Noise

Roi Hena’s new sparkling, ironic, and wise novel about a mother and daughter, a person and God, and each of us with ourselves. Like a musical triptych, the plot is divided into three parts—each with its own rhythm and tone.

Gabriela is in her final year at a school of the arts. A talented yet shy cellist, she learns about the world and connects with it through music. But today her chair at the academy is empty. Instead of lessons, she goes for a walk through the streets of Tel Aviv with her Wooden Bear—her beloved cello in hand. Perhaps it’s her first love. Or maybe everything is much more complicated.

On her fortieth birthday, Noa receives from her husband a gift: a “retreat of silence.” But the quiet and calm contradict Noa’s active and sociable nature, so she decides to run away. Wandering through the winding lanes of Jerusalem, she searches for harmony and peace within herself.

Tzipora is used to being a guide for other people’s voices—she has worked for many years as a translator from English. She used to translate Joyce; now she has to render on into Hebrew mindless thrillers and dime novels. Perhaps that’s why she wasn’t very surprised when she began to hear voices—more precisely, one voice: the voice of God. It leads her, helping her escape loneliness and bitterness toward the whole world.

Three women, three voices will meet at one point. That isn’t surprising, because Gabriela is Noa’s daughter, and Noa is Tzipora’s daughter. In the course of one week, they will travel the path that they couldn’t complete in their entire previous lives—toward each other. And as if the soundtrack of their fateful movement in the novel were SHUM: the roar of the city, the sounds of the cello, the beating of hearts, and the rhythm of life of our time.

Three voices, three talented actresses have brought the magic of “Shum” to you in an audio version: Anastasia Shumilina (Gabriela), Anastasia Skorik (Noa), Nadezhda Menshova (Tzipora).