“Nathan Englander’s latest is, as usual, superb: a work of psychological precision and moral force, with an immediacy that captures both timeless human truth as well as the perplexities of the present day.”

 

NO MAJOR SPOILERS

This is the story of an Israeli spy known as Z, and The General, who is the leader of Israel. Z is now a prisoner held by his own country, and he is held in secret.

Only The General and his caretaker know who and where he is. But The General is now in a coma, and Z’s hopes of, if not freedom, than at least prison with other inmates are fading fast.

The novel jumps back and forth between the events that led to Z’s incarceration, and the current time. The novel also deals with the tensions between Palestine and Israel very vividly, making the novel seem very relative to today’s world in the Middle East.

Englander is an excellent writer and he weaves an interesting story about the complex world of spying and the consequences it brings to the spy himself, and the people he cares about. At 285 pages it is just the right length.

Very good read.

Recommended.

 

Reviewed by:

Richard Franco

Added 14th October 2017

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Richard Franco