Sondra Silverston Books

It is 1995 and Noa and Amir have decided to move in together. Noa is studying photography in Jerusalem and Amir is a psychology student in Tel Aviv, so they choose a tiny flat in a village in the hills, between the two cities. Their flat is separated from that of their landlords, Sima and Moshe Zakian, by a thin wall, but on each side we find a different home - and a different world. Homesick is a beautiful, clever and moving story about history, love, family and the true meaning of home.

'On the kibbutz it's hard to know. We're all supposed to be friends but very few really are' Ariella, unhappy in love, confides in the woman whose husband she stole. Nahum, a devoted father, can't find the words to challenge his daughter's promiscuous lover. The old idealists deplore the apathy of the young, while the young are so used to kibbutz life that they can't work out if they're impassioned or indifferent. And amid this group of people unwilling and unable to say what they mean, Martin attempts to teach Esperanto.

Bringing up a child, lying to the boss, placing an order in a fast-food restaurant: in Etgar Keret's new collection, daily life is complicated, dangerous, and full of yearning. In his most playful and most mature work yet, the living and the dead, silent children and talking animals, dreams and waking life coexist in an uneasy world. Overflowing with absurdity, humor, sadness, and compassion, the tales in Suddenly, a Knock on the Door establish Etgar Keret--declared a "genius" by The New York Times --as one of the most original writers of his generation.

In a distant village, all animals and birds have vanished. Only a young teacher and an old man discuss these mythical creatures with children who have never seen them, while a lonely boy dreams of animals amidst the eerie silence surrounding the topic.