pnina tel-dan

Paula Klein-Meisels, a woman in her early fifties, sits in a European café that seems to have been plucked from the Austro-Hungarian era of the last century. She dwells on her memories, which serve as a catalyst for unraveling her life into stories. In the middle of her life, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery. The scars of her childhood have influenced the course of her life - her choices, her married life, her relationships with her children, her career, and her human interactions.

A severe crisis brings her into contact with Mali Shalev, a young psychologist with a passion for literature. The fascinating relationship they develop affects both their lives. Paula communicates with Mali through stories about her experiences and her complex relationship with her husband. Has her love for Rubi, which has turned into a destructive relationship over the years, exhausted itself? Will Paula manage to extricate herself from the major crisis she has fallen into? Will the mental tours in the time machine of her memories solve the shocking mystery about her origins?

The author, in her rich and sensitive language bordering on poetry, and with rare courage, addresses essential and universal issues of loneliness, crises in love relationships, and human interactions. The author doesn’t go easy on her characters, and in poetic language full of imagery and splendor, she presents, carefully and lovingly, their finest hours alongside their distresses and the gaps in their character and behavior.