The remains of love - Tseruyah Shalev

Hemda Horovitz is nearing the end of her life. As she lies in bed in
Jerusalem, the present flickers in and out as memories from the past
flood her thoughts: her childhood in the kibbutz spent under the
disappointed gaze of her stern, pioneer father; the lake that was her
only solace; and her own two children, one whom she could never love and
the other whom she loved too much.Avner, the beloved child, has
grown up to be a heavy, anguished man, disillusioned by his work and
trapped in a loveless marriage. When visiting his mother in hospital he
witnesses an elegant couple's final poignant moments together; after the
man's death Avner becomes obsessed with finding the woman, and a
strange and delicate relationship unfolds.Dina, Hemda's
daughter, has put aside her career in order to give her teenage
daughter, Nitzan, the warmth she never received from her own mother. But
Nitzan is withdrawing from her, and as Dina slides into despair she is
overcome by a longing to adopt a child - a longing that, if fulfilled,
may destroy her fragile family.Zeruya Shalev's electrifying new
novel is at once a meditation on the state of modern Israel and a
profound exploration of family, yearning, compromise and the insistent
pull of the past.