In the heart of the Jezreel
Valley, in northern Israel, where pioneers once dreamed of building a model
society, stands a dusty plant for plastic compounds. As raw materials are mixed
and melted by the hot, steaming machines, the lives of the workers are stirred
and agitated, as well. There is Dafna, an ambitious young manager who has
quit an academic career in order to give her life, and the plant, a boost;
Nurit, an introspective engineer, who tries to defy family’s expectations and
is having a secret affair; Yaeli, a receptionist who finds, to her surprise,
that she can fulfill herself through her work; and Shadi, a machine operator
from an Arab village, torn between the traditional world of his birth and the
temptations of modern life, who becomes the victim of Israeli reality. All try
to reach beyond their destined identities, and all pay a price.
Passions and power
struggles unfold and reveal, as the plant is the “other” face of Israel;
outlying towns with immigrants from Russia and Ethiopia, Arabs, women at
masculine jobs - through them, the novel examines Israeli society with its
tensions, its values and flaws. And all the while, in the background, terror
attacks take place, a war in Lebanon burst out, and the political situation
with its perils becomes entangled with the conflicts at the plant.
Valleyplast
uncovers an intriguing new literary voice. With great narrative skill
and emotional precision, Dorit Kellner opens a window onto a world that has
never before been explored in Israeli literature.
PARTIAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION AVAILABLE (for publishers only).
Valleyplast is a mature and surprising first
book … An engrossing novel. The plastics manufacturing processes are
interesting and make for an enjoyable read. First of all, because the book is
wonderfully written. If there was something I found familiar, it was a
similarity to the style of Yehoshua Kenaz: The rare tone of precision, the
condensation, the broad canvas of a reality interwoven with social,
psychological and metaphysical problems, all done with a naturalness devoid of
pretension.
Haaretz
A good novel … The novel moves ahead at a measured pace
in sync with all of its aspects, and with an impressive attention to detail …
All of the ideological themes are presented delicately and do not drown out the
novel’s fundamental and most important obligation: to present human beings in
the most complete manner that can be achieved in a given environment, which is
also presented in the most complete manner possible, so that Valleyplast
gives its readers a feeling of an encounter with literary professionalism
Yedioth Ahronoth
Dorit Kellner … writes in a clear and effective way, in
language that doesn’t show off or impede the flow … A courageous act on Dorit
Kelnner’s part … Kellner masters the language well and almost never descends
into the use of clichés … It is to be hoped Kellner will write another
book.
Mako
One of the most impressive first books of recent times …
Kellner shows herself to be a surprisingly mature writer with a mastery of the
language … Valleyplast’s achievement is it insistence from start to
finish on placing minorities to the fore – Arabs, women in general and women in
senior positions in particular … She does so in a credible and convincing way.
Nevertheless, Valleyplast is not only an “important” novel, so to speak,
but first and foremost a three-dimensional, interesting story.
Israel Hayom
The novel is in touch with reality and all of its
subtleties, so that its persuasive power is great. The scenery, the situations,
the characters and the emotional processes are depicted in meticulous
completeness … The beginnings of the chapters even resonate somehow with The
Periodic Table by Primo Levi, the chemist who ascribed human significance
to the properties of matter … Its clean precision and the insights it evokes
give the novel its particular value.
Maariv
It is wonderful, it is magnificent, it is read in one
breath.
Kol Israel 2
This is an Israeli novel
told in many voices, well written, readable and full of warmth… The voice of
the female characters is particularly strong, and Dorit gives them expansive
space.
E-mago