A Tale of Love and Darkness is a memoir by the Israeli author Amos Oz, first published in Hebrew in 2002. Oz chronicles his childhood in Jerusalem in the last years of the British Mandate for Palestine and the early years of the State of Israel. The love and darkness of his title refer to his mother, whose suffering from severe depression led her to take her own life when he was a boy. The book is an effort to describe Oz's feelings for his mother and the pain of losing her. After her death he spent his teenage years on Kibbutz Hulda. His parents, mother Fania Mussman and father Ariyeh Klausner, feature as prominent characters within the book. Importantly, his mother's 1952 overdose of sleeping pills becomes the point of exploration for the work, launching the deep probing into other parts of his childhood and youth. As a child, he crossed paths with prominent figures in Israeli society, among them Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Shaul Tchernichovsky, and David Ben-Gurion. One of his teachers was the Israeli poet Zelda. Historian Joseph Klausner was his great-uncle. Told in a non-linear fashion, Oz's story is interwoven with tales of his family's Eastern European roots. Winner of the National Jewish Book Award International Bestseller _____________________________________________________________________________________ Moderator Debbie Dankoff had been reviewing books for over 10 years at various Montreal book clubs. She took a break to kick cancer in the butt and earn a Master’s Degree in Philanthropy and Not for Profit Leadership. Currently she is the VP of National Development for the Canadian Friends of Hebrew University and excited to be back reviewing as part of the book club showcasing HUJI authors. .