Underskin, by Orit Arfa: It is more than the milky challenge

After The Settler, a book which I greatly enjoyed for the inquisitive challenges and painful dilemma raised after the Gush Katif episode, Orit Arfa is back with an equally interesting literary investigation. A Berlin-Tel Aviv love story between Nilly, the 'settler' girl with a Shoah survivor grandmother and Sebastian, the handsome German.

The two of them met accidentaly on a beach but feel 'some twisted way' of being connected 'by our tragic history'. The past, but also the weight of the present and the political views and mishaps are shadowing the relationship and at a certain extent it makes the communication almost impossible, and this is not because the mother tongues are different. However, there are ways to put on hold the non-stop historical buzz: over the food and by developing the physical relationship. Or through music. After all, does it matter to be 'politically aligned with a romantic partner'?

What really matters at the end of the story - at least for now - is that every generation is writting its own story, although the past is always and will always be there. I really loved that this book is creating, for the first time, a framework for discussion about what might really mean a relationship in the everyday life between an Israeli and a German, especially for Jews of European descent. And if the young people themselves are carefree and careless, their parents and relatives are not. For me, it is one of the most noticeable contribution to the discussion about the 'Israeli exodus' to Berlin written in the English language - although, a community of Israeli living in Berlin and in Germany in general exists since the late 1970s in fact, but as far as I know, without a significant literary presence. 

The book also has a noticeable erotic component, and it is labelled accordingly, but I would rather consider that this aspect is just part of the story, but not the story itself. 

A book recommended to anyone looking for some fresh, bold voices and point of views about the human German-Israeli story.

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered by the author in exchange for an honest review