Paula Ben-Gurion wanted to marry a man, but what she got was a state: a novel about an unusual and courageous woman.
PAULA ODER DIE SIEBEN FARBEN DER EINSAMKEIT
(Paula, or: The Seven Shades of Loneliness)
by Stephan Abarbanell
Blessing, March 2024
Paula grew up in Minsk, was sent to New York when she was young, dreamt of studying medicine and was a committed anarchist. But then she met her future husband, the founder of the state of Israel, David Ben-Gurion – and at the end of her life, she finds herself in a kibbutz in the Negev Desert. Her husband is expecting the arrival of his friend, Konrad Adenauer, who has just resigned as German Chancellor. Once again, it is down to Paula to organise the visit and arrange everything. Poverty, war, motherhood, and – again and again – loneliness: this novel is a memorial to a strong, courageous woman, who had to make many compromises in life, and became the First Lady of a country in which she did not believe. And who, even in old age, never stops doubting, searching and hoping.
Stephan Abarbanell was born in Brunswick in 1957 and grew up in Hamburg. He studied theology and general rhetoric in Hamburg, Tübingen and Berkeley. Abarbanell is now in charge of cultural affairs at rbb Broadcasting.
In the wake of World War I, the world is a decidedly unmagical place for Misneach “Mouse” Dunne. Mouse once dreamed of becoming a Faerie anthropologist, but with one telegram, her world shattered. At the Somme, her cousin Bertie’s body disappeared into the mud, and her brother Roger came home with devastating shell shock. It was time, she knew, to put aside childish dreams. 
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For twenty years, Sciona has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry at the University of Magics and Industry. When Sciona finally achieves her ambition and becomes a Highmage, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues are determined to make her feel unwelcome, and instead of a qualified lab assistant they give her a janitor. What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was not always a janitor. Ten years ago he was a nomadic hunter who lost his family on their perilous journey from the wild plains to the city. But now he sees the opportunity to finally understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the privileged in power. At first, mage and outsider have a fractious relationship. But working together they uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first.
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