'Husband And Wife' is a work of immense emotional power and veracity, a literary tour de force and irresistible page-turner. Na'amma Newman wakes up one morning to a new reality.
Her husband Udi, formerly a healthy, active tour guide, announces that he can no longer move his legs. The paralysis is diagnosed as psychosomatic - Udi has gone on strike and Na'amma must cope with the crisis, while balancing the demands of work and motherhood.
The plot moves swiftly from this starting point, and Shalev depicts the complexities of intimate relationships with daring perceptiveness. This is a unique and intense novel, compulsively readable and extraordinarily insightful. Shalev deploys the same feverish lyricism and breathless pace that characterised her acclaimed first novel, 'Love Life'.
