Accidents: A Novel

All the stuff that is usually left out of a "regular" love story can be found in this - the real stuff. The smells, the flaws, the bickering, the uncertainty - all the things that make a real-life love story real. Hedaya has managed to take three characters who are all somewhat unlikable and somehow merge them into a likeable whole - or if not likeable, at least relatable. The characters in this book could be your neighbors, your relatives, your friends, or whoever else just walks down the street - their pain is real, as is their anger, their lust, and their love. And, as with real people, they are at times absolutely hilarious and at others absolutely heart-breaking!

Accidents, about managing grief and love at the same time, is an incredibly sad book. It's not just the subject matter - it's the unrelenting detail. There's no relief in the form of cataclysmic plot events, no opportunity to cry and get it over with. Instead, each uninspiring cafe meal, unflattering sweatshirt and anxiety attack grind slowly toward the end of the book.

I did wish the book was over with several times in the middle, but only because it was shedding an umbrella of gloom around my week, not because it was badly written. On the contrary, a lesser writer couldn't have summoned such a powerful feeling of real grief; not the cathartic novel kind, but the real everyday dull pain.

Very slow to get to get started, but interesting tale of two writers who meet through friends in modern day Jersasulem. He has been widowed, and has a 12 yr old daughter. It is a sad book too, about grief and aging parents. I thought it wonderful with a lot of backstory about the two main characters.

I was interested in the characters and overall liked the writing, but there really was too much uninteresting detail. The ending was also a little too neat for such a realistic portrayal.

A wonderful book. Set in Tel Aviv, about a widower and his daughter and a woman he meets - wonderful writing and captivating story.