Pula
Ofra Koret / Pardes
It is the 1960s in the new state of Israel. Eight-year-old Fula lives in a small town, far from where everything is happening. She has an older sister, a newborn baby brother, a mother who sews dresses for her, and a father who makes them tea on Saturday mornings. Fula's family immigrated from Iraq, but is she fully Israeli?
She loves stories, the ones she borrows from the city library, and the ones her mother, uncles, and others tell her. Disaster strikes the small family, and Paula must grow up quickly. She does so in the bright light of her mother, Juliette, who is forced to struggle and lead the family with resourcefulness and optimism toward a future of education and freedom.
'Pula' is a captivating coming-of-age novel, written through the eyes of a girl who becomes a young woman, between courage and fear, between attempts at initiation and resistance. Through it, we will learn the story of one Mizrahi Israeli family, who dreamed of going beyond the horizon of the periphery. It will speak honestly to Israeli readers, who are tormented by innocent memories of the past, and to those who want to know what happened here before they were born.
This is the debut novel by Ofra Koret, born in Or Yehuda (1956), married and a mother of four, who lives in Tel Aviv. Koret is Professor Emeritus of Education at Bar-Ilan University, and a researcher in early childhood language and literacy development.
207 pages, 96 NIS.
