A Woman in Jerusalem
A Woman in Jerusalem by Abraham B. Yehoshua is a thought-provoking narrative published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2006. This first edition spans 237 pages and is presented in English. The story begins with a woman in her forties who becomes a victim of a suicide bombing at a market in Jerusalem, leaving her body nameless in a hospital morgue. As the bakery where she worked faces accusations of negligence, the owner assigns a human resources man to identify and bury her, leading to a journey of discovery about her life and identity.
Readers will find a blend of psychological and religious themes as the narrative unfolds, revealing the complexities of the woman’s past, including her origins as an engineer from the former Soviet Union and her motivations for being in Jerusalem. The human resources man’s reluctant involvement evolves into a deeper exploration of regret and atonement, highlighting the emotional and moral dilemmas faced in the context of terrorism and personal loss. Yehoshua’s storytelling captures the essence of contemporary Israel, offering insights into the lives affected by conflict and the search for meaning amidst tragedy.
Official synopsis Publisher
A woman in her forties is a victim of a suicide bombing at a Jerusalem market. Her body lies nameless in a hospital morgue. She had apparently worked as a cleaning woman at a bakery, but there is no record of her employment. When a Jerusalem daily accuses the bakery of “gross negligence and inhumanity toward an employee,” the bakery’s owner, overwhelmed by guilt, entrusts the task of identifying and burying the victim to a human resources man. This man is at first reluctant to take on the job, but as the facts of the woman’s life take shape-she was an engineer from the former Soviet Union, a non-Jew on a religious pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and, judging by an early photograph, beautiful-he yields to feelings of regret, atonement, and even love.
At once profoundly serious and highly entertaining, A. B. Yehoshua astonishes us with his masterly, often unexpected turns in the story and with his ability to get under the skin and into the soul of Israel today.
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