The Longest Night

The novel begins with Keren Idan’s unexpected success. She records a casual cover of the song “All In” with a guitarist visiting London. The video goes viral, reaching millions of views and leading to a contract with a British indie label. Wealthy couples begin paying large sums for Keren to sing the song at their weddings, even though she privately thinks its final line undermines its suitability as a romantic anthem.

Keren accepts a $10,000 offer to perform at a wedding in Kfar Shmaryahu. She is reluctant to leave Ella, the baby she and Adam waited almost six years to conceive, but the trip should last less than twenty-four hours. At the wedding she meets Lotem, the bride: beautiful, curly-haired, candid and seemingly uncomfortable with the extravagance arranged by her new husband’s family. Lotem asks Keren to sing one of her original Hebrew songs, “אני לא נושכת” (“I Don’t Bite”). Keren agrees without charging extra and finds herself strongly attracted to Lotem.

That night, after returning drunk and aroused to her childhood bedroom at her father’s home, Keren hears an air-raid siren. In the shelter she learns that the situation has escalated dramatically: the airport is closed and flights have been cancelled indefinitely. Her first concern is Ella. Adam can buy formula, but Keren experiences the separation as an intolerable repetition of her own childhood trauma. She is determined that her daughter will not grow up without a mother.