More Than I Love My Life - Reading Guide
Explore why David Grossman’s novel and Jessica Cohen’s translation asks us to confront our deepest-held beliefs about a woman’s duty to herself and to her children.
Sweeping story about loving with courage that asks us to confront our deepest held beliefs about a woman's duty to herself - and to her children. Translated by Jessica Cohen.
On a kibbutz in 2008, Gili is celebrating the 90th birthday of her grandmother Vera, the adored matriarch of a sprawling and tight-knit family. But festivities are interrupted by the arrival of Nina: the mother who abandoned Gili as a baby. Nina’s return precipitates an epic journey from Israel to the desolate island of Goli Otok, formerly part of Yugoslavia. It was here, five decades earlier, that Vera was tortured as a political prisoner. And it is here that the three women will finally come to terms with the terrible moral dilemma that Vera faced, and that permanently altered the course of their lives.
David Grossman
About the Author
David Grossman is an Israeli author whose books have been translated into more than 30 languages. In 2018, he was awarded the Israel Prize for literature.
Jessica Cohen
About the Translator
Jessica Cohen is a British-Israeli-American literary translator who often works with Israeli author David Grossman.In order to write this book, I spent some days in the little village called Svalbard in the far north of the globe. In the mountains surrounding the village roam thousands of polar bears.
— David Grossman, author of More Than I Love My Life
More Than I Love My Life is a tender and immersive multigenerational family novel about the rewards, punishments and dysfunctions of love; about remembering, healing and belonging.
— The 2022 International Booker Prize judges
Other nominated books by David Grossman
In David Grossman’s heartbreaking, visceral novel, a stand-up comedian delivers a shockingly cruel routine about guilt and betrayal. Translated by Jessica Cohen.
Other nominated books by Jessica Cohen
In David Grossman’s heartbreaking, visceral novel, a stand-up comedian delivers a shockingly cruel routine about guilt and betrayal. Translated by Jessica Cohen.
