Thorny unanswerable questions about belonging, identity, politics, Israel, Palestine, justice, war, ways of looking and seeing, the elasticity of thought and justifications, and more are raised in this unsettling novel. Allison, now married and pregnant and living in Israel, was a 27-year-old grad student from Canada, via New York, studying there for a semester when she and 19-year-old Israeli solider Eyal fall in love. What seems almost a cliche, older woman, younger man, but also non-Israeli woman and Israeli solider, quickly moves into something far more complex and troubling. Allison, without a close family of her own, finds in Israel what she has been missing - feeling herself embraced by a whole country, even though she is never sure how to answer when asked if she is Jewish, because as the daughter of a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother it's a claim she can't honestly make - but finds her way around - and is amazed by how instantly Eyal's family accepts her despite the age difference. What will affect their love isn't the eight years that separate them, but their changing views, brought into relief by war, when Israel invades Gaza. Cerebral and intellectual Allison is learning to silence and manipulate her own thoughts in order to keep what she has found, that sense of belonging, while pretending that she is still open-minded and indeed she deliberately befriends a Palestinian woman by pretending that she does not speak Hebrew, that she is not a Zionist, that she sees the Palestinian point of view. Her ability to torque and turn, her mental gymnastics, are already underway when Eyal begins to question Israel's actions in Gaza and by extension his own. Narrated mostly by Allison, it was odd when there were sections from Eyal's point of view, but it's a small quibble. A quite brilliant novel situating the complications of the political and perhaps the unresolvable political within a love affair.

Thanks to Harper and Netgalley for the ARC.

I enjoyed the history deep dive I got while reading this book, but the love story was not for me.

In the beginning, I felt like I related a lot with the main character Allison. Then she became really pretentious, and then just downright unlikable. Perhaps that was the point.

A lot of it felt like the author just showing off everything they know about the Hebrew language, Israeli history, and life in Israel in general. With all of the random history musings (even making comparisons to Scotland?), the story felt so long-winded.

And as for Eyal and Allison’s love story, I could never root for them. It felt like they were playing pretend, living out some fantasy, seeing something that wasn’t there. They had nothing in common. (Perhaps that was the point… as the progression of the book might suggest.)

I cringed reading their texts and love letters to each other.

For example, Eyal texts her after a night tonight “I remember each of your ribs and each of your sighs.” Said no man ever.

Also the amount of times she told us he was 19!? We know.

Overall, I felt the most connected to the book at the beginning and end. The beginning scooped me and the end put me in my feels, particularly reading the parts of invading Gaza and the aftermath of that experience.

The Lover by Rebecca Sacks is a powerful love story between a Canadian woman named Allison and an Israeli soldier named Eyal. Set in contemporary Israel, the story is both sensual and intense, with moments of deep connection and devastating betrayal.

Allison, a thoughtful academic, falls deeply in love with Eyal during his military service. When Eyal returns home from an invasion of Gaza with a surprising emotional response, Allison finds herself changed in ways that lead to a shocking betrayal of her lover.

Sacks' writing is immersive and gorgeously descriptive, creating a colonial setting that is both atmospheric and rich in foreign detail. The story raises unsettling questions about inequality, conflict, war, and danger, while also portraying a seductive love affair that will entrance readers and hold them spellbound.

At once beautiful and disturbing, propulsive and poignant, The Lover is a provocative and thought-provoking novel that will appeal to fans of Marguerite Duras' classic novel. Sacks' writing is both captivating and heart-wrenching, making this a must-read for anyone who enjoys powerful and emotional love stories.

The natural comp title is Marguerite Duras’ classic novel of the same name, but to me, when it comes to the philosophical questions of how one's sense of self can be defined or changed by those with whom you fall in love with, this is simply the best novel since Milan Kundera's "Identity." The intricate and intimate relationship between Allie and Eyal is as rich and tragic as that of Chantal and her younger partner Jean-Marc in Kundera's novel. Easily the best book I've read thus far in 2023.