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Laundry By Suzane Adam translated from the Hebrew by Becka Mara McKay
$ US 16.95
ISBN 13: 978 - 0 - 9754444 - 7 - 4
ISBN 10 : 0 - 9754444 - 7 - 6
290 pages
August 2008
Laundry is a novel of psychological suspense that focuses on family relationships and the aftermath of childhood trauma. It is not a novel of the Holocaust, but like much Israeli literature, Laundry is driven by characters whose lives were shaped by the Holocaust-so much so that those events become a silent character in the novel. In 1960s Transylvania, where the novel begins, the main character, five-year-old Ildiko, experiences psychological abuse at the hands of an older girl, Yutzi, whom she worships and follows everywhere. Though Ildiko's family emigrates to Israel soon after, Ildiko's life continues to be shaped by the secret of the trauma that she carries with her. Ildiko tells her story in flashback to her worried husband, who at the novel's start is nearly hysterical with worry about a recent mysterious and possibly violent incident. Only as Ildiko's story unfolds-and with it the parallel stories of her family and her husband-do we come to understand what has taken place, and how Ildiko's story has come full circle.
Original published by Keter Publishing House
2000