Description
Listen to the wonderful interview of award-winning Shifra Horn by Dr Lee Kofman, Melbourne-based author and writing mentor: https://mjbw.com.au/event/writing-lives-shifra-horn/
Orion’s father didn’t even know his wife was pregnant when he fell in the Six-Day War. Orion is brought up by his mother Aviva and then his German grandmother Johanna, who makes the greater impression on the boy – until he meets the love of his life, a non-Jewish German opera singer.
In Scorpion Dance, Shifra Horn weaves a poignant narrative that explores the intricate tapestry of human relationships against the backdrop of Jerusalem’s vibrant landscape, its sounds, colors, scents, and wounds from the Holocaust to the present day.
Neither Sarah, the talking parrot with human feelings inherited from his grandmother, nor the wisteria that supernaturally envelops his new home, nor Falada, the library truck with its own will and sense of humor, will be enough to save Orion from a vortex of uncertainty, uprooting, and grief. Like in a scorpion’s dance, this novel continuously coils back in movements between past and present, accompanying us through the struggle for survival of the three protagonists, always teetering between the desire to remember and the need to forget.
Awarded the Ministry of Culture and Sport Award, this compelling work not only showcases Horn’s literary prowess but also her ability to illuminate the human condition through the lens of her characters’ journeys.
‘The book gives an account of an impossible love affair … With linguistic precision and descriptive wealth …The plot is replete with passions.’ —Dubi Zakai, Ma’ariv
Shifra Horn is a prominent Israeli novelist, journalist, and lecturer born and raised in Jerusalem. She has published six bestselling novels, a collection of short stories, three non-fiction books, and four children’s books. Her works often explore themes of identity, belonging, and Israeli history through women’s perspectives. Her books:
Novels: Promenade a Deux, Four Mothers, The Fairest Among Women, Tamara Walks On Water, Ode to Joy
Non Fiction: Shalom Japan, Cats, A Love Story, The New Zealand Experience
Children’s Books: The Perfect Pet, Not By Day And Not By Night, A Feather of Love
Jessica Cohen is a British-Israeli-American literary translator. Her translation of David Grossman‘s 2014 novel A Horse Walks Into a Bar was awarded the 2017 Man Booker International Prize.
