Louisa

The Story

This award-winning novel takes readers to postwar Israel, introducing them to a mother and daughter-in-law with an unusual relationship and offering a unique perspective on Jewish identity and experience. 'A grand, brave, open-hearted novel...honest, intelligent, and highly entertaining.' (The Boston Globe) 'Reworking the biblical story of Ruth and Naomi, with perhaps a nod to Neil Simon's 'Odd Couple,' the book explores the complex relationship between the narrator, an abrasive, 50-year-old Jewish survivor from Budapest named Nora Gratz...and her widowed daughter-in-law, 22-year-old Louisa. The punch line: Louisa is a German Christian...she has accompanied Nora to Israel, haven of Holocaust survivors, where an Aryan immigrant can hardly expect a welcome...A wonderfully bittersweet work that broods on loss even as it affirms human resilience, connection, and a faith in providence.' (The New York Times Book Review) 'Superb...an important contribution to the literature of Holocaust and Exodus.' (Kirkus Reviews [starred review]) 'Haunting...a provocative depiction of the enduring mysteries of human relationships.' (Publishers Weekly [starred review])