All the Rivers: A Novel

ISBN: 0375508295

Author: Rabinyan, Dorit

Condition: New

A controversial, award-winning story about the passionate but untenable affair between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man, from one of Israels most acclaimed novelistsWhen Liat meets Hilmi on a blustery autumn afternoon in Greenwich Village, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Charismatic and handsome, Hilmi is a talented young artist from Palestine. Liat, an aspiring translation student, plans to return to Israel the following summer. Despite knowing that their love can be only temporary, that it can exist only away from their conflicted homeland, Liat lets herself be enraptured by Hilmi: by his lively imagination, by his beautiful hands and wise eyes, by his sweetness and devotion.Together they explore the city, sharing laughs and fantasies and pangs of homesickness. But the unfettered joy they awaken in each other cannot overcome the guilt Liat feels for hiding him from her family in Israel and her Jewish friends in New York. As her departure date looms and her love for Hilmi deepens, Liat must decide whether she is willing to risk alienating her family, her community, and her sense of self for the love of one man.Banned from classrooms by Israels Ministry of Education, Dorit Rabinyans remarkable novel contains multitudes. A bold portrayal of the strains-and delights-of a forbidden relationship, All the Rivers (publishedin Israel as Borderlife) is a love story and a war story, a New York story and a Middle East story, an unflinching foray into the forces that bind us and divide us. The land is the same land, Hilmi reminds Liat. In the end all the rivers flow into the same sea.Praise for All the RiversRabinyans book is a sort of Romeo and Juliet, a forbidden love affair between a Jewish girl from Tel Aviv and a Palestinian boy from Hebron. . . . [A] beautiful novel.-The GuardianA fine, subtle, and disturbing study of the ways in which public events encroach upon the private lives of those who attempt to live and love in peace with each other, and, impossibly, with a riven and irreconcilable world.-John Banville, Man Booker Prize-winning author of The SeaIm with Dorit Rabinyan. Love, not hate, will save us. Hatred sows hatred, but love can break down barriers.-Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the Nobel Prize for LiteratureAstonishing . . . [a] precise and elegant love story, drawn with the finest of lines.-Amos OzRabinyans writing reflects the honesty and modesty of a true artisan.-HaaretzBecause the novel strikes the right balance between the personal and the political, and because of her ability to tell a suspenseful and satisfying story, we decided to award Dorit Rabinyans [All the Rivers] the 2015 Bernstein Prize.-From the 2015 Bernstein Prize judges decision[All the Rivers] ought to be read like J. M. Coetzee or Toni Morrison-from a distance in order to get close.-Walla!Beautiful and sensitive . . . a human tale of rapprochement and separation . . . a noteworthy human and literary achievement.-Makor RishonA captivating (and heartbreaking) gem, written in a spectacular style, with a rich, flowing, colorful and addictive language.-MotkeA great novel of love and peace.-La StampaA novel that truly speaks to the heart.-Corriere della Sera