What begins as a family history of immigration from Kyiv to London, expands into a history of the Zionist movement and its search for a Jewish state. Rachel Cockerell's Melting Point: Family, Memory and the Search for a Promise Land is about her great grandfather David Jochelmann but also several of the possible Jewish states such as British East Africa, Palestine or Galveston, Texas.

It is this latter location, Texas, that centers much of the book. Jochelmann was a key figure in encouraging the immigration of Russian Jews to Texas, moving them beyond the bastion of New York City. The narrative, drawn from interviews, archival and popular sources offers first person accounts of the Zionist movement, from major figures like Theodor Herzl and Israel Zangwill to her own family's memories.

An important work that explores the late 19th and early 20th century Jewish movement to establish a Jewish state in the face of pogroms, antisemitism and the question of how much to assimilate.

I listened to the book as an Audiobook, the introduction was read by the author, but the book was capably narrated by Henry Goodman.

Recommended to readers of Jewish History, the Zionist movement or immigrant life.