A Wall of Light

Edeet Ravel was born on a Marxist kibbutz in Israel near the Lebanese border and lived there until she was seven, when her parents returned to their hometown of Montreal. Ravel returned to Israel at the age of eighteen to do a B.A. and M.A. in English literature. After five years of studies in Israel, she returned to Canada, where she completed an M.A. and Ph.D. in Jewish Studies at McGill and an M.A. in Creative Writing at Concordia University. She taught for two decades (Holocaust Studies, Hebrew Literature and Biblical Exegesis at McGill, Creative Writing at Concordia University, and English Literature at John Abbott College).From a very young age Edeet knew she would become a writer. She wrote for many years, completing several unpublished novels before publishing Ten Thousand Lovers, a novel set in Israel. As soon as Edeet started writing about Israel, she became involved in peace activism, first in Montreal and then in Israel. A Wall of Light (2005) is the third novel in Edeet's Tel Aviv trilogy, a series of novels connected loosely by theme and following the lives of strong female narrators searching for love amidst the turmoil of modern Israel. The trilogy includes Ten Thousand Lovers (2003), a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award, and Look for Me (2004), winner of the Hugh MacLennan Prize. A Wall of Light was nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and for the Regional Commonwealth Writers' Prize. It won the Canadian Jewish Book Award for 2005.Edeet lives in Guelph, Ontario, with her daughter, Larissa.

Following on the heels of the critically acclaimed Ten Thousand Lovers (finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award) and Look for Me (winner of the Hugh MacLennan Prize), this last book of the Tel Aviv trilogy tells the poignant, humorous and heartbreaking story of three generations of an Israeli family. "I am Sonya Vronsky, professor of mathematics at Tel Aviv University, and this is the story of a day in late August. On this remarkable day I kissed a student, pursued a lover, found my father, and left my brother." So begins Edeet Ravel's captivating novel, which follows Sonya on a life-changing journey that leads her to the heart of Jerusalem, and to the heart of family secrets. Her day begins as any other, with an elaborate breakfast prepared by her brother. Kostya has always been the centre of their family, working part-time so he can look after everyone and trying to keep things in order -- a near-impossible task in a place like Tel Aviv. His wife, a lawyer, is murdered in the course of an investigation she is conducting. His son, Noah, leaves Israel after his stint in the army to pursue art studies in Berlin. And his mother, formerly an actress and waitress at the famous Cassit cafe of bohemian Tel Aviv, loses her memory and is taken to a nursing home. Sonya is the only one left for Kostya to hover over and cook for. But her Sleeping Beauty existence comes abruptly to an end when she is roused by a kiss. Not only does she discover love, but she realizes that her family, who had promised to give her all they had, has kept the most valuable gift from her.