Emuna Elon​

 

Emuna Elon is an internationally best-selling, critically acclaimed novelist, journalist, and women's rights activist. She was born in Jerusalem, raised in Jerusalem and in New-York and now lives in Jerusalem and teaches Judaism, Hassidism and Hebrew literature. Elon,  a serving member of the Academy of Hebrew Language,  has published essays, short stories, popular children’s books and six bestselling novels. Her novels If You Awaken Love (2007) and House on Endless Waters (2020) were finalists for the National Jewish Book Award. Elon received the Book Publishers Association’s Gold Book Prize (2010) for her novel Inscribe My Name, the Aminoach Prize for Beyond My Sight (2014), the Prime Minister's Prize for her literary work (2015), and the Adei Wizo literary prize in Italy (2020). The exclusive option for the TV/film adaptation based on Elon’s novel House on Endless Water was purchased by Fremantle in April 2019.
      

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Where Heaven Meets Earth

2 Novellas

Publisher: Kinneret Zmorah Bitan

Year: 2025

175 pp.

 

Translation rights: World  
Audio visual rights: World

Translations: Complete English translation available (the author is bi-lingual)

 

A daughter travels to visit her dying mother, while her father and brother are on the warfront who knows where. A woman bids farewell to her husband, who sets out on a rescue and atonement mission of his own accord. These are the heroines of Emuna Elon’s novellas. Although the two stories unfold during the third week of the October 7th war, their narratives echo tales from the distant past, creating a deep and painful resonance across time. With sensitivity and compassion, with insight and richly layered language, Elon weaves a fateful connection between past and present—until it seems that history repeats itself, with only the characters changing… or perhaps not even the characters. Like Emuna Elon's previous novels, Where Heaven Meets Earth is a book to read slowly, to experience, to become part of its beautifully eloquent family stories highlighting human tragedy and resilience.  

 

Where Heaven Meets Earth is Emuna Elon’s sixth work of prose. A recipient of the Prime Minister’s Prize for Hebrew Authors and Poets, her literary work has been translated into many languages receiving critical acclaim and a devoted readership.

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Critical Praise

 

The formulaic nature of the novellas is easier to digest because they are explicitly framed as modern versions of Jewish archetypes.

 

The accusation of simplicity—such as the direct, unembellished presentation of the Akedah motif in the characters’ lives—could or should be addressed not to the author, but to reality itself, which presents painful  repetitions of the Jewish and Israeli fate. The sense of urgency that pulses through the novellas contributes to their positive impact, as does their brisk pacing and charming prose.
But there is another element here that lends the works greater weight. On the conscious level, the book is a rewriting of two ancient Jewish stories (the second one less familiar than the Akedah, drawn from Talmudic legends about Rabbi Meir and his wife Beruriah), now seen in light of the repetitive nature of Jewish history, as manifested on October 7.
On another level—perhaps subconscious and hidden—characters in both novellas move persistently between religious observance and secularism, and then back again… I believe this religion/secularism motif aptly reflects the theological confusion Israeli society faces after the events of October 7. On the one hand, these events present us with something akin to “negative theology.” The stubborn Jewish fate they reflect almost serves as metaphysical (or pseudo-metaphysical) proof, not necessarily of the existence of God, but of the uniqueness of the Jewish people. But on the other hand, what comfort can be found in a Jewish uniqueness that reveals itself through such suffering? This fundamental theological unease is expressed through the novellas’ choice of protagonists who oscillate between faith and secularism in a constant push and pull. This tension deepens the impact that Where Heaven Meets Earth has on its readers.

Eric Glessner, Yediot Aharonot

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Where Heaven Meets Earth, two beautiful, heart-breaking novellas full of thought-provoking horror and bravery, disaster and grace, depths of doubt and heights of devotion. As all of Emuna Elon's stories these too are about our relationships with our families, with our nation, with our history and with ourselves.

Ariel Ser-Levi, Ben-Gurion University

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Where Heaven Meets Earth is a novel written with a light and delicate touch that nonetheless reaches emotional and intellectual depths. The ideas unfold in a way that draws the reader in and sustains engagement throughout. Its structure—composed of short, fluid chapters—allows for seamless movement across time, creating a reading experience that is both compelling and immersive.

Ruth Bachy, critic

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Critical Praise on Past Works

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A story of love, loss, and yearning… Lyrically phrased and often powerfully visual… this deeply felt tale offers a rewarding meditation on survival… Blurring the edges between history and fiction, this achingly mournful work impresses with its grave empathy.

Starred review in Kirkus Reviews

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House on Endless Waters is a deeply immersive achievement that brings to life stories that must never be forgotten.

Emily Gray Tedrowe, USA TODAY

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Elon powerfully evokes the obscurity of the past and its hold on the present.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

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[on House on Endless Waters] Poignant.

Le Figaro

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