'Breathless, bold, searching and passionate. A really remarkable debut' Samantha HarveyLila Ruth plans her gap year alone. Craving independence and nursing chaotic private griefs, she decides to take on a summer of hard, honest work under the desert sun. She's going to live on a kibbutz.Arriving in Tel Aviv, it soon becomes clear that Lila Ruth's dream of kibbutz life is embarrassingly naive. Unwilling to retreat home and scrabbling for a new plan, she accepts an unusual gig from an older man, translating his novel from Hebrew - a language she doesn't speak - into English. As the summer goes on, the project becomes an exercise in finding and making meaning - opening up dangerous cracks in Lila Ruth's understanding of herself and of the world. Desperate for connection, she finds herself falling in love. But love alone is not salvation; to survive this summer Lila Ruth must finally reckon with the choices she's made.'A beautifully written and smartly executed debut that has the potential of becoming a coming-of-age classic' Kathy Burke