Love, loathing and the Zionist underground: A novel in which everything happens

Zeruya Shalev's 2021 novel, Fate, paints a vivid picture of love, loathing and the complexities of the Zionist underground. The story jumps between two women, Rachel and Atara, who are bound together by forces beyond their control. Rachel, a Jewish freedom fighter, finds herself reminiscing about her past as a young woman in Tel Aviv, waiting to confront her mother-in-law in Jerusalem when her husband suddenly leaves her.

Set against the backdrop of Israel's independence, Rachel's loyalty is unwavering, but all else is temporary.

Fast forward to the present, and we find Rachel in the West Bank, awaiting a visit from Atara, the daughter who was born to a man she had previously blocked and divorced. The two women are connected by circumstances beyond their command and navigate the ever-changing landscape of Israeli life, reflecting on the nation's evolution and their own personal battles.

Rachel describes her current country as gray and crowded, hidden behind walls and barbed wire fences, a land that has lost faith in its righteousness. She remains bitter over the British overlords who took the lives of her friends, reciting their names like a prayer or meditation. Fate is not for the faint of heart, as it explores love, secrets, divorce, infidelity, deathbed declarations, guerilla warfare, religious epiphany, Oedipal dynamics, brief moments of necrophilia, and even a plate of spaghetti Bolognese.