roman Catholic faith. Yoni grows up in Ra'anana, Israel, in the Jewish faith.

At age 21, they meet up for the first time. Both are devout believers, each in his own religious conviction, and an interesting process of mutual discovery follows as their diverse cultural paths merge. What follows is a captivating, stimulating, inquisitive, amusing, and occasionally conflicting story, which often verges on the bizarre. Then, one of them tragically ends his life as a victim of a suicide bombing, and the other twin is left to endure the harsh process of reinterpreting his personal identity, once again alone in the world.

Mike Carmel was born in 1956 in Liverpool, and studied economics at Liverpool University and at Brunel University in London. Although the author had an Anglican upbringing, in 1980 he decided to convert to Judaism. He consequently maintains a deep respect for both religions.

Working in the hi-tech sector, Mike has been living in Israel for the past 25 years. He served in the Israel Defense Forces as a medic, and has also worked in several educational capacities in both countries.

Mike married his Israeli wife in 1981, and they have 3 children. His daughter, to whom the book has been dedicated, was seriously injured during her army service by a suicide bomber in 2003.