husband_and_wife_shalev
2004 Nominated

Husband and Wife

artwork-image

ABOUT
THE BOOK

Husband and Wife takes us into the heartbreak and compromise of a diseased marriage that may or may not be capable of healing. It explores the true nature of love, lust and family, and dares to ask the question upon which everything comes to rest: when all is threatened, should one hold on even tighter, or let go?
Na’ama and Udi Newman have many of the trappings of an idyllic shared existence. A couple since they were schoolchildren, they have grown together like vines and settled into a routine of calm domesticity, along with their young daughter, Noga. But in a scene worthy of Kafka, the quiet rhythms of their family life suddenly screech to a halt when Udi wakes up one morning to find that he is unable to move his legs. The doctors quickly set about searching for a physical explanation and Na’ama herself goes to desperate lengths to jump-start his ailing body. But it soon becomes painfully clear that his paralysis is a symptom of something far less tangible and far more insidious than any of them imagined.
This one morning sets in motion a series of events that reveals a vicious cycle of jealousy, paranoia, resentment and accumulated injuries that now threaten to tear the small family apart. Na’ama, always intent on upholding the structure of her marriage despite its possible rotting foundation, is now forced to confront all that festers beneath the surface.

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Zeruya
Shalev

Zeruya Shalev is a bestselling Israeli author.

She has an MA in Bible studies and works as a literary editor at Keshet publishing house. On January 29, 2004, when she was returning to her home in Rehavia, Jerusalem, after taking her child to kindergarten, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a city bus as she was passing by. It took her four months to recover from her injuries. Shalev is married to Ayal Megged, son of Aharon Megged.

Shalev has published four novels, a book of poetry and a children’s book. Her novels Love Life and Husband and Wife have received critical acclaim both in Israel and abroad. They have been translated into 21 languages and were bestsellers in several countries. Shalev has been awarded the Book Publishers’ Association’s Gold and Platinum Prizes, the German Corine Book Award (2001), the French Amphi Award, and the ACUM prize three times (1997, 2003, 2005). Husband and Wife was also nominated for the French Femina prize (2002), and is included in the French Fnac list of the 200 Best Books of the Decade.

Zeruya Shalev is a bestselling Israeli author.

She has an MA in Bible studies and works as a literary editor at Keshet publishing house. On January 29, 2004, when she was returning to her home in Rehavia, Jerusalem, after taking her child to kindergarten, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a city bus as she was passing by. It took her four months to recover from her injuries. Shalev is married to Ayal Megged, son of Aharon Megged.

Shalev has published four novels, a book of poetry and a children’s book. Her novels Love Life and Husband and Wife have received critical acclaim both in Israel and abroad. They have been translated into 21 languages and were bestsellers in several countries. Shalev has been awarded the Book Publishers’ Association’s Gold and Platinum Prizes, the German Corine Book Award (2001), the French Amphi Award, and the ACUM prize three times (1997, 2003, 2005). Husband and Wife was also nominated for the French Femina prize (2002), and is included in the French Fnac list of the 200 Best Books of the Decade.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Country
Israel
Original Language
Hebrew
Author
Publisher
Grove Press

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