Review of 'Inside Information' by Eshkol Nevo
In"Death Road", the opening story of Inside Informationby Eshkol Nevo, translated by Sondra Silverston (Other Press, June 2023),39-year-old Omri is on a post-divorce trek in Bolivia when he meetshoneymooners Ronen and Mor. That night, Mor knocks on his door and Omri sensesthat something is wrong in her marriage. Shortly afterwards, Ronen is killed ina freak bicycle accident. After returning to Israel, Omri makes a shiva call,even though he barely knew the deceased.
Atthe shiva, Mor shows no signs of wanting to talk to Omri, but then she slips hima note, asking him to meet her in a nearby park. Having escaped Ronen's suspiciousbrothers, Mor tells Omri what caused her husband to fall into the abyss onDeath Road. As she relates the story, Omri feels he is beginning to slip intothe abyss with her. Is that what really happened and will he also pay the pricefor Ronen's death?
In "FamilyHistory", senior attending physician Dr. Asher Caro, supervising theresidents in the hospital's Internal Medicine department, notices thedistinctiveness of Liat Ben Abu. Caro, 'soft-boned and ham-fisted, still bowedby [his wife's]'s death,' develops a desire for Liat, not sexual in nature butrather a strong urge to care for her as he did for his wife when she was ill.When Liat falls for the charm of a fellow doctor, responsible for a string ofbrokenhearted women, Caro can't help but reach out, anonymously, in an attempt toprotect Liat from the same fate.
Withtears in her eyes from the inevitable break-up, Liat shows up at Caro'sapartment, saying 'What would I do without you?' He offers her tea but she asksfor alcohol. Dizzy, she lies down for afew minutes. When he leans forward to cover her, just like he tucked in hischildren when they were small, his hand inadvertently falls into the opening ofher shirt. And then his troubles begin.
Inthe concluding story, "A Man Walks into an Orchard", we meetChelli, who takes an exercise walk every Saturday morning with her husband Oferin the orchards near their home. On one such walk, Ofer informs his wife thathe is dying to pee. He hands Chelli his phone and disappears among the trees. Aminute goes by. Another minute. Another minute.
Asthe police investigate, family secrets are revealed. Chelli's affair, which wasknown only to her son. The blog of 100-word, somewhat disturbing stories thatOfer faithfully updated. There is no trace as to Ofer's whereabouts, but evenwhen all leads dry up, Chelli refuses to give up hope. She misses 'somethingthat's hard to put into words, maybe...connection?' She also misses certainty.She wants to know 'something for certain.' What happened to her husband?
Thethree separate stories of Inside Information are independent ofeach other, novella-like in their length, with only a word or two connectingtheir narratives. Still, there is much to tie them together. In all three we meetunreliable, flawed narrators revealing their tales of love, intimacy, longing,and desire. Weaving them together is Nevo's masterful ability to capture our attentionwith compelling narratives, unexpected twists, and unconventional love stories.The book, an absolute pleasure to read, leaves us wondering what will happennext in the lives of the relatable characters with whom we've become intimate onits pages.
EshkolNevo is one of Israel’s most critically and commercially acclaimed writers.His novels have all been bestsellers in Israel and published widely intranslation. Homesick was awarded the Reimond Vallier Prize inFrance (2008) and shortlisted for the Sapir Prize in Israel (2005). WorldCup Wishes (2007) won the Golden Book Prize in Israel and was awarded theAdei-wizo Prize in Italy. Three Floors Up (Other Press, 2017) wasadapted for film by the acclaimed Italian director Nanni Moretti; and TheLast Interview (Other Press, 2020) was a finalist for the National JewishBook Award. Nevo is the grandson of Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, forwhom he was named.
SondraSilverston has translated the work of Israeli fiction writers including EtgarKeret, Ayelet Gondar-Goshen, and Zeruya Shalev. Her translation of Amos Oz's BetweenFriends won the National Jewish Book Award for fiction in 2013. A nativeNew Yorker, she has lived in Israel since 1970.
Originally published on The Times of Israel.
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