One Night, Markovitch

Ayelet Gundar-Goshen

Switching between unrequited love and loathing; hope and despair, this is an exuberant portrayal of the comedy of human experience, encapsulating both life’s small domestic detail as well as the broader sweep of Jewish history. This is moving, funny, thought-provoking story-telling that reminds us that the miraculous is only a step away from the mundane.

Extract

Did you ever have to wait for something to happen to you? No. People like you don’t have to wait. Things come to people like you. How to walk. How to speak. How to laugh. But people like me have to wait for something to happen to them. And when it finally does, it ends right away. Bam! Here’s the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen. Bam! She’s married to you. Bam! She’s not! Bam! I need that beauty beside me, Feinberg. I need that beauty beside me because heaven doesn’t send you something like that twice.

Parallels

The Remains of Love by Zeruya Shalev
The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck
Nora Webster by Colm Toibin

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Explicit sexual content

Our suggestions if you enjoyed Love Marriage by Monica Ali

Super Host

Kate Russo

Marriage Material

Sathnam Sanghera

Seating Arrangements