 | Café Shira : A Novel New to Jerusalem and to adulthood, Rutha serves Café Shira's devoted customers with a quiet compassion and a sensitive gaze, collecting their stories and absorbing them at her peril. Avigdor, the melancholy and somewhat weary café owner, philosophizes about love as he attends to the needs of his patrons while ignoring his own. Christian, a young religious pilgrim, has come to Jerusalem to find God but stumbles upon a much different revelation. These characters form the heart of this wry, often poignant novel narrated through a series of vignettes. They are joined by a colorful cast of characters who frequent the literary café--long-married couples, young lovers, an eccentric poet, and a traumatized veteran--all finding refuge and occasionally wisdom among their motley urban community. David Ehrlich (1959-2020) was the author of three short story collections, Blue 18, Tuesday and Thursday Mornings , and Who Will Die Last: Stories of Life in Israel. His literary café and bookstore, Tmol Shilshom, is a haven for avant-garde artists and writers, and the site of numerous readings by eminent authors. |
