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by Orna Taub
by Orna Taub
“Everyone needs a pink balloon.”
The pink balloon is a meditation technique Lily’s father taught her as a child, and is the only constant in her life, helping her to navigate between her assumed identities and new names, as she moves to different continents, cultures, and religions.
Lily is born in Venice Beach, California to a Palestinian mother, Minna, and an Israeli father, David. When her parents separate, Minna and Lily go to live with her mother’s family in a conservative Palestinian refugee community, where she becomes Lila and is raised as a Muslim. After Minna dies, David takes her to Israel, where he has built himself a new life in an illegal settlement in the West Bank. Here, she becomes Lia and converts to Judaism.
After she discovers she is expected to get married—an arranged marriage if necessary—Lia runs away to India, the place where she feels her parents’ story, and her own, really began. She creates her own identity and calls herself Leela as she embarks on a journey of discovery, bent on finally finding out who she truly is. As she sheds her old identities to rebuild herself as Leela, the pink balloon takes on a life of its own, guiding her from place to place and from revelation to revelation.
"The Pink Balloon is a beautifully written novel with a powerful message about constructed identity and finding oneself by first losing oneself and then keeping oneself no matter where one is." — Haviva New-David, author of Hope Valley
"The Pink Balloon, took me away from my regular life, flying me gently, and playfully to faraway places, the characters i met on the way, were so warm and life - like, they quickly felt like family. The book is beautifully written, full of humour, and color. so much fun!" — Amore, Goodreads Review
"It will open your heart and give it a smile." — Goodreads Review
Details
Details
Bink Books
282 pp. ● 6×9
$19.95 (pb) ● $9.99 (eb)
ISBN 978-1-949290-71-4 (pb)
FICTION / Literary
FICTION / Religious
FICTION / Cultural Heritage
Publication date: October 2021
Orna Taub was born in Israel, but spent most of her childhood in South Africa. Starting out as a journalist and translator, she did her MA in TESOL in New York and then taught for almost twenty years at Tel Aviv University, before leaving to write full time. She has a PHD in Comparative Literature. Three former novels have been published in Israel in Hebrew. The Pink Balloon is the first book she’s written in English and is the result of a lengthy spiritual journey. Orna lives in Jaffa with her partner and son in an ancient well-house they are still lovingly restoring.
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