Does one honour one's country, or one's heart? This classic dilemma is the theme of this lyrical and passionate first work of fiction by Malka Marom. Drawn from Marom's experiences as an Israeli and Canadian citizen, Sulha is the story of Leora's search for answers for her only son's future, through a reconciliation with her past. Sulha means peace in both Arabic and Hebrew, and against this backdrop, Leora returns to the desert in her homeland and stays with a remote Bedouin tribe, Abu Salim and his wives. In the course of her stay Leora is offered a glimpse of the other side of the conflict to which she lost her husband, Arik, during the Sinai war, and to which she may lose her only son Levi. In the proud tradition of Amos Oz, Isak Dineson and Joseph Conrad, Sulha paints a broad expanse of an all-encompassing land, and the sacrifices demanded of its people in an endless conflict for which there seems no resolution. The first section of Sulha won the Ontario Arts Council Award, for the most promising work of fiction in progress.

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