Migrating into Books, review
The review
A collection of self-searching, The Art of Leaving begins with the death of the author’s father, Ayelet Tsabari, when she was just nine years old. His death left her feeling rootless, devastated, and driven to question her complex identity as an Israeli with Yemenite origins in a country that suppressed and devalued the traditions of her ancestors.
In her book, Ayelet Tsabari tells her story: from her early love of writing ️and words, to her rebellion during her mandatory military service in the Israeli army. She manages to travel from Israel to New York, to Canada, Thailand and India, falling in love and loving countries️, men and women, drugs and alcohol, running away from responsibilities and refusing to settle down in one place. She tells of her first marriage, the struggle to make a name for herself as a writer, the decision to become a mother, and ultimately rediscovering and embracing her own family history, a history marked by generations of stubborn women who struggled to choose between their hearts️ and their homes.
In the end, she realizes that she must come to terms with her father’s memories and the sadness of the past.
With captivating and moving prose, Ayelet Tsabari creates a meditation on the paths we will travel to try to escape pain, to search for a place to belong, and to realize that home is actually within ourselves.