Customer Reviews

Housebroken: Three Novellas

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Yael Hedaya is a brilliant new writer from Israel; her stories depict modern life from unusual and fresh perspectives. Telling a love story between a man and a woman from the point of view of their dog may sound like a strange idea, but Yael Hedaya takes it completely seriously in her novella "Housebroken" and creates an utterly touching tale.

The man and the woman (their names are never mentioned) would just have gone home to their separate beds after a nice evening out if it had not been for the stray dog they found in the street. The woman takes both the dog and the man up to her flat; both visitors end up living with her. The lovers' treatment of the dog is like a barometer of their love; Hedaya makes brilliantly clear how carelessly people usually go about the difficult business of loving each other.

There is no sentimentality whatsoever about Hedaya's storytelling. Both the characters and her way of describing them and their behaviour are utterly contemporary. There are two more novellas in the book, which are equally fascinating. Yael Hedaya is a real find. I found her characters unforgettable - it somehow feels as if I really knew these people...

In my opinion, one of the best new writers to emerge on the scene.