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A lyrical and candid novel about the unstable work of remembering.
Haunted by the recent death of his wife, Bella, renowned Israeli writer and Holocaust survivor Adam Schumacher sets out on a journey to chronicle their love story before it’s too late. Decades after he fled the Nazis, Adam returns to Germany, where he confronts his past and his rapidly eroding memory.
Somber and surreal, Delicate unfurls Adam’s distorted memories and fever dreams against the backdrop of modern Germany, where traces of history linger beneath daily life. Blending fact and fantasy, Adam summons fairy tales and bits of everyday culture as he attempts to compose his final testimony—and, in the process, to grieve all he has lost.
Delicate invites readers to reflect on the power and limitations of language, and what happens when the memories of those who’ve shaped our present begin to dissolve.
Ayin Press will release an exclusive early edition of Delicate through Jewish Book Council’s Nu Reads in the fall of 2026. The book will be available to broader audiences in Spring 2027.
Philip Simpson’s published translations from Hebrew to English include The Lover by A.B. Yeshoshua, Where the Jackals Howl by Amos Oz, From These Men by Shimon Peres, and A Guide to the Perplexed by Gilad Atzmon. He has also contributed to The Oxford Book of Hebrew Short Stories, New Women’s Writing from Israel and Contemporary Israeli Women’s Writing, among others. He lives in Norfolk.
Max Czollek is a poet, publicist, and political scientist. He received his doctorate from the Center for Research on Antisemitism at the Technische Universität Berlin and is particularly well known for his theatrical and essayistic work surrounding memory culture, integration and Jewish identity in post-war Germany.