The Lover

A Novel

By: Bee Sacks

Narrated by: Gabi Epstein, Eric Altheide

“Sacks is an extraordinarily gifted writer.”—Washington Post

Unfolding during an invasion of Gaza, The Lover tells the story of an affair between a young Israeli soldier and a Canadian woman. The emotional realities of ideology and war begin to change the lovers, who undergo a parallel radicalization and deradicalization. This book is for anyone seeking a deeply embodied and empathetic account of the politics of love in Israel-Palestine

The story of Allison and Eyal unfolds primarily in Tel Aviv where Allie, a thoughtful and intelligent academic searching for a sense of where she belongs in the world, falls deeply and unexpectedly in love with a young Israeli doing his military service. Their love story is sensual, filled with pleasure, longing, fear, moments of deep connection, failures of communication, and ultimately, a quiet and devastating betrayal. Their romance has a rhythm private and unique to them: when he is away on military missions, they write love letters; when he returns home for weekends, they are entwined and inseparable.

Allie is embraced by Eyal’s family, and their acceptance is very important to her. But when Eyal returns home from an invasion of Gaza, to which he has a surprising emotional response, Allie has changed so radically that her betrayal of her lover feels both shocking and tragic.

The Lover is a provocative, immersive, gorgeously written love story reminiscent of Marguerite Duras’ classic novel. Both books portray a seductive love affair in a colonial setting, atmospheric and rich with foreign detail, that raises unsettling questions about inequality, conflict, intensity, war, and danger. At once beautiful and disturbing, propulsive and poignant, The Lover will entrance readers and hold them spellbound.

A sensitive subject approached well

It seems impossible in today’s world to approach the Israeli Palestinian conflict in a way that could satisfy people who hold differing views. I’m very impressed by Sacks’ portrayal of the internal conflict produced by the topic, the all too relatable ways we fall short of our own empathy. All this while showing a beautiful first love story that captures all the magic of those first experiences.

The readers were a bit slow and deliberate so speeding them up helped.