I very much enjoyed The Hebrew Teacher, the first of Maya Arad’s books to be translated into English. As in that work, Happy New Years is about an Israeli living in America. Leah’s story is told through an annual letter to her former classmates in a teacher training program, even though they treated her shabbily and only very rarely respond to her. There’s also a longer and more personal note to her one friend in the group.

It’s an uncommon structure, and well-executed. But the structure can’t make up for the protagonist’s flaws, especially her lack of self-awareness and stubborn refusal to learn from her mistakes. Leah is ordinary and unimpressive, and just not very interesting. She’s buffeted by life, and works to get through it, without any particular direction or goal. No mentors challenge her thinking or decisions. Leah is charming at first, but then it’s too much of the same thing, over and over. You want to shake her........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)