Review of 'Songs for the Brokenhearted' by Ayelet Tsabari

If there’s a soundtrack to Songs for the Brokenhearted by Ayelet Tsabari (Random House, September 10, 2024), it probably sounds very much like Ofra Haza's ‘Yemenite Songs’ album. Like the album, this outstanding novel is a stage for Yemenite women sharing the traditional, sinuous tunes of a culture where singing is a day-to-day activity.

“You know how it is with Yemeni people. Singing is in our blood,” says one of the characters in the book. “We sing when we clean, we sing when we cook. We sing when we’re happy. We sing when we’re sad. In celebrations. Even in death.”

It is a death that brings Zohara, a 31-year-old PhD candidate, back to Israel. Zohara’s mother, Saida, has died. The two hadn’t always gotten along. ‘Only after I moved to New York had we reached a quiet, dignified truce,’ Zohara tells herself. ‘I finally made it home again. and she wasn’t here.’

Along with her sister Lizzie, Zohara sets out to purchase a gravestone and pack up their mother’s home in the Sha’ariya Yemini neighborhood of Petach Tikva. At the grocery store down the street, Zohara meets Nir, with whom she went to elementary school. Nir’s mother, Yael, introduces her to the sisterhood of women who gather at the community center to sing. As women traditionally play secondary roles in Yemeni households, Zohara ‘started thinking of the women’s songs, that insistence to be heard, as subversive, audacious, feminist even. I liked the idea of the women using their creative expression as a form of protest.’

When she discovers a set of old cassette tapes, the music 'brings Zohara closer to her mother, to understand her more after she died than she did when she was alive.' ‘It made me see my mother in a whole new light.’ Zohara is shocked to learn that her mother not only sang but was also a talented poetess. A woman capable of writing explicit lyrics.

‘If I were grapes strung on a vine, I’d squeeze the flesh of my fruit and pour juice into your mouth’.

At its heart of Songs for the Brokenhearted is a love story. It is the tale of Saida and Yaqub, who first met in an immigrant camp in 1950, shortly after their arrival in Israel. “My heart is full of rain. If it bursts, it might flood the whole time,” Saida sings, and the young girl's beautiful voice captivates Yaqub. “Singing is the one thing that keeps me sane in this place,” she tells him. “I miss the way we sang in Yemen, all the women together.”

Zohara’s discovery of her mother’s musical talents makes her reconsider the subject of her dissertation. She also reexamines her connection with Iggy, a former lover and her current best friend. Or maybe her friendship with Nir can advance to the next level, she wonders.

Tsabari, author of the award-winning The Best Place on Earth short story collection, populates her pages with true to life characters. Zohara’s nephew, Yoni, struggles to find meaning during the politically charged weeks leading up to November 1995. Lizzie’s frustrations with her sister are easily understood, and readers will readily connect with Zohara, as she is drawn closer to her mother and learns more about herself in the process.

You can almost hear Saida singing her original lyrics to traditional Yemenite songs as you read this moving, highly recommended novel.

Ayelet Tsabari’s debut collection of short stories, The Best Place on Earth, won the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature and the Edward Lewis Wallant Award. Her memoir The Art of Leaving was a finalist for the Writer’s Trust Hilary Weston Prize, and the winner of the Canadian Jewish Literary Award for memoir. She’s the co-editor of the anthology Tongues: On Longing and Belonging Through Language and has taught creative writing at Guelph MFA in Creative Writing and The University of King’s College MFA.

 

Originally posted on The Times of Israel.

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Review of 'The Art of Leaving' by Ayelet Tsabari

Review of 'The Best Place on Earth' by Ayelet Tsabari

"Back From the War" - short story

One hundred days after the war began, Roni returned to the office for the first time. Much had changed since the beginning of October—there was a new office manager, the coffee machine had been replaced, and a fancy contraption dispensed freshly squeezed orange juice in the kitchen—but overall, things were just the same. The projects waiting for him were those he had dropped when unexpectedly he was called up for emergency reserve duty, and although his inbox was now bloated with unread emails, it was as if he had never left.

“Roni, welcome back!” Gideon exclaimed, slapping him on his shoulder—a shoulder that ached from having carried a weapon nearly twenty-four hours a day. Gideon sat at the desk across from Roni in the developers’ open space. “How are you doing, my brother?”

“I’m okay,” Roni said, swiveling his chair into position. He pushed aside the welcome-back gift basket, with its “Thank you for your service!” note, expensive bottle of wine, and imported chocolate, and adjusted his computer screen.

“No, really, how are you doing?”

How was he doing? How was anyone doing? He was lying when he said he was okay, but he didn’t want to say anything more. Not to Gideon, whom he rarely saw outside work hours. Not to his boss, Moishe, either, or any of his colleagues. He hadn’t spoken with his parents about what he went through, when he’d visited them the previous Shabbat, so why should he open up now?

Read the rest of the story on The Jewish Fiction Journal.

"My most very favourite was the short story 'Forgiveness'"

"My most very favourite was the short story 'Forgiveness'. This was because I found the character the grandfather for the age of 95 a remarkable man."

-          Bookread2day

The Story of Bulgarian Jewry I Was Compelled to Tell

March 1943. Bulgarian authorities prepare to deport 20,000 Jews from Bulgaria, expelling thousands from their homes in Sofia and sending them to the countryside. Held in detention camps, they fear they will meet the same fate as the 11,343 Jews from the Bulgarian-occupied territories of Thrace and Macedonia who were sent to their deaths in the Nazi concentration camps.

And yet, despite Bulgaria's being aligned with the Nazis, despite the yellow stars the Jews wore on their clothing and the loss of their businesses and homes, and despite their men being sent to forced labor camps, the entire Bulgarian Jewish community survived the war. Who saved Bulgaria’s Jews? Did Tsar Boris III, who had originally approved the deportation orders, have a last-minute change of heart? Or can the rescue of Bulgarian Jewry be credited to the brave politicians who confronted the antisemitic government, and along with renowned members of the clergy and ordinary citizens, called for the orders to be stopped?

This is a story that has fascinated me ever since I first learned of it while living in Sofia on a two-year relocation contract. My job in an online marketing company was temporarily positioned in the Bulgarian capital, and my wife and I made the most of our Bulgarian adventure.

Bulgaria is a beautiful country

Bulgaria is blessed with thick green forests, towering mountains, sandy and rocky seashores, and an abundance of fresh water. Bulgaria’s villages are picturesque, and the country’s culture and traditions are on colorful display everywhere you go. Bulgaria is a secular country, but one with a high regard for its religious heritage. Monasteries gladly welcome pilgrims and visitors. Today, incidents of antisemitism are rare.

One of the first places we visited was Sofia’s stunning synagogue, the third largest in Europe. Built to accommodate some 1,300 worshippers, the building's main chandelier is the largest in the country. We attended the synagogue’s 100th year anniversary celebrations, and I sat a few rows behind Bulgaria’s president at the impressive ceremony held in the central hall. We were guests at the community's Passover Seder, reading from a Haggadah that was written in both Hebrew and Bulgarian.

Most of Bulgaria’s Jewish community made Aliyah shortly after Israel’s independence and today the country’s Jewish population numbers only a few thousand, most of it assimilated. Bulgarian Jews in Israel look back fondly on their homeland, and I was blessed to having lived for a short time in their country.

My heart was still in Bulgaria

Back home in Israel, I could not stop thinking of my experiences. My heart was still in Bulgaria. I found I could return to the country every day in my writing. I began publishing travel reports, encouraging tourists to visit, and I turned to Bulgaria in my fiction as well, writing two suspense novels set in the country.

But there was one story I was compelled to tell, and that was the story of Bulgarian Jewry during World War Two. I am not a writer of historical fiction, yet I eagerly dived into my research. I interviewed journalists and historians; I surveyed friends and acquaintances. I sat for hours in the library at Yad Vashem, and read the testimonies of Jews who had lived in Bulgaria during those years. I wondered how could I accurately relate the historical incidents of this incredible story.

The result of my research is my short story, ‘Forgiveness’. In the story, an Israeli man is invited to a small village in the Rhodope Mountains to meet an elderly man, a veteran of the Bulgarian army during the war. The Israeli learns that his grandfather and this Bulgarian were once best friends. While the grandfather was sent to the Bulgarian labor camps with the threat of deportation and death hanging over his family’s heads, the Bulgarian served in the occupied territories, playing a role in the expulsion of Jews from their homes and their transportation to the death camps.

Two sides to what happened, presented in fiction. Feedback has been positive, although there were those who pointed out inaccuracies in my writing. A train leaving Macedonia could not possibly have made its way through Sofia. A fire in a detention camp could not have been ignited by partisans. But more importantly, I hadn’t emphasized the special relation Bulgaria had with its Jewish citizens.

There is something unique in Bulgaria, a country in which Jews have lived and felt welcome for centuries. I learned all this and more during my brief stay in Sofia. I hope I have done justice to Bulgaria for rescuing its Jews. And, that I have paid respect to the Jews of Thrace and Macedonia who didn’t survive.

The story 'Forgiveness' is included in my new book, Rakiya – Stories of Bulgaria. The book's twelve short stories are told in the voices of both native Bulgarians and foreigners, visiting Bulgaria for the first time. In the book I hope to share the country's history, culture, traditions and natural wonders, and of course, the remarkable story of how Bulgarian Jewry survived the Holocaust. It’s a story that I needed to tell.

Originally posted on The Times of Israel.

"I was captivated and intrigued where the next story may take me"

"This is a razor sharp and powerful short story collecting. Weaving real historical events, with the author's adoration for the country, this is a wonderful collection and tribute to Bulgaria."

- Goodreads review

"To Venice" - short story

I meet her on the vaporetto.

“First time in Venice?” she asks.

“Yes. I’m scouting out locations for a new film,” I reply, but then immediately regret revealing too much information. I stand near the rail, glancing at the warehouses on the waterfront as our water bus speeds toward its docking at St. Mark’s Square. I turn back to her. “What about you?”

“I’ve been here several times before,” she says. “But I keep returning.”

“I detect a British accent.”

“London.” She covers her mouth and coughs, and then says, “Born and raised there. And you? American, no doubt.”

“New York. Born and raised there.”

This makes her laugh. For the first time, I take a good look at her. Fortyish, I assume, perhaps a few years younger than me. Tall, slim, with a very pleasant face and brownish hair held tight in a youthful ponytail. Casual slacks and blouse, slightly more elegant than my own blue jeans and T-shirt emblazoned with ‘Italy’ on a tricolor flag. No wedding ring noticeable, which makes me subconsciously cover mine. Then, realizing I’m staring, I turn away, glancing at the other passengers on the morning boat ride.

Read the rest of the story on Libre.

"Many of these stories are emotional and heartfelt"

"I had never heard of Rakiya before, but I became quickly acquainted with the knowledge that it’s a type of alcohol, or fruit spirits. Rakiya is consistently present in this short story collection. It is either the main focus of the story, as in the story titled, Rakiya, or briefly mentioned as a modest character. This book contains an impressive 12 short stories.

"I am grateful for the opportunity to read and review Rakiya. Ellis Shuman is a talented storyteller who eloquently brought Bulgaria and its characters to life. Many of these stories are emotional and heartfelt. I appreciate learning about this beautiful country and its history. "

Read the full review on A Book and A Dog

"Enjoyed my introduction to Bulgaria and can highly recommend"

"I have never visited Bulgaria and I was intrigued when I read another review for this collection by the promise of great characters, historical elements and wonderful writing.

"My expectations were met as I read the stories covering not just the history and culture of Bulgaria and its countrymen and women, but how strong and resilient they have had to be across their long and sometimes turbulent history."

Read the full review on Smorgasbord Book Reviews