Mr. Mani

Five one-sided dialogues unravel two centuries of family secrets, war, and obsession across the Mediterranean.

Mr. Mani is a deeply affecting six-generation family saga, extending from nineteenth century Greece and Poland to British-occupied Palestine to German-occupied Crete and ultimately to modern Israel.

The narrative moves through time and is told in five conversations about the Mani family. Yehoshua structures each episode in reverse chronological order, recording only one speaker’s voice while leaving the listener’s replies unheard.

Across two centuries, the novel constructs a striking historical canvas, dense with familial tension, political blindness, and sharp psychological observation. It ends in Athens in 1848 with Avraham Mani’s powerful tale about the death of his young son in Jerusalem.

Yehoshua balances tragic historical currents against personal eccentricities, shaping each encounter with understated irony and dramatic restraint. A profoundly human novel, rich in drama, irony, and wit.

Multiple POV: Each section unfolds through a distinct voice, from a pregnant kibbutz student stranded in 1982 Jerusalem to an obsessive German soldier stationed near the ruins of Knossos in 1944.
Unconventional Narrative Structure: The story peels back layers of history from the 1982 Lebanon War to an 1848 Athenian inn.
Father Son Relationships: From a British military trial in 1918 Jerusalem to an eccentric obstetrician pursuing an obsession across Europe in 1899, successive generations struggle under the shadow of their forebears.
Also by This Author: The Tunnel, A Woman in Jerusalem and The Extra.