by Sara Shilo
I didn’t understand why they weren’t scared. I would have died of fright. I didn’t know when Kobi had managed to explain about the cupboard and the oil, and I didn’t ask. I just kissed them and said, ‘You know, I have a new story to tell you, a true story about our family.’ But I didn’t want to start with Papa dying or the bar mitzvah, where Mama usually began, as if the party in the hall was the top of the mountain and Papa’s death a deep valley, and that only by climbing to the mountain’s peak could you feel the force of the fall.
I pulled their heads close and stroked their foreheads with a finger, exactly how they like it, until their eyes shut. But they didn’t fall asleep. They were listening, I knew they were. ‘This story’, I said quietly, ‘is a special story, which you’ve never heard before. You tell this story backwards, from the end to the beginning. That’s the only way to tell it, and both of you are the end of the story – so, you see, it’s a happy ending.’
About the Author
SARA SHILO was born in Jerusalem and currently lives in a small town in northern Israel with her family. She has written several books for children. This is her first book for adults, and was awarded a prize by Tel Aviv University and the Sapir Prize, as well as the Ministry of Culture Prize and the Wiener Prize, both for debut novels.
Copyright
Published by Portobello Books Ltd 2011
This ebook edition published 2011
Portobello Books Ltd
12 Addison Avenue
London
W11 4QR
Copyright © Sara Shilo 2005
First published in Hebrew in 2005 as Shum Gamadim Lo Yavo’u
by Am Oved, Tel Aviv, Israel.
The right of Sara Shilo to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
A CIP catalogue record is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 84627 337 7
www.portobellobooks.com
Text designed and typeset in Apollo MT by Lindsay Nash
