Israeli writer and journalist Sarah Blau takes the social expectation of having children and cleverly turns this persistent and outdated narrative into a crime fiction novel about a serial killer in her first novel translated into English.
In Tel Aviv two women are murdered in a gruesome, ritualistic manner. Both are found tied to a chair, a baby doll glued to their hands and the word “mother” carved into their foreheads. Sheila Heller knows both women and she might be the serial killer’s next victim.
Two decades before Sheila and a few of her university friends made a pact to not have children, but rather to remain child-free much like “The Others”, the six barren women, in the Torah. Dina Kaminer, a prominent and polemical feminist scholar and a professor of gender studies , as well as Sheila’s oldest friend is the first to fall victim to the killer. Dina was publicly outspoken about her choice not to have children.
“Childbirth is a national obsession, a cult that borders on terrorism. You’re expected to have children, and if you decide not to, then society will treat you like you’re somehow damaged.”
Could her murder be linked to her choice not to have children? And if this is the case, are the rest of the group also in danger, Sheila included? Not only is Sheila the next possible victim, the police is also considering her a suspect and with the assistance of the charming Detective Micha she attempts to unmask the serial killer before another woman is brutally killed.
The Others tackles an issue so many women still have to deal with today. Ironically the choice of procreating or not is hardly ever something which can be kept private between the two people involved, yet women are understandably too afraid to admit that they don’t want children for fear of being branded selfish or “going against nature”. The social stigma of not having children, i.e. being “childless” instead of “child-free”, isn’t the only unspoken issue Blau touches on. Post-partum depression and its devastating effect on both the mother and child is in reality a fairly common occurrence, yet it’s almost frown-upon if a young mother can’t cope with the demands of motherhood and the guilt of failure only amplifies the situation.
“… some patterns are so deeply ingrained in us that we immediately fall back into them, like eternal roleplay, and your part never changes, no matter who you are or how old, because the role was tailor-made for you from day one.”
Blau is considered a prominent voice in religious Israeli literature and her academic background, in particular knowledge of Biblical figures who chose a life without children adds, weight and texture to what could have been a standard serial killer crime plot. However without the addition of a Biblical angle the story of these murders and the motive behind them zings with a dark twisted humour and a strong main protagonist.
The Others is a dark, acerbic, though-provoking crime thriller which lays bare a social patriarchal construct which is long overdue for abolishment. Blau maintains a perfect balance between suspense, social commentary and an engaging writing style throughout. It certainly deserves its spot in the list of top crime fiction novels of 2021.
The Others is published by Pushkin Press. Thank you to Tara and Poppy for providing me with a review copy and inviting me to take part in the blog tour. See the list of fellow book reviewers’ details below for more reviews earlier this week.
About the author and translator
Sarah Blau is an author and playwright, recipient of the 2015 Prime Minister’s Prize for Hebrew Literature, and the 2017 Bar-Ilan University Alumni Achievement Award in recognition of her contribution to enriching culture in Israel and her activity in the fields of literature and communication. She currently lives in Tel Aviv and this is her fourth novel, although her first to be translated into English.
Born in Israel in 1983, Daniella Zamir is a literary translator of contemporary Israeli fiction. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in literature from Tel Aviv University, and her master’s degree in creative writing from City University in London. She currently lives in Tel Aviv with her sort of-husband and two cats.
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