Fate

      

By Zeruya Shalev

The latest from the winner of the Jan Michalski Prize, Corine International Book Prize, the Welt Literature Award, and the Prix Femina étranger, Zeruya Shalev, one of Israel’s most distinguished contemporary authors whose works have been translated into over twenty languages. FATE: A Novel (Other Press Trade Paperback Original; On Sale 9/29/26) offers a deeply psychological and emotional portrayal of a woman’s intense struggle to reconcile identity, desire, and betrayal. Shalev was seriously injured in an attack in Jerusalem in 2004, an experience that has shaped all of her work that's followed, including her novels Love Life, Husband and Wife, The Remains of Love, Pain and Thera. That examination continues with FATE, where the paths of two women from different generations cross in a nuanced novel exploring the early days of Israel and its uncertain future. Here, each character is confronted with questions of fate, control, responsibility, faith, disappointment, and love. Following the death of her father, Atara attempts to retrace the footsteps of the wife of his youth, who fought beside him in the underground prior to the founding of the State of Israel. Their encounter upends her life and the life of her family, sparking an uncontrollable cascade of dramatic events. As the past is brought to light, it illuminates but also casts a pall on the present and the future. Shalev transforms Atara's existential quest into an allegory of Israeli society, highlighting the divisions within the country, and the rifts that fracture its families and inhabitants. I hope to stay in touch with you about possibilities for this unflinching narrative of grief, family and marriage sure to resonate with enthusiasts of Hila Blum and Maya Arad. **Please be in touch with Other Press Associate Publicist Annie Rinaldi, arinaldi@otherpress.com, if you would like to set up an interview, have plans for review or feature coverage or would like to see a physical or PDF copy** About the Author: Zeruya Shalev was born at Kibbutz Kinneret. She is the author of five previous novels, The Remains of Love, Love Life, Husband and Wife, Thera, and Pain (Other Press, 2019) and a book of poetry and two children’s books. Her work has been translated into twenty-seven languages and won multiple awards, including the Corine International Book Prize, the Welt Literature Award, and the Prix Femina étranger. About the Translator: Joanna Chen is a writer and literary translator from Hebrew to English whose translations include Agi Mishol’s Less Like a Dove, Yonatan Berg’s Frayed Light (finalist for the National Jewish Book Awards), and Meir Shalev’s My Wild Garden. Her own poetry and writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books Blog, Mantis, Poet Lore, Consequence, and Narratively. She teaches literary translation at the Helicon School of Poetry in Tel Aviv.