Jonathan Cape More Than I Love My Life by David Grossman

More Than I Love My Life by David Grossman begins on a kibbutz in Israel in 2008, as Gili joins her large, close family to celebrate the ninetieth birthday of her grandmother Vera. A much-loved matriarch, Vera is at the centre of the gathering until the unexpected arrival of Nina, her strong-willed daughter and Gili’s absent mother, who left when Gili was still a baby.

Nina’s return after years of silence prompts a journey from Israel to the bleak island of Goli Otok, formerly part of Yugoslavia. There, the three women face Vera’s history as a political prisoner, imprisoned and tortured five decades earlier, and confront the moral dilemma she once faced and the decision that altered their lives.

Key details

• Author: David Grossman
• Publisher: Jonathan Cape
• Set on a kibbutz in Israel in 2008 and on Goli Otok, formerly part of Yugoslavia

Synopsis

At a family celebration on a kibbutz, Nina’s sudden reappearance brings long-buried tensions to the surface. As the women reckon with their shared past, they travel to Goli Otok, where Vera’s experience as a political prisoner continues to shape the present.

The novel considers love and the courage to love, and raises questions about a woman’s duty to herself and to her children, even in the darkest moments.