![]() ![]() After he refused to be blackmailed by the prime minister’s henchmen - who wanted him to toe the party line and support the ouster of settlers from the occupied territories - Kotler has just been publicly outed for the affair he’s having with his young assistant, Leora. One of our two protagonists is 62-year-old Baruch Kotler, a “dissident champion” from the former Soviet Union who’s now the Israeli Minister of Trade. Its compression of space and time, along with heavy use of dialogue, can make the novel feel like a stage play it would no doubt be a very good one. ![]() Where his first, The Free World, about the members of an extended Jewish family awaiting their immigrational fate in 1970s Rome, was stretched over a six-month period, the present-day action of The Betrayers, his latest, is spun out by its two principal players in a mere 24 hours. David Bezmozgis’ two novels both feature characters trying to determine their futures from a place of temporary exile - the difference is one of scale and scope. ![]()
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