I read and really liked Ayelet Tsabari’s book of short stories, The Best Place on Earth. Her memoir, The Art of Leaving, is almost a companion to her book of short stories – she covers many of the same places and I recognize the sensibilities and experiences of her main characters. Although she is only in her 40s, Tsabari has had an interesting life and her writing is expressive and engaging. Tsabari was born in Israel to parents of Yemeni origin. Her father died when she was 10 years old. Her grandmother had been abandoned by her own mother when she was 2 years old. Until recently, Tsabari has led an unconventional life, traveling the world, strongly attached to her family and people but often looking to leave and looking to move on. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of her life – her father’s death, her military service, her travels to India, time spent in New York, returning to Israel to learn more about her family, becoming a mother, etc… As she writes, she slowly discovers where she comes from and what motivates her. This is a rich memoir with lots of food for thought. I’m definitely looking forward to her next book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for gifting me with this remarkable memoir. In exchange for the ARC I offer my unbiased review.

Without a doubt I will be purchasing a physical copy of this stunning memoir so I can share it with friends and family. This collection of essays resonated with me on so many personal levels; daughter, mother, expat, Jew. I highlighted so many passages and shed too many tears. Although Ayelet Tsabari and I grew up oceans apart and lived very different lifestyles, I found such a strong familiarity within the pages of her story. Her vivid writing & brilliant sense for sights, sounds, smells, streets and neighborhoods kept me devouring the pages and acknowledging the truth of her experiences.

“Home is collecting stories, writing them down, and retelling them.”

“I remind myself we get to keep our memories and stories, take them with us wherever we go.”

Israel is not some foreign land to me, but a place I consider a second home. And I recognize the scars, thorns and messy implications that this carries and I applaud Ayelet Tsabari for presenting her homeland in an honest light.

“Our country is haunted by its dead, weighted down by loss and remembrance.”

I hope this book will resonate with other readers the way it did for me.

An honest open intimate memoir .An Israeli authors search for home after her father passed away when she was young.A search from New York to India a path that kept me turning the pages as the search went on, #netgalley#randomhouse