Reviews

• This is a great collection of inter-related short stories (a format I normally abhor) that will resonate with many people, especially those who have spent any time in Israel. The comparisons between Israeli and U.S. life were spot-on. I have no idea how I heard about this book, but I will definitely be talking about it and will suggest it for our synagogue’s book club. I loved it.

• I found myself really caring about the characters. Following the main character as she grows and matures was fascinating. If you have lived in Israel, or if you enjoy excellent writing, this is a must-read.

• This collection of linked short stories explore the issue of split identities and the search to "belong." We first meet Osnat, the main protagonist, at age 12 after her family has moved from Tel Aviv to Michigan. Her American father spent 13 years in Israel and met and married her Israeli mother. But he never quite fit in, never found personal or professional fulfillment. And so the family has relocated in Ann Arbor, leaving her mother terribly homesick, miserable and alienated. As their marriage threatens to break apart, Osnat tries her best to keep them together. Osnat remains the central focus but subsequent stories are seen through the eyes of both of her parents and those of some secondary characters -- a young American Jewish girl Harriet and a young Israeli man, Noam. This device enables the author to explore the differences in identity between American Jews and Israelis. The stories jump forward, sometimes by several years, so that by the end of the book Osnat is almost 30 -- but still unhappy, lonely and searching for a sense of who she really is. As one who was born in Britain, spent 8 years in Israel and over 20 in the United States, I could really relate to this book. Of course, anyone who is ripped away from their native land at a sensitive age is going to feel the effects. But leaving Israel is different, freighted with all kinds of guilt that never quite goes away. One feels as if one is abandoning a beleaguered nation, giving up the fight, for a comfortable life in America. And Israelis too have a distorted view of the United States, regarding all American Jews as rich, self-indulgent, spoiled and soft as if there are no problems here. I particularly enjoyed a chapter in which Osnat has become engaged to a blond Catholic from Wisconsin and goes to spend Christmas with his parents and extended family. The sense of fear and alienation she feels is brilliantly captured. Osnat eventually returns to Israel but she doesn't fit there either. She's lost her Hebrew accent with its characteristic hard Rs, she never served in the army which is the crucible of Israeli society and socialization and she's terribly lonely, living in an apartment with rotting walls. This book is very well written and for the most part quite enjoyable. I'm giving it four stars because I eventually got a little worn down by it and exasperated by Osnat herself. I feel the author was a little cruel with all of her characters and could have gone a little easier on at least some of them. As she approaches her 30s, Osnat seems stuck in a rut, unable to move forward. Danit Brown also has a somewhat jaundiced view of middle age. When we last see Osnat's parents, they are probably in their early sixties but they behave like people in their eighties. The author even inflicts incontinence on Osnat's mother. Most people I know of that age (which I'm fast approaching myself) are superfit, healthy, energetic and productive. Brown will find out as she gets older that 60 is the new 40!

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