“…the easy narrative, engaging style and chronicle of migrant experience in Australia’s history from The Great Depression until the end of the Vietnam War offers a plethora of empathy, humour and enough intertwined subplots to keep most Australian readers occupied and interested. Jacob Kaiser, like all of us, is a boat person….The moral of the story spanning three generations, many ideologies and a century of bloodshed is inspirational, funny, moving and sad….As an Australian text, it resonates with simplicity and heart, and is really the story of us all.” Jason Jewell Victorian Association for the Teaching of English
“Few authors have imposed the Australian historical experience on their narrative as strongly as Alan Collins in his triptych, ‘A Promised Land?’” Rodney Gouttman Australian Jewish Historical Society Journal
“Its vivid recreation of the many-layered Jewish experience in Australia makes it a required reader.” Margaret Dunkle Australian Bookseller & Publisher
“…moving and memorable” Publishers Weekly (US)
“…an omnibus of the Jacob Kaiser trilogy…it is pleasing to see how the three stories flow smoothly on from each other…Jacob’s childhood is recounted in ‘The Boys from Bondi’ in which I saw shades of ‘Angela’s Ashes’. … This collection remains topical, particularly in light of the continuing Middle East conflict….” Janette Offermann Fiction Focus
“‘A Promised Land?’ is not just an omnibus edition of the Jacob Kaiser stories. It stands as one of the significant family sagas of Australian youth … It is highly recommended reading for those who cherish the plurality of Australian society and the diversity of Australian literature.” Kerry Neary, Magpies
“…a solid portrayal of the issues which affected life in Australia, both as a nation and within the Jewish community…” Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen Australian Jewish News
“This is a fine book, a wonderful story of post-war Australia and the Six Day War in Israel. Collins tells the story with passion, wit and even humour and optimism. Highly recommended this one.” Janet Croft Between the Covers, Radio 2 ARM FM
“Alan Collins is a writer who has recorded with passion, the lives of Jews who struggle to survive in two disparate and sometimes hostile worlds. He has drawn widely on his own experiences from the days of his early working life and his attempts to reconcile politics, religion and simple existing – yet never yielding to introspection. Alan Collins is a writer for whom the phrase, ‘a wry smile’ might have been coined” UQP ‘blurb’ on back cover of ‘A Promised Land?’