The Extra

July 4, 2016
In Yehoshua's (The Retrospective) latest novel, a woman leaves her comfort zone and returns to her childhood home, where she slowly begins peeling back the layers of experiences and relationships that have kept her from taking charge of her own story. Noga, a harpist in an orchestra, has lived in the Netherlands for years, but when her father's death leaves her mother alone in their Jerusalem apartment, her brother asks her to return to Israel to look after the rent-controlled unit while his mother tries out an assisted living facility in Tel Aviv. Noga agrees, temporarily leaving her adult life behind to work as an extra in Israeli movies, television, and operas and to wander the city, where she reconnects with her ex-husband and meets a varied cast of characters that makes up the backdrop of her story. The novel is beautifully written and Noga is a relatable heroine, but the slow pacing obscures the emotional stakes as Noga contemplates her future, her past, and her choices in life. Her interactions with others can feel wooden and falsely intimate, but the novel shines when Noga is given time and space alone with her thoughts and larger themes of family, love, music, and creativity, all depicted with Yehoshua's clarion style.

January 1, 2016

When her father dies, 42-year-old Noga leaves her job as a harpist with an orchestra in the Netherlands and returns to Jerusalem, where her brother needs help in settling the family's affairs. She must also confront her former husband, who claims that he loves her still. The work she finds as an extra in movies, television, and opera proves liberating. From the celebrated Israeli novelist; look for a New York Times Book Review "By the Book" Q&A.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2017

One of Israel's preeminent writers continues to reflect on Jewish identity in Israel as well as the changing makeup of the Israeli family. After the death of her father, Noga, a 42-year-old musician, returns from the Netherlands to Jerusalem, where she finds work playing roles as an extra and is forced to confront her ex-husband.

SEE ALSO: Yehoshua's The Retrospective (2013), Friendly Fire (2008), A Woman in Jerusalem (2006), The Liberated Bride (2003)

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2016

In his latest work, award-winning Israeli novelist Yehoshua (A Woman in Jerusalem) gives moral force, even grandeur, to the inevitable push-pull of one family's life. At 42, Noga has long since left Israel and a besotted husband behind her and plays harp with an orchestra in the Netherlands. Then she gets an email from her dutiful if somewhat self-righteous younger brother, Honi, who insists that she return home to help with their widowed mother, whom Honi hopes will move into an assisted-living facility near him in Tel Aviv. As their mother reluctantly tries out the facility, Noga is needed to house-sit the family's longtime apartment in Jerusalem, lest it be snatched away by the rent-hungry landlord. Meanwhile, to keep Noga busy and in funds, Honi has arranged for her to work as a film extra, which doesn't so much let her try on different lives as step back momentarily from her own. Strong-willed, even irascible, Noga has spent considerable time justifying her life decisions to those around her, and the whole crazy experiment in Israel finally frees her through quiet self-affirmation. VERDICT As in real life, the shifts in this family are subtle rather than cinematic, making for an engrossing and satisfying read. [See Prepub Alert, 11/30/15.]--Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.