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Winner of the 2016 Adei-Wizo prize for Jewish literature

One Night, Markovitch

On the eve of World War II, a group of young men set out from pre-state Israel to Europe. Across the sea, a group of Jewish girls whom they have never met await them. The aim: fictitious marriages with which the girls will be able to escape Europe and reach the Jewish homeland, then under British rule. Two of the young men are close friends, but very different from one another. Ze’ev Feinberg, a daring fellow, tall and muscular, sports a mustache and is used to having women fall at his feet. The other, Ya’akov Markovitch, is a nondescript, drab guy without charisma; no woman has ever taken a second look at him. Nevertheless, it is Markovitch who is allotted the prettiest woman, Bella Zeigerman. He falls head over heels in love with her, and when they reach Israel he refuses to give her a divorce. He suffers humiliation, threats, even beatings, his friend abandons him, but he persists in the hope that Bella will love him some day. But it is not to be.

Bella struggles for her freedom against the backdrop of war in Europe and Israel’s War of Independence, with the plot going to and fro between the little individuals and the great events around them, which have a mythic quality to them.

Gundar-Goshen’s colorful debut novel relates the Zionist narrative in a fresh and humorous way. Storied leaders make love to women whose skin has the scent of oranges; brave officers conquer fortresses with the help of cripples, drunkards and gamblers, and Ya’akov Markovitch wanders around among them, driven by his passion and stubbornly holding on to the beautiful Bella.

 

Languages
Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Turkish
Title One Night, Markovitch
Writer's Last Name Gundar-Goshen
Writer's First Name Ayelet
Genre Fiction
Publisher (Hebrew) Kinneret, Zmora-Bitan
No. Pages 302pp.
Book title - Hebrew (phonetic) Layla Echad, Markovitch
  • “[Written with] surreal inspiring originality… Incisive writing style, marked by polite humour, accompanies the protagonists who are uncommon but absolutely captivating in both their strength and fragility.”

    Adei-Wizo Prize Jury Citation
  • “A dramatic fable set against the backdrop of the creation of Israel, without Manicheism… “One Night, Markovitch” dances to its own tune. A small village under a magnifying glass, the banter of certain characters, the intoxicating fragrance of oranges and the narrator’s humor. ”

    Libération
  • “ Incredibly sad and incredibly funny at the same time.”

    Neue Zürcher Zeitung
  • “Utterly delightful … passionate, funny and very moving”

    The Times
  • “A lush debut … both moving and satisfying”