Praise for Snapshots:
"This brave and complex work must be read by everyone still lured by the hope of peace."David Shapiro
Praise for The Name:
"Govrin interweaves past and present in a shifting voice that moves with daunting ease between first and third person."Kirkus Reviews
In this portrait of the artist as a young woman, Michal Govrin, one of Israel's most important contemporary writers, offers a kaleidoscope of stories and essays. Populated by mysterious and real people, each tale is in some way a search for meaning in a post-Holocaust world. Reminiscent of W.G. Sebald, characters irrationally and humanely find reason for hope in a world that offers little. Essays describe Govrin's visits to Poland as a young adult, where her mother had survived a death camp. Govrin journeys there after she learns that her mother had not been alone. She lost her first husband and eight-year-old son, Govrin's half brother, and kept it a secret from her second family for many years. In a multiplicity of voices, Govrin's haunting stories capture the depths of denial and the exuberance of youth.
Michal Govrin is the author of eight books of fiction and poetry. Her novel The Name won the Kugel Literary Prize in Israel; her second novel Snapshots was awarded the 2003 Acum Prize for the best literary achievement of the year. Govrin has been selected by the Salon du Livre as one of the most influential writers of the past thirty years.
