Four Mothers

The Story

Shifra Horn's beautifully imagined novel tells the story of five generations of women in one family against the background of 100 years in Jerusalem.The story begins with the birth of the family's first boy to Amal, the last generation. Her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother are overjoyed, because the birth of a healthy boy means that the curse against the family's women has been broken: There is no daughter to inherit it. Come, listen, they say to Amal, listen to the story of the curse that foretold of every father's disappearance. Be comforted by your 'foremothers':Mazal, the orphan, whose ill-fated marriage initiates the curse; her daughter Sara, whose beautiful golden hair becomes a symbol for her power to heal; Sara's daughter Pnina-Mazal, the unwanted child whose talent for knowing others' thoughts brings both joy and sorrow; and her daughter Geula, Amal's mother, whose sharp intellect and idealism are her gift and her burden. Epic in scope, mysterious, rich in the magical realism of fable and the folklore of legend, Four Mothers is a masterpiece.AUTHORBIO: Shifra Horn was born in Tel Aviv, was raised and still lives in Jerusalem.She has lived in Japan, worked as a newspaper correspondent, lectures extensively, and currently manages her own public relations firm.Four Mothers, her first novel, was awarded several literary prizes in Israel and has been translated into five languages.Her second, The Fairest Among Women, will be published in the U.S. in 2001.