An explo­ration of the effects of war on one fam­i­ly, this thought-pro­vok­ing nov­el is about Israelis who live in the Unit­ed States and whose old­est son joins the Marines to fight for three years in an unnamed war. When he returns, he embarks on a long soli­tary jour­ney, fol­lowed by his younger broth­er who tries to fig­ure out how to help him over­come trau­ma and sur­vivor guilt. Themes of tikkun olam (repair­ing the world) and loy­al­ty to fam­i­ly, friends, and coun­try are deft­ly inter­wo­ven into the plot.