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This thrilling graphic novel about the hunt for a sacred relic in the divided lands of Israel and Palestine will be read for decades to comeIn Tunnels, Rutu Modan’s long-awaited new graphic novel, a fiery single mother called Nili returns from the US to Jerusalem, where her father, Israel, once a distinguished archaeologist, languishes at home, his life stolen by dementia. But Nili, abrasive and determined, is no nurse. Her mission now is to protect her father’s legacy from Rafi, his rivalrous colleague at the Hebrew University. Though only an amateur digger herself, she will attempt to find the long lost Ark of the Covenant, an object in whose existence her father has always believed, and whose location he once thought he knew.Naturally, she isn’t the only one chasing this chimera. The race is on. To her horror, her brother Broshi is working for Rafi, now in possession of a tablet whose inscription possibly describes the Ark’s hiding place in an Arab village called Al-Karim, once the site of a Judean settlement. On the plus side, however, she has a financial advantage in the form of Abuloff, a dubious dealer in antiquities whose entire collection was recently donated to the university (and with it, the aforementioned tablet). Furious at Rafi’s double dealing – he and Broshi chose not to tell him about the importance of the tablet – this shady figure will fund her excavations, which must, it seem, take place beneath the wall that separates Israel from the West Bank.Tunnels by Rutu Modan, translated by Ishai Mishory, is published by Drawn & Quarterly (£23). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply Continue reading...