Shpitz

(The joys of having a dog are depicted in this perky story...)

The joys of having a dog are depicted in this perky story about three children, their silly Aunt Shpitz and her dog, also called Shpitz. The dog is on loan to Michal, Mickey and Yair for a day or two, then for a whole glorious week. In truth, Shpitz is an old smelly, quirky dog that has whistling holes in his teeth. Unattractive to anyone not blinded by love, the dog is nevertheless a constant source of merriment for the children as he trips up policemen and cavorts around the circus. When Michal decides that they must do something about the dog`s sorry appearance, Shpitz gets a haircut, with disastrous results. There is a happy, ongoing disarray that will be especially appealing to those who live in doggy homes, and to those who always wanted to.

1973

Valley of Strength

(This scenic, moving novel, set at the end of the nineteen...)

This scenic, moving novel, set at the end of the nineteenth century, follows the first seven years of Gai Oni—a settlement in the Galilee, the precursor to the town of Rosh Pina—through the life-altering trials and experiences of a pioneer woman. Fania, a 16-year-old survivor of a pogrom in the Ukraine, arrives in Palestine with her uncle, her deranged brother and her unwanted baby, a product of rape. Upon her arrival in Jaffa, she meets Yehiel, a 26-year-old widower, the father of two, and one of the few courageous souls left in Gai Oni. Severe drought and exhausting work have driven away most of the pioneers, leaving behind only a few tenacious families.

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1982

As a Broken Vessel

(In March 1884 a man named Moses Wilhelm Shapira committed...)

In March 1884 a man named Moses Wilhelm Shapira committed suicide in a small hotel in Rotterdam. A Jewish convert to Christianity, explorer and crook, collector and forger, Shapira was one of the most intriguing characters of his time in Jerusalem. His death sealed a mystery which has not been solved to this day: were the scrolls bearing the Ten Commandments which were found in the Jordanian caves genuine or forged? The British Museum’s offer to buy them from him for one million pounds precipitated a scandal which shook biblical and archaeological circles. In this biographic-historical novel, Shulamit Lapid attempts to decipher Shapira's complex personality, while depicting the complexities and intrigues of life in Jerusalem in the latter half of the 19th century.

1984

Local Paper

(Lizzy Badihi is an industrious freelance journalist worki...)

Lizzy Badihi is an industrious freelance journalist working for a local paper in Beersheba who will take on any assignment at any time. Single and unattractive, she puts on her plastic earrings and sets out to tackle the world. At a party, Lizzy becomes embroiled in a murder and despite her lack of police training, succeeds in unravelling the crime. While Lizzy trots from one press conference to another the social picture unfolds, warts and all. Amid the general squalor, Lizzy alone stands out as a sympathetic creature who, for all her humble background and common appearance, possesses natural integrity.

1989

Happy Spiders

(Shulamit Lapid's choice of subjects and characters is unt...)

Shulamit Lapid's choice of subjects and characters is untypical of women writers in Israel, or for that matter, most male writers. In the social reality she describes, disadvantaged characters, women or children, try to survive and to fight for their rights. Her stories are peopled by slum children who try to extricate themselves from social backwardness and join mainstream society, as well as some who choose to base their lives on the cycle of crime and violence. Lapid's women are strong, often stronger than the men, and refuse to be victims. They rebel against their traditional roles, are noted for their free spirits and do exactly as they please. In the story "Nina of the Horses," a woman follows her own path, takes young soldiers into her bed, lies to everyone, is unfaithful to her husband and betrays one and all. Lapid neither criticizes not judges her characters. These women seek to avenge themselves on those who try to exploit them and tamper with their freedom. This is particularly noticeable in the story "Forced Landing" (a play on words in Hebrew), in which a woman gets revenge by brutally raping a man.

1990

Bait

(Journalist and freelance sleuth Lizzy Badihi is a feminis...)

Journalist and freelance sleuth Lizzy Badihi is a feminist heroine with big feet and cheap earrings, who gradually grows from an ugly duckling into a swan. She gets involved in a breathless plot that revolves around a double murder. The thread, unravelled by Interpol, leads to Beersheba, a city in Israel's Southern desert, and to two aged French singers. But what does this have to do with Tami Simon, the daughter of local millionaires who are high-ranking arms and property dealers? It's the winter of 1991, at the height of the Gulf War. Between Scud missile alerts, Lizzy helps to solve a murder while putting herself in hair-raising danger.

1991

The Jewel

(Theft, murder, romantic intrigue – everything is here, an...)

Theft, murder, romantic intrigue – everything is here, and so is the disarmingly honest amateur sleuth, Lizzy Badihi. Lizzy's mother, Batsheva, is confined to a convalescent home for the aged, having cracked three ribs trying to retrieve a live carp from her bathtub. Visiting her mother, the last thing journalist Lizzy expects to run into is a double murder, but when patient Shifra Levitt is found dead in her bed from a bullet wound, holding a gun, Lizzy is there. Then follows the killing of Judy Bismut, chief nurse, which propels Lizzy into a hectic investigation. She searches the turbulent past for the answers, specifically a controversial affair that took place in Palestine during World War I, when some young Jewish idealists volunteered their services as spies for the British army in the struggle against the Ottoman government. Helped by Betty Pascal, Lizzy finds that the 80-year-old story continues to haunt the convalescent home. As in past investigations, Lizzy is gruff and determined and makes herself extremely unpopular. Here, too, her large, labyrinthine family serves as both help and hindrance

1992

Chez Babou

(In this novel Lapid, a writer of strong social sensibilit...)

In this novel Lapid, a writer of strong social sensibilities, turns her attention to the foreign workers in Israel. These workers, of various nationalities, live in separate communities on the outskirts of the cities, treated with indifference and even hostility. Here a young Israeli man, nicknamed Babou, forms a relationship with a young Brazilian woman and her baby daughter. Babou, the son of a Holocaust survivor, was injured both mentally and physically during his military service – while chasing a stone-throwing Arab boy, he was burned, beaten and shot by mistake by his fellow soldiers. Subsequently he cut himself off from society, likening himself to a Buddhist monk in the Himalayas, though in reality he is surrounded by people, running a bar frequented by foreign workers. His detachment ends after he finds the wounded Brazilian girl in the back yard and takes care of her and her child. He even falls under suspicion when her husband is found stabbed to death. The story may serve as a parable about the attitude of Israeli society towards the strangers in its midst, who do its dirty work. It implies that the Jews, who suffered throughout their history in the diaspora, have no right to ignore the suffering of others.

1998

Nunia

(Nunia, a beautiful coming-of-age story, is the long-await...)

Nunia, a beautiful coming-of-age story, is the long-awaited sequel to one of Israel`s all-time favorites, bestseller Gai Oni. It recounts the story of 20-year-old Nunia, who like so many of her peers in Palestine in 1913 is already involved in serious debates over Jewish labor and the shaping of a new nation. She also experiences unexpected love with an American newcomer who has struck a cord with the stubborn, local girl. Beautiful and fearless Nunia, who grew up in the Galilee with her legendary mother Fania - the heroine of Gai Oni - is determined to find her own way in life.

2006

Human Error

(Ruth Perlmutter has been in the Mossad for her entire wor...)

Ruth Perlmutter has been in the Mossad for her entire working life, has taken part in many hush-hush operations and has become a legend in her time. Now retired, she’s running a flourishing travel business and providing occasional small services to the spy agency. But after her friend Arthur, also a former Mossad agent, is found dead on the Tel Aviv beach, she is asked to re-enlist and investigate. It soon becomes clear that Arthur was murdered and Ruth’s probe leads her to espionage operations that went wrong, to a meeting with a Scottish lover she hasn’t seen for years, and to historic letters written by Theodor Herzl, the founder of the Zionist movement. Arthur had claimed that the letters were given to him years before by an Austrian agent. But are they authentic or counterfeit?

2012

Butterfly in Shed

(Elisha Friedrich, a successful Israeli writer, discovers ...)

Elisha Friedrich, a successful Israeli writer, discovers that a manuscript he has been working on has been published under someone else’s name. Stunned and livid, he set out to find the literary thief. On the way he encounters writers’ envy and deceit, love and passion, treachery and vengeance, and he meets up with quite a few of the much-loved heroes of books by Shulamit Lapid herself, such as the reclusive barman Babu and the small-town journalist Lizzy Badihi, investigator of unsolved murder cases. Taking an ironic and trenchant view of the literary scene and its critics, Lapid has woven a detective story, a roman à clef, a story about the writing of a novel, but mainly a book that is hard to put down.

2021