The Red Balcony

ALSO BY JONATHAN WILSONFICTIONSchoomThe Hiding RoomA Palestine AffairAn Ambulance Is on the Way: Stories of Men in TroubleNONFICTIONMarc ChagallHerzog: The Limits of IdeasOn Bellow’s Planet: Readings from the Dark SideKick and Run: Memoir with Soccer Ball This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents, with the exception of some well-known historical and public figures, either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author’s use of names of historical or public figures, places, or events is not intended to change the entirely fictional character of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or locales is entirely coincidental.Copyright © 2023 by Jonathan WilsonAll rights reserved. Published in the United States by Schocken Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York, and distributed in Canada by Penguin Random House Canada Limited, Toronto.Schocken Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataNames: Wilson, Jonathan, [date] author.Title: The red balcony : a novel / Jonathan Wilson.Description: First edition. | New York : Schocken Books, 2023Identifiers: LCCN 2022015022 (print) | LCCN 2022015023 (ebook) | ISBN 9780805243697 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780805243703 (ebook)Subjects: LCGFT: Legal fiction (Literature) | Thrillers (Fiction) | NovelsClassification: LCC PR6073.I4679 R43 2023 (print) | LCC PR6073.I4679 (ebook) | DDC 823/.914—dc23/eng/20220429LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022015022LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022015023Ebook ISBN 9780805243703www.schocken.comCover images: (brushstrokes) Iana Kunitsa / Getty Images; rawpixelCover design by Gunjan Ahlawatep_prh_6.0_142549205_c0_r0 ContentsCoverAlso by Jonathan WilsonTitle PageCopyrightDedicationEpigraphChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 10Chapter 11Chapter 12Chapter 13Chapter 14Chapter 15Chapter 16Chapter 17Chapter 18Chapter 19Chapter 20Chapter 21Chapter 22Chapter 23Chapter 24Chapter 25Chapter 26Chapter 27Chapter 28AcknowledgmentsA Note About the Author_142549205_ For Sharon,and to the memory of my brother Geoffrey To understand historical reality, it is sometimes necessary not to know the outcome.—PIERRE VIDAL-NAQUET 1JerusalemMARCH 1933Kohler, the receptionist, eyed the large brown paper package stamped, postmarked, and tied up with string that sat on the front desk between his silver bell and a diminished pile of the local German-language newspaper, the Mitteilungsblatt. He shifted it to the side in order to make room for two additional sets of newspapers, popular items for guests on their way in to breakfast even though the news they carried was always a week old. He had no interest in the bland front page of the London Times, but a photograph of a thin-faced figure with his hair swept back and its accompanying headline in the Frankfurter Zeitung briefly caught his attention: Josef Goebbels had been appointed minister of information and propaganda in Hitler’s 2JUNE Arlosoroff came out of the Jewish Agency building on King George Street, slumped into the back of the car, and laid his briefcase on the seat next to him. He was exhausted. He brushed a thin layer of dust from the sleeves of his suit jacket, imagining that the grime of Europe was still on him, staining his shirt cuffs.After Berlin, after the train south and the nauseating boat trip from Italy to Egypt, he’d had only one day of rest in which to recover his equilibrium. Then, it was back on the train, this time from Cairo to Tel Aviv, and finally, home to the pure joy of embracing Sima and hugging his baby son. He had one warm, fragrant June night in