When her archeologist father died, Loya Kaplan left Israel seemingly for good, severing all ties to her past. She returns now to a country that has become alien to her, and the house where she was raised, filled with relics of her past and her family.
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When her archeologist father died, Loya Kaplan cut all ties and left Israel (apparently) for good. Twenty-five years later, sleepwalking through life, Loya is summoned back to Israel following the death of Davidi, her father's friend (or rival, or lover, or nemesis). Returning to a homeland become alien, and to a house filled with relics of herself, her family, and even ancient history, Loya's story tears istelf apart: the life she once led in an improvised neighborhood, filled with concentration-camp refugees and secrets, must collide with the antiseptic, well-fed present day.
Gabriela Avigur-Rotem was born in Buenos Aires in 1946 and moved to Israel four years later. She's taught high school literature classes and university writing workshops, and is currently an editor at Haifa University Publishing house. Avigur-Rotem is also a two-time recipient of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Prize (1992 and 2001); Heatwave and Crazy Birds won a number of awards, including the Keshet Publishers’ Gold and Platinum Book Prizes and the Goldberg Prize.