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About the Night  By  cover art

About the Night

By: Anat Talshir, Evan Fallenberg - translator
Narrated by: Mel Foster
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Publisher's summary

On a hot summer day in 1947, on a grandstand overlooking Jerusalem, Elias and Lila fall deeply, irrevocably in love.

Tragically, they come from two different worlds. Elias is a Christian Arab living on the eastern side of the newly divided city, and Lila is a Jew living on the western side. A growing conflict between their cultures casts a heavy shadow over the region and their burgeoning relationship. Between them lie not only a wall of stone and barbed wire but also the bitter enmity of two nations at war.

Told in the voice of Elias as he looks back upon the long years of his life, About the Night is a timely story of how hope can nourish us, loss can devastate us, and love can carry us beyond the boundaries that hold human beings apart.

©2010 Anat Talshir (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Translation © 2016 by Evan Fallenberg.

What listeners say about About the Night

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

SAD

Any additional comments?

This is a super sad love story in my opinion. It makes you have lots of feelings, but it's mostly feeling sorry for the couple. They are in love, but Israel is split into Jewish and Arab sections. Then, it's at war. Their not being allowed together goes on for years and years and years. How terrible to live where you aren't allowed to be with the one you love. The storyline goes from current to past. In the current, the man is in the hospital possibly dying, and the woman is dead. It goes back to all they went through. Insert cry emoji. It's a good story. It made me think.

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

TOO LOOOOOONNNGG!

Spoiler: Okay story but the I hated how they basically discounted the wife's feelings as long as they were happy. Interesting how the shabby Arab culture treats women was discussed even if they are "Christian ".

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it!

Heartbreaking story about a forbidden love during war. Lila, a Jew, and Elias, an Arab, fall in love but are kept apart by religion, culture, and war. Not only is this story about love between a man and a woman, but it’s also about the love, or lack there of, between a child and his/her parents and of life and hardships during wartime as well. A must read!

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Take this journey!

This was such a beautiful story. Without being overly sentimental, it was a poetic statement of how love endures the test of time. And how war kills more than "just" the dead.

The writing was exceptional and beautiful. As for narration, the voice Mr. Foster chose for Elias was a little stiff, and overdubs were poor in that they were mismatched, but I'd still listen to this wonderful novel all over again.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Not a fan

You know, I really wanted to live this book, but I just couldn't. I just had trouble caring about the story or the characters. Too much time invested.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Good sad novel

this novel was a bitter sweet experience, though a very well tell story. I was immersed in the World of the characters. Also very good performance.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Needs a good editor

The underlying history of Jerusalem is the best part of this novel. The love story drivelled on and might have remained compelling if 2/3rds of it was edited out - we got she was the love of his life in the first few chapters

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very Entertaining Boook

The story in this book is powerful and compelling. I enjoyed every minute of it. The writer did an outstanding job. The characters were also very well done. Overall a very entertaining book to listen to.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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About The Night

I loved this translated story set in the middle east, where it was forbidden for these two races of people to have a relationship. War breaks out and just when you think all is lost, there is hope.

I reccomend this novel.
The narrator was excellent.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

About the night

I am having a hard time rating this book. Parts of it was interesting and parts were disturbing.

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