Haunted by the recent death of his wife, Bella, renowned Israeli writer and Holocaust survivor Adam Schumacher sets out on a journey to chronicle their love story before it’s too late. Decades after he fled the Nazis, Adam returns to Germany, where he confronts his past and his rapidly eroding memory. Somber and surreal, Delicate unfurls Adam’s distorted memories and fever dreams against the backdrop of modern Germany, where traces of history linger beneath daily life. Blending fact and fantasy, Adam summons fairy tales and bits of everyday culture as he attempts to compose his final testimony—and, in the process, to grieve all he has lost. Delicate invites readers to reflect on the power and limitations of language, and what happens when the memories of those who’ve shaped our present begin to dissolve.
Moving between Israel and Germany, the past and the present, and the factual and the imagined, Delicate is a powerful and complex exploration of what it means to remember. Rich in historical detail and filled with searing questions, it is almost impossible to put down.
