Victor and Masha

Victor and Masha, a brother and sister, live with their grandmother Katerina in an immigrant neighborhood near Haifa. The two came to Israel from the Soviet Union with their parents, only to be orphaned in a road accident two years later. After stints at a boarding school, then on a kibbutz, they are finally taken in by their grandmother when she too comes to Israel. It is 1977, and the Labor Party, which has ruled Israel since it was first established, is about to lose its power to the right wing, headed by Menachem Begin. Sixteen-year-old Victor, and Masha, age seventeen, are trying to find their place in a divided, destabilized Israeli society, made up of new immigrants from Eastern Europe, slightly more veteran immigrants from Middle Eastern countries, and veteran Israelis with clear identities and ideals who are gradually losing their dominant position. Kimhi has written a penetrating, critical novel about immigrant life, that brilliantly analyses Israeli society. But it is also the personal story of Victor and Masha, who have an almost symbiotic relationship. Masha, the stronger of the two, is a rebellious, blunt young woman with a strong sense of identity, who guards her independence and rejects any attempt to approach her. Victor is gentle and delicate, eager to integrate and be liked. The closer his friendship—and then love—for his classmate Nimrod, a proud sabra, the weaker his ties with his sister become. But Masha refuses to give up her hold on her brother. Whether it is from a selfishness that interferes with Victor’s happiness or a desire to protect him from inevitable disappointment—either way, she struggles to bring him back to her and restore him to his roots.