by דויד גרוסמן
First published 2010
Ora's son Ofer has just returned from military service when he volunteers for a dangerous offensive. Terrified of receiving notification of his death, she flees to the Galilee hills with Avram, her estranged former lover who once served with her husband Ilan. Years ago, a casual lottery determined that Avram would take weekend leave instead of Ilan. That random choice sent Avram into the Yom Kippur War, where he endured brutal torture as a prisoner. The trauma left him a broken recluse who cut all contact with their family and never met Ofer. As Ora and Avram trek through valleys and sleep under stars, she tells him everything about raising Ofer. Her stories bring her absent son to vivid life and slowly reconnect Avram to human feeling. Their journey becomes a meditation on how war devastates families across generations, even as parents continue the daily work of loving their children.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Galilee
Period: Yom Kippur War
581 pages · Hardcover · Vintage Books
Content warnings: mental-illness, war