PW Book Club: Anat Talshir’s “About the Night”

About the Night by Anat Talshir
About the Night by Anat Talshir

Hello everyone.

I hope you enjoyed this month’s book club read. I know I did.

This month’s read, “About the Night,” had us diving into a love affair between an Arab and a Jew right before the wall in Jerusalem went up in 1947.  Two newlywed lovers are forced to find ways to secretly see each other, before it is inevitable that they have no choice but to try and move on with their lives behind their respective side of the wall.

Years go by.  One continues to hold a flame for the other, the other decides to move on with life, thinking the other will do the same.  For both, they share a special kind of love.  This is the type of love people search for their entire lives.  It’s the kind of love that carries one through to the end of their life, no matter how long they have to live severed from the other.


Questions.

  1. What did you think of the book?  Did you like it?
  2.  Did you think this story was realistic?  If you found the love of your life and were separated from them, would you wait for them or would you move forward with your life?
  3. Have you met the love of your life?  Could you relate to that special love these two shared?
  4. Did the historical aspect of this story help you to relate to the issues facing Israel today?  Did you get a sense of the racism and cultural differences between Arabs and Jews?  Did it help you to understand the struggles facing an Arab and a Jew falling in love?
  5. Lila is a woman with great strength.  When life handed her lemons, she did the best she could do with them to keep on shining, even when they were tossed at her door.  In her heartbreak, we see Lila rising above to help people, even if it wasn’t the popular opinion of the people in her community.  Did you find her character an inspiration?
  6. Did you think Elias made the right decision after he was beaten by the police?  Could you do the same?
  7. What were some of your favorite quotes in the book?
  8. Would you recommend this book to others?




Feel free to leave your answers below, on GoodReads (see the link to the PW book club on the right), or on the PW Facebook page.