About this item
A controversial, award-winning story about the passionate but untenable affair between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man, from one of Israel's most acclaimed novelists When Liat meets Hilmi on a blustery autumn afternoon in Greenwich Village, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Charismatic and handsome, Hilmi is a talented young artist from Palestine. Liat, an aspiring translation student, plans to return to Israel the following summer. Despite knowing that their love can be only temporary, that it can exist only away from their conflicted homeland, Liat lets herself be enraptured by Hilmi: by his lively imagination, by his beautiful hands and wise eyes, by his sweetness and devotion. Together they explore the city, sharing laughs and fantasies and pangs of homesickness. But the unfettered joy they awaken in each other cannot overcome the guilt Liat feels for hiding him from her family in Israel and her Jewish friends in New York. As her departure date looms and her love for Hilmi deepens, Liat must decide whether she is willing to risk alienating her family, her community, and her sense of self for the love of one man. Banned from classrooms by Israel's Ministry of Education, Dorit Rabinyan's remarkable novel contains multitudes. A bold portrayal of the strains - and delights - of a forbidden relationship, All the Rivers (published in Israel as Borderlife) is a love story and a war story, a New York story and a Middle East story, an unflinching foray into the forces that bind us and divide us. "The land is the same land," Hilmi reminds Liat. "In the end all the rivers flow into the same sea." International praise for All the Rivers "I'm with Dorit Rabinyan. Love, not hate, will save us. Hatred sows hatred, but love can break down barriers." - Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature "Even the (asymmetrical) tragedy of the two peoples does not overwhelm this precise and elegant love story, drawn with the finest of lines. There are many astonishing things about this book." - Amos Oz "Rabinyan is a generous writer who puts her characters first. . . . Rabinyan's writing reflects the honesty and modesty of a true artisan." - Ha'aretz "Rabinyan juggles cultures, languages, art forms, places, times, and seasons. . . . Because the novel strikes the right balance between the personal and the political, and because of her ability to tell a suspenseful and satisfying story, we decided to award Dorit Rabinyan's [All the Rivers] the 2015 Bernstein Prize." - From the 2015 Bernstein Prize judges' decision "[All the Rivers] ought to be read like J. M. Coetzee or Toni Morrison - from a distance in order to get close. We might be born Montague or Capulet, but we can choose not to be part of the tragedy." - Walla! "Beautiful and sensitive . . . a human tale of rapprochement and separation . . . a noteworthy human and literary achievement." - Makor Rishon "A captivating (and heartbreaking) gem, written in a spectacular style, with a rich, flowing, colorful and addictive language." - Motke "Rabinyan's ability to create a rich realism alongside a firm, clear and convincing flow of emotional fluctuations . . . gives the work a literary momentum and makes the reading both compelling and enjoyable." - Ynet "A great novel of love and peace." - La Stampa "A novel that truly speaks to the heart." - Corriere della Sera
About the Author
Dorit Rabinyan is an Israeli writer and screenwriter. She was born in Kfar Saba to an Iranian Jewish family. She has published three novels, two of which have been widely translated. She has also published a poetry collection and an illustrated children's book. She also writes for television. She was a close friend of Palestinian artist Hasan Hourani, and wrote a eulogy for him in The Guardian after his death in 2003. Her 2014 novel Gader Haya (initially known as Borderlife in English, later published as All the Rivers) , which tells a love story between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man, has become the center of controversy. The novel was well-received and won the Bernstein Prize. In 2015, a committee of teachers requested Borderlife be added to the recommended curriculum for Hebrew high school literature classes. A committee in the Israeli Ministry of Education found the book inappropriate and declined to add it, on the grounds, according to The Economist, that it promotes intermarriage and assimilation. Dalia Fenig, the leading committee member, argued that the book "could do more harm than good" at this time of heightened tensions, though she noted the book was not banned and could be added next year. The decision led to protests from high school teachers and principals and opposition politician Isaac Herzog. Sales of the book have surged in the aftermath
