Yaara, a young history teacher, relocates from northern Israel to Tel Aviv, seeking to distance herself from the memories and uncertainties surrounding the death of her husband Nimrod, who was a Physics doctoral student at the Technion.
She begins teaching at “HaGeonim” High School, known for its challenging student population, so it’s no surprise that she must cope with severe disciplinary issues that could lead to her dismissal. The curriculum also doesn’t align with her vision, and with her limited resources, she attempts to reshape it to broaden her students’ horizons.
However, what truly sets her apart is her tendency to interpret every event in her life through the lens of historical events in Israeli and world history, while drawing inspiration from historical figures.
This tendency, combined with her intense desire to solve the mystery surrounding her husband’s death, leads her on a journey during which she thoroughly investigates the circumstances of his death, discovering new aspects of herself she never knew existed.
Yaara, a young history teacher, moves from northern Israel to Tel Aviv to distance herself from memories of Nimrod, her partner who was a Physics doctoral student at the Technion and died under mysterious circumstances. According to the police version, he committed suicide – a view shared by her family and her psychologist. She, however, suspects that either his newly religious brother Shai or his Technion colleague Dima were involved in his death. At the same time, she is tormented by fears that he committed suicide due to problems in their relationship.
Yaara would prefer to teach at a prestigious Tel Aviv school, but being an inexperienced teacher, she is hired at “HaGeonim” High School, which is abundant with challenging students. This is why she encounters severe disciplinary problems and fears losing her position. Additionally, she is dissatisfied with the ethnocentric nature of the history curriculum, which she believes promotes ignorance. Therefore, she tries her best to broaden students’ horizons within the existing curriculum framework.
Her social life is sparse, consisting of failed dates, reading books, and browsing social media. At school, she befriends Roi, the maintenance man who studies history at the Open University and is interested in the Holocaust. He shows romantic interest in her, but since she considers him too “simple” and even looks down on his interests, she struggles to see him as a potential partner and treats him condescendingly.
Meanwhile, she completes her master’s degree at Tel Aviv University, and here too, although she chose to study General History, she discovers there are pressures to pursue ethnocentric research directions. Moreover, she must deal with condescending attitudes and unreliability from lecturers.
At some point, she decides to write her thesis on Czech theologian Jan Hus, and since she needs help with Czech translations, she visits her grandmother, who lives in a kibbutz of Czech immigrants, during Hanukkah break. Coincidentally, that evening, the kibbutz presents a play about Czech scientist Kurt Sita, who worked at the Technion years ago and was later revealed as a spy. From her grandmother’s words, she learns that her partner Nimrod had also shown interest in this spy, leading her to investigate whether this interest led to his death.
During her private investigation, she visits the Technion to meet Dima, Nimrod’s former colleague, and their conversation reveals that he suspects Shai, Nimrod’s brother. To determine if these suspicions have merit, Yaara decides to reconnect with Nimrod’s family and attends family gatherings that lead her in various directions.
Meanwhile, her acquaintance with Roi deepens and she learns more about his life circumstances. A romantic relationship develops between them, somewhat managing to overcome their mentality gaps.
In a dangerous confrontation between Yaara and Shai, during which Roi comes to her aid, she discovers that Shai indeed knows details about Roi’s death but wasn’t directly involved in his brother’s death.
It should be noted that Yaara is a reserved, critical, and dreamy young woman who suffers from feelings of inferiority while simultaneously being condescending. One of her most prominent characteristics is her tendency to interpret her life through the lens of historical events and draw inspiration from historical figures. This is why the book is interwoven with numerous historical details. The historical references appear either in connection to the protagonist’s consciousness or when they advance the plot.
