Summary

“The Husband” opens with a woman named Tamar, who lives in New York City. She is a doctor, she is divorced, and she has two children. Her mother, Ilana, is a widow who lives in Tel Aviv, Israel. One day, a man from Israel’s Social Services arrives at Ilana’s apartment with an elderly man. Social Services incorrectly believes the elderly man to be Ilana’s long-lost husband, and that the two of them were separated by the tumult of the Holocaust and World War Two. Ilana explains to the Social Services representative that she was never estranged from her husband, and that her husband died five years ago. A few days later, Tamar phones her brother Shlomi, who lives in Israel and is married to a man. Tamar is shocked to learn from Shlomi that Ilana...