Novel
Street of Steps
רחוב המדרגות
Yehudit Hendel · 1955
Synopsis
In Haifa, an alley of steps descends from Mount Carmel towards the lower town, where the houses are crammed together without air or light. Avram Bakhar, son of a poor Oriental family, lives there with his brother Nissim, who lost a leg in the war; he himself fought in Egypt, in Italy and in France. He loves Erela Dagan, daughter of a rich Ashkenazi contractor from the Carmel: the father opposes the relationship, the grandfather supports it. Down below, Rivka still watches for his return, and Malka waits on the steps for her son Shimon, killed in the battle of Haifa.
Context
Hendel sent the manuscript without a name to Avraham Shlonsky, who recommended it for the Asher Barash Prize; she received it in 1954, and the book appeared the following year from Am Oved, in 320 pages. She lived in Haifa and knew the inhabitants of the poor districts of the lower city; she spoke of poverty and of the communal question when most writers kept silent about them. The novel was a bookshop success. The author adapted it for the stage in 1957, and Habima performed it in 1958 in a production by Israel Becker. One of her first stories, Kever banim, had been censored; it was only reissued in 2000.
Who it is for
A novel translated into English in 1963, with no French edition. It is better to know that Haifa rises in tiers from the port to Mount Carmel and that the lower town was poor.
Prizes and reception
Asher Barash Prize 1954, awarded on the manuscript; a bookshop success from its publication, reissued in 1998 in a revised version, then in 2011.