Mongolia

MONGOLIA
by Nily Naiman

Synopsis:

This novel is based upon my life and the lives of my family members.

Lana, the focus of this family saga, is the youngest of three daughters of Holocaust survivors in Israel. Her mother passes on to them a tradition from her childhood: If a girl stands in a field of butterflies and waits patiently, the number of butterflies that land on her will be the number of husbands that she will have.

Bella, one of Lana’s sisters, falls in love with a young Arab man, Sami. Under the pressure of knowing that such a relationship will never be accepted in Israel, Bella commits suicide. Lana, fourteen at the time, is rendered mute by the shock of Bella’s death. (The narrative includes an exploration of the phenomenon of post-traumatic muteness that will strike Lana for a second time after the death of her first husband, and will also strike her oldest daughter after a brutal rape.)

Lana and Sami, confused and guilt-ridden in their own ways over Bella’s death, develop a special relationship. A talented athlete, Lana becomes a champion runner, representing Israel in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Sami, who has demonstrated his own special skills, is designated by the Israeli coaches to assist them in her training. In the years following, Lana continues her training, with Sami as her mentor. Shortly before she is scheduled to leave with her teammates for the Munich Olympics in 1972, her mother falls ill with incurable cancer. For the first time, her mother, Sara, reveals to Lana what happened to her during World War II.

When the Nazis came to Sara’s village in Russia, the family fled to the Russian-Mongolian border. There she met the love of her life, a young Mongolian man, who took her to his village across the border. She stayed with him and bore him a son. He died a tragic death, and in her grief and confusion, not even knowing the war had ended, Sara left her child with his grandparents, and crossed back into Russia to look for her family. She wandered through Europe, eventually coming to Cyprus. There she met the man who was to be her second husband and Lana’s father, and they settled in Israel. Now her last wish is that Lana will accompany her to Mongolia, so that she can find the child whom she left behind 27 years before, and beg his forgiveness.

Lana gives up her participation in the Olympics to stay with her mother and help her fulfill her mission. Lana’s life will now become centered in the unique wilderness of Mongolia. There she will marry and raise her eight extraordinary children. The story tells of Lana’s relationships with four strong and inspiring men. These are her Mongolian half-brother Molian who is her rock of support in her time of greatest need, and her three husbands: Sami, the Muslim Arab brought up in Israel among all the frustrations of people whose ancient land was now dominated by what they saw as an alien culture; Liu Young, a champion athlete raised under the demands and restrictions of the Maoist regime in China; and Micha-el, the Israeli army general who was her dearest childhood friend and in the end joins her in Mongolia.

"Mongolia" is available in paperback. It is published by Chipmunka Publishing, chipmunkapublishing.co.uk.