To the End of the Land

Set in Israel during a major military offensive, David Grossman's novel follows Ora, a middle-aged mother whose son Ofer, at the end of his army service, volunteers to return to the front. Rather than wait at home for the officers who bring news of a soldier's death, she sets off on a hike through the Galilee, leaves no word of where she has gone and shuts out all news. Estranged from her husband, Ilan, she brings along Avram, once their closest friend and her former lover, who was tortured as a prisoner in the Yom Kippur War and has never met the boy. As they walk, Ora tells him the story of Ofer's life.

It appears in a roundup of the novels and poetry linked to Barack Obama during his presidency.