West Jerusalem/Israeli Territory

Much of the narrative and vignettes take place in West Jerusalem or other parts of Israeli territory. This is where Rami and his family live, and where Smadar was killed on Ben Yehuda street by Palestinian suicide bombers. Hebrew University, where Nurit teaches, is located in Jerusalem, as is the Hadassah Hospital where Smadar was born and where Abir died. After the talk at the monastery, it is where Rami returns by the novel’s conclusion.

Jerusalem is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and it is central to the three main Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—and has thus been at the center of religious conflict throughout much of the last two thousand years of its history, though its inhabitants have often coexisted peacefully. In the modern state of Israel, it is considered the national capital, while also being...