Nava’s life is in ruins after she loses her husband and their little
boy in an accident. Age 39, she rejects life, moves into a seniors’ living
facility among people twice her age, gives up her job as an interior designer
and becomes a cashier in a supermarket. But reality knocks on her door and
transforms her choices: No matter how hard she tries to close out the world, people
are drawn to her and she seems to have a magical effect on their lives. Men are
attracted and arouse her desires, a conflicted colleague relies on her, her
neighbors in the old folks’ home want to be close to her, children love to be
with her, and her carpenter brother Hanan, who is happy in his marriage and work,
strives to get her back into the cycle of life.
The Carpenter’s Sister is a gripping, female version of the biblical
Book of Job, modern, daring and clever. Here too fate behaves in an arbitrary
manner, but powerful forces rise up against it--forces of kindness and
friendship, of vitality and love. And Mira Magen orchestrates them with superb
skill.
PARTIAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION AVAILABLE (for publishers only).
The book is interesting,
flowing, rich in imagery and well made.
Hadar Azran, Arutz Sheva
Magen knows how to produce flesh and blood characters …
It is actually when she leaves the erotic sphere and moves into the family
sphere that Magen creates a lovely picture, dripping with life, complicated and
happy despite the many difficulties … To this book's credit, let it be said
that it does not have a didactic ending, but rather it leaves many loose ends …
It is a bestseller mainly for one reason: The statement that it makes
throughout is that even in a life where there is a great deal of anguish and
suffering, there is joy … There are only a few writers who can serve up a dish
like this by narrative means, without preaching, and Magen does it nicely.
Alit Karp, Haaretz
A pleasure! I enjoyed every moment! Beautiful language,
and a story that is so moving … touching, sad and hard, so full of pain and
emotion, but also of hope. Warmly recommended!
Saloona
I finished it all choked
up and with tears streaming down my cheeks. I couldn’t stop reading … Mira
Magen is capable of describing the simplest
of life’s situations with great accuracy and with the height of delicacy. The
authenticity with which she describes relationships is affecting. In my eyes,
she is the master! An artist with words … The plot is hair-raising, and emotion
is conveyed here with immense power and
touches the strings of the soul … Recommended.
Dana Glikman Dotan, Wordpress