Neuland

Description

A bold, ambitious and beautifully romantic novel - a search for a father, for love, and for identity Dori's father has gone travelling in South America and, suffering from some kind of breakdown, following the death of his wife, he goes missing. Dori sets out to find him, leaving his wife and young son at home in Israel. Inbar is escaping from her life - from the grief that she can't shake after her brother's death, from the boyfriend she doesn't love - and impulsively sets out for South America. While she's there she meets a man who is searching for his father. In his most ambitious novel to date, Eshkol Nevo weaves a beautiful love story with two tales- the story of the wandering Jews who came to their Promised Land in the wake of the Second World War, embodied by Inbar's grandmother Lily's narrative of her sea journey over from Poland, and the story of a new generation of wandering Israelis who leave again to go backpacking, perhaps hoping that the distance will allow them to see their homeland more clearly. Neuland is a romantic adventure, a search for a father that leads to love, and a quest for an understanding of identity and for second chances. Is it ever possible to start again? Nevo has produced a daring, epic novel that asks profound questions, but the truth and warmth of his writing make it all-consuming and irresistibly loveable.

Eshkol Nevo was born in Jerusalem in 1971. He studied psychology at Tel Aviv University and then worked as a copywriter for eight years. Today he teaches creative writing at a number of academic institutions. Nevo has published a collection of stories, a work of non-fiction and two novels. His first novel, Homesick, was awarded the Israeli Book Publishers Association's Golden Book Prize (2005) and the FFI-Raymond Wallier Prize at the Salon du Livre (Paris, 2008); his most recent novel is World Cup Wishes (2012). Eshkol is an Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation chosen artist - one of Israel's highest recognitions for excellence in the arts.

Eshkol Nevo writes beautifully, funnily and wisely about men and women... Friendship, envy, love, misery, endurance - he captures the lot * RODDY DOYLE * Tender and insightful. Eshkol Nevo is a delightful writer * FRANCESCA SEGAL * A fascinating novel, a combination of Utopia and dystopia - but above all, it is a moving story about one family, about love and loss and loneliness * AMOS OZ * Studded with wrenching emotions and original ideas... Neuland does what a novel can: it helps to clear the roadblocks in the mind -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent * An immensely powerful exploration of love, grief, 'what ifs?' and the forces that bind and break families and nations -- Ben Felsenburg * Metro *