On Her Own: A Novel

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A moving, page-turning story of two families in crisis that melds the clock-ticking tension of Laura Daves The Last Thing He Told Me with the issue-driven gravity of Jennifer Haighs Mercy Street.

Watching her Russian immigrant mother, Irina, struggle to put food on the table, Nina, a beautiful and restless teenager, vows her life will be different. When a strapping older man in a fancy car appears at school one day offering her luxuries her single mother cannot afford, Nina believes hes her ticket out of her dumpy little town. Ignoring the danger signs and her mothers constant pleaswhich end in exhausting screaming matchesshe packs a suitcase and leaves home after one last fight.

Ten days later, a terrified Nina, her dress torn, is hiding in the stairwell of a Tel Aviv apartment after witnessing a murder she cannot talk about. She is discovered by one of the buildings tenants, a confused, lonely old widow who mistakes her for the granddaughter she hasnt seen for a long while, not since her son moved his family to America. Youve come back to me, Danale. Instead of correcting the mistake, the desperate Nina jumps at the chance for a place to hide.

Hiding from her mother and the dangerous man who are both frantically searching for her, Nina settles into the old womans apartment.But how long can Nina possibly hide out until the poor woman realizes shes not who she says she is, or before someone else her homesick son in America who keeps calling, or the lovely local neighbors who drop by with groceriescatches on

Set between the eve of Passover and Israels Independence Day, On Her Own is a tense and immersive psychological read about two families looking for redemption, the transformative bonds between strangers, and the unexpected places from which love can grow.

Translated from the Hebrew by Sondra Silverston

Author Bio

Lihi Lapid is a bestselling Israeli author, photojournalist, columnist, and activist. She lives in Tel Aviv with her husband Yair Lapid, the former Prime Minister of Israel, and their two children. This is her third novel.