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Published Jun 2016
256 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
From Israel's highly acclaimed author, a novel about a musician who returns home and finds the rhythm of her life interrupted and forever changed.
Noga, forty-two and a divorcee, is a harpist with an orchestra in the Netherlands. Upon the sudden death of her father, she is summoned home to Jerusalem by her brother to help make decisions in urgent family and personal matters - including hanging on to a rent-controlled apartment even as they place their reluctant mother in an assisted-living facility. Returning to Israel also means facing the former husband who left her when she refused him children, but whose passion for her remains even though he is remarried and the father of two.
For her imposed three-month residence in Jerusalem, the brother finds her work - playing roles as an extra in movies, television, opera. These new identities undermine the firm boundaries of behavior heretofore protected by the music she plays, and Noga, always an extra in someone else's story, takes charge of the plot.
The Extra is Yehoshua at his liveliest storytelling best - a bravura performance.
"Starred Review. 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." - Library Journal
"Starred Review. Rich in reflection and personal truth. Yehoshua's masterful portrayal of a female musician at a pivotal moment in her life is deep, unpredictable, and, in the end, surprisingly suspenseful." - Kirkus
This information about The Extra was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
A. B. Yehoshua is the author of numerous novels, including Mr. Mani, Five Seasons, The Liberated Bride, and A Woman in Jerusalem. His work has been translated into twenty-eight languages, and he has received many awards worldwide, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the National Jewish Book Award. He lives in Tel Aviv, Israel.
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