Emuna Elon

“Elon powerfully evokes the obscurity of the past and its hold on the present, as we stumble through revelation after revelation with Yoel. As we accompany him on his journey...we share in his loss, surprise and grief, right up to the novel’s shocking conclusion.” —The New York Times Book Review “Emuna Elon’s powerful House on Endless Waters is essential Jewish fiction…a deeply immersive achievement that brings to life stories that must never be forgotten.” —USA TODAY “A story of love, loss, and yearning. Lyrically phrased and often powerfully visual…this deeply felt tale offers a rewarding meditation on survival.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) In the tradition of The Invisible Bridge and The History of Love, comes an exquisitely moving novel about a writer who discovers the truth about his mother’s wartime years in Amsterdam, unearthing a shocking family secret that becomes the subject of his magnum opus. At the behest of his agent, renowned author Yoel Blum reluctantly agrees to visit his birthplace of Amsterdam to promote his books, despite promising his late mother that he would never return to that city. While touring the Jewish Historical Museum with his wife, Yoel stumbles upon footage portraying prewar Dutch Jewry and is astonished to see the youthful face of his beloved mother staring back at him, posing with his father, his older sister…and an infant he doesn’t recognize. This unsettling discovery launches him into a fervent search for the truth, shining a light on Amsterdam’s dark wartime history—the underground networks that hid Jewish children away from danger and those who betrayed their own for the sake of survival. The deeper into the past Yoel digs to tell the story of his life, the better he understands his mother’s silence, and the more urgent the question that has unconsciously haunted him for a lifetime—Who am I?—becomes. Part family mystery, part wartime drama, House on Endless Waters is an unforgettable meditation on identity, belonging, and the inextricable nature of past and present.

A Novel

House on Endless Waters

La casa sull'acqua

A lyrical and exquisitely moving novel about a writer who embarks on a transformative journey in Amsterdam, where he discovers the shocking truth about his mother's wartime experience.

The House on Endless Waters

'I read this book in excitement and wonder. It's not only a touching and fascinating book, but a sophisticated one as well.' Amos Oz Linda Yechiel's English translation is the winner of the 2023 Society of Authors' TLS-Risa Domb/Porjes Prize for Hebrew Translation Yoel has always known that his mother escaped the Nazis from Amsterdam. But it is not until after she has died that he finally visits the city of his birth. There, watching an old film clip at the Jewish Historical Museum, he sees a woman with a small child: it is his mother, but the child is not him. So begins a fervent search for the truth that becomes the subject of his magnum opus, revealing Amsterdam's dark wartime history and the underground networks which hid Jewish children away from danger - but at a cost. '[A] jewel box of a novel' - New York Times

If You Awaken Love

In ‘Sonja’s zoon’ van Emuna Elon ziet Joël Blum tijdens een bezoek aan het Joods Historisch Museum in Amsterdam toevallig op archiefbeelden van de Tweede Wereldoorlog zijn moeder – met een blond jongetje op de arm. Eindeloos vaak bekijkt hij de beelden en één ding staat vast: dat jongetje is hij niet. Die ontdekking brengt zijn leven aan het schuiven en Joël móét terug naar Amsterdam om zijn identiteit, het raadsel van het verdwenen jongetje, en het verleden van zijn moeder te vinden. Joëls rusteloze zoektocht brengt hem heel dicht bij zijn moeders leven tijdens de oorlog en het dramatische moment dat ze op het perron, terwijl de trein naar Palestina al bijna rijdt, op het allerlaatste moment een andere baby in haar armen gedrukt krijgt. Elon slaagt er uitstekend in Joëls toenemende beklemming op de lezer over te brengen naarmate hij meer te weten komt over het leven van zijn moeder als ‘gewone’ joodse Hollandse vrouw die langzaam maar zeker wordt geweerd uit het openbare leven, waar ze haar hele leven deel van uitmaakte.

Sonja's zoon

After Yair Berman left her and shattered all her dreams, the devastated Shlomtzion Drore escaped as far as possible from him and her intensely religious life in Jerusalem, becoming an interior designer in secular Tel-Aviv. Twenty-one years later, her daughter has become engaged to his son, and Shlomtzion is forced to visit the controversial settlement in which Yair lives, not only to plan the wedding but to confront her former love and the mistakes of her life. Set in Israel between the Six Day War and the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, If You Awaken Love is the intensely moving story of a stormy and spiritual young girl and her love-hate relationships with her childhood sweetheart, with her father, and with God. Translated by David Hazony.

Katherine Werchowski

Yoel Blum, célèbre auteur israélien, se rend à Amsterdam, sa ville natale, pour assurer la promotion de son nouveau roman, et ce en dépit de la promesse qu'il avait faite à sa mère de ne jamais y retourner. En visite au Musée historique juif, il voit un film d'archives où apparaît sa mère tenant un bébé qu'il ne reconnaît pas. Qui peut bien être cet enfant et pourquoi sa mère, aujourd'hui morte, ne lui en a-t-elle jamais parlé ? Premier roman traduit en français d'Emuna Elon, écrivaine reconnue et primée en Israël, Une maison sur l'eau remonte le cours du passé et confronte le lecteur aux heures sombres d'Amsterdam, au fil d'un poignant voyage dans le temps et la mémoire. Une réflexion inoubliable sur l'identité et les origines. « Une histoire d'amour, de perte et de désir. Ce conte passionné et passionnant est une réflexion sur la survie. » Kirkus Review Traduit de l'hébreu par Katherine Werchowski

Emuna Elon

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