The Bridesman

A Los Angeles–based ghostwriter revisits his past in Israel in the elegant if uneventful latest from Liebrecht (Apples from the Desert). As a nine-year-old boy, Micha is the only member of his family to befriend Adella, 18, the arranged bride for his Uncle Moshe. The kindly Moshe is handsome but a bit of a nebbish, and the owlish, bespectacled young woman was far from the family’s first choice. To Micha’s surprise, Adella selects him to be her bridesman. He accepts, and his mother is outraged when she learns Adella tried on her wedding dress in front of him. Two years later, Micha moves to Los Angeles with his mother to join his father. In the second part, set 24 years after Micha left Israel, Adella invites Micha back. The reason isn’t clear, but he assumes it’s because she knows he’s a writer and wants him to help tell her life story. Micha’s bubble is burst, though, after Adella recounts her experiences since he left the country as well as her version of the time they spent together. With subtlety and grace, Liebrecht depicts how her characters fashion the narratives of their lives out of experiences they don’t understand. This wisp of a story somehow leaves readers with plenty to chew on. (Dec.)