One Before Last

A short, intense novella about love, beauty and a terrible act that threatens both.

Translated from the Hebrew by Jessica Cohen.

Eli is a translator in his fifties with nothing left to lose. His wife has died and his children have fled the nest, leaving him adrift. In his job as a translator the threat of AI is a constant worry and it seems to him that the best times of his life must have already passed.

That is until a friend invites him out to dinner and introduces him to a cellist called Lia. She's surprising, intriguing and offers Eli a sense of possibility beyond his miserly circumstances. As tender bonds of unexpected love form, the promise of fresh beginnings bring high stakes and a revelatory sense of renewal.

But everything shifts when Eli is welcomed into Lia's home and does something unforgivable. All of a sudden, he has to make a decision between admitting a truth that could drive Lia away forever, or living with a lie which could suffocate him. Is it better to protect this new romance, or risk tearing it apart?

One Before Last is a love story shadowed by disturbing tension and a sharp reckoning with the surprising edges of the human condition. Mishani calls into question the foundations of a happy relationship - asking who we become when our desires overrule us.

Contributor: Jessica Cohen (Translated by)

Translator: Jessica Cohen

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