"House Arrest," a book talk with Noa Yedlin

Monday, November 9, at noon | 617 Kent Hall

Barak Fogel, an unemployed professor, newly separated from his wife, awakes one morning to startling news: his beloved mother, deputy director of the Theodore Hirsch Centre for Sustainable Peace, professor of Israel studies, a refined collector of Israeli art and an avid member of several charitable associations—is suspected of embezzling 3.4 million shekels from her place of work.

Barak now attempts to navigate within this turbulent reality: between his sister, who is convinced their mother is innocent, and his skeptical brother; between the wife he has just separated from and who is still present in everyone’s lives, and his friends who disappear; between old mistakes and new insults – all played out in front of a relentless Media.

More than anything, he must reconsider the character of the mother that he knows so well. Who is this woman with the wonderful sense of humour, sharp wit and a ready inclination for righteousness, who now sits under house arrest?

House Arrest takes apart its characters with a sharpened knife, building from them an original, tumultuous novel about family and money, motherhood and children, failure and success, social standing and self-image.

Noa Yedlin is an Israeli author, the recipient of the Sapir Prize (the Israeli Man Booker) and the Prime Minister's Literature Award and author of the bestselling House Arrest, Stockholm, People Like Us and The Wrong Book. Yedlin was named by Haaretz Magazine one of "66 Israeli Women You Should Know”.

Yedlin is also the creator of a two-season TV series based on her bestselling novel Stockholm (the Israeli Best Mini-Series TV Award). A German remake of the series (You Don't Die Among Friends) won Best Scripted Format at 2021 International Format Awards and Best European Series at La Rochelle Festival De La Fiction 2021. The series is now being re-made by SVT Sweden (broadcast: Christmas 2022). Her bestselling novel People Like Us is currently being developed into a series in Israel. A stage adaption of House Arrest is now playing at Beit Lessin Theater in Tel Aviv.

Yedlin is considered one of Israel's top writers. Her novels – widely known for their dark and subtle humor - sketch with biting precision the complex relationships both within the family and outside of it, while capturing and deconstructing the spirit of the times. Yedlin deals with global phenomena that infiltrate the personal realm and shape our everyday lives - the rise and fall of social elites, shifts in the balance of power and the never-ending battle between individualism and conformism.

*Guests must register by Thursday, November 5, to be approved for campus access; unregistered guests will not be permitted on campus. Each guest must register individually using a unique email address.

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Supported by the generosity of the Kaye and Appel families.

While all IIJS events are free and open to the public, we do encourage a suggested donation of $10.