מפעל העננים של גברת לילנבלום

by Iddo Gefen, עידו גפן

"נראה שרק על עובדה אחת לא היה ויכוח — שָׂרַי לילנבלום הופיעה בלב המכתש הגדול, שלושה ימים אחרי שנעלמה, יושבת על כיסא נוח, עם חלוק בצבע בורדו וכוס מרטיני ביד."
איש בעיירה הקטנה בדרום לא יודע לאן ומדוע נעלמה המורה המקומית לרובוטיקה, אבל שָׂרַי שותקת. היא ממשיכה לשתוק גם כשמתברר שבזמן שנעלמה המציאה מכשיר שהופך חול לעננים, וגם כשיזם בינלאומי מתחייב לשלם לה 20 מיליון דולר אם "מכונת העננים" שלה תמטיר גשם.
האם מדובר בטכנולוגיה פורצת דרך או באחיזת עיניים? לא ברור. כששרי מחליטה להקים סטארט־אפ שינסה לעמוד באתגר, בנה עילי נחוש לעזור ולהגן על הרוח היצירתית של אמו, אבל גם חושש שחלומותיה וסודותיה יגררו את המשפחה כולה לתהום כלכלית.

מפעל העננים של גברת לילינבלום הוא סיפור על עולם ההייטק הישראלי ועל מי שנשארים מחוץ לשעריו, על משבר האקלים ויחסי הפריפריה עם המרכז, על אישה אחת לא צעירה שסוף־סוף מעיזה לפרוץ את הגבולות בחייה, ועל הבן שלה המנסה למצוא את מקומו בעולם שלה ובעולמו שלו.

בספרו השני עידו גפן ממשיך להלך על הגבול המטושטש שבין מציאות לחלום. בעדינות, רגישות והומור רך הוא רוקם סיפור יפהפה על משפחה ועל אהבה, על פשטות וקִדמה ועל פחדים וחמלה.

Genres: Fiction, Jewish, Novels

333 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2023

About the author

https://www.iddogefen.com/

Reviews

[Jillian B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarai Lilienblum, an eccentric high-school robotics teacher and the mother of two adult children, has managed to create her greatest invention yet: a modified vacuum cleaner that can produce actual rain clouds. A local tycoon believes this could be a game changer for the climate, and pledges millions to help get it to market. So Sarai’s startup, Cloudies, is born. Sarai has very little business experience, and her new employees, locals from her small community, have even less. Will this be Sarai’s big break? Or will the opportunity go up in a cloud of smoke?

This book was incredibly fun and a touch surreal. What I really loved about it is that we got to see a female character cast as the absent-minded, wacky genius. So often male characters play this role while women have to be the practical, steady ones, so it was great to see a late-middle-aged mother get to be both eccentric and outstanding at STEM. The culture at the company she founds is a bit unhinged and feels like a sendup of startup culture in the best way.

The entire family at the core of this book is made up of flawed but ultimately loveable characters. Though they sometimes make poor decisions, there is ultimately a lot of love at the core of their relationships with one another.

I love reading translated works that transport me to another place, and the setting of this one, a ski-village-inspired town in the middle of the desert, was vividly fleshed out.

If you love quirky family sagas with a lot of heart, you’ll enjoy this.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me free access to an e-ARC of this book.

[Charlie Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Iddo Gefen's first book, Jerusalem Beach, and was elated to hear that he was coming out with a second. Mrs. Lilienblum's Cloud Factory is a worthy sophomore effort and I'd highly recommend it.

The novel focuses on the Lilienblum family: Sarai, the enigmatic matriarch and title character; her husband Boaz; and their two children Eli and Naomi. Naomi has moved away from their small town in the desert to pursue a career in tech, while Eli, somewhat adrift in life, has remained behind to help his father run their family's hostel. After Naomi returns during a family crisis, tension develops between her and Eli, driven by the differences in the siblings' lives and choices. This tension not only propels the narrative forward, but underpins the central themes of the novel: rural vs. urban, past vs. future, and idealism vs. capitalism.

While I think that Mrs. Lilienblum's Cloud Factory is less philosophically incisive than the best stories from Jerusalem Beach, it still left me with plenty to consider. The book is quite whimsical, with elements reminiscent of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Wes Anderson's Asteroid City, but also has deep sense of melancholy.

Lastly, the prose was excellent. While I haven't the capacity to compare it to the original text, I believe that the translator, Daniella Zamir, did a fantastic job.

As my life gets busier, there are fewer and fewer authors whose new books I will buy no-questions-asked. Gefen is definitely on this list, and I envision him remaining there for as long he continues to write. Thank you to Astra House and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this upcoming title will sit well with readers who enjoy a contemporary family story. It’s a bit of a stretch for me to agree with this book’s classification as a satire. While there are some elements of poking fun at tech startups that I was originally drawn too, I did not find them to be particularly deep or interesting.

Mrs. Lilienblum's Cloud Factory is quite lighthearted, and has some nice buildup around a hiker’s disappearance at the beginning of the novel. I think the author tried to take on a few too many throughlines, however. In particular, the introduction of magical realism via shared dreaming did not lead anywhere, nor did it add anything to the plot. As a result of trying to take on too much, I think the book struggled to wrap up in the end, and some characters’ stories ended rather abruptly.

Thank you to NetGalley and Astra Publishing House for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review! Mrs. Lilienblum's Cloud Factory is scheduled to be published in April 2025.

[Mariela Leiderman · Rating 3 out of 5]

חביב ותו לא.
היחסים בתוך המשפחה היו מעניינים, ההתפתחות של עילי והתהפוכות של נעמי, המסתורין סביב האם, העלילה שמתרחשת ליד המציאות שלנו אבל לא בדיוק. סיפורה של חנה.
הצוק מאוד הזכיר לי את מדרשת בן גוריון, מקום מגוריי, וזה גם היה חביב עלי.
אבל, לא הבנתי מה כל הקטע סביב היי טק. זה ביקורת על התעשייה? זה לעג לאנשים ששואפים לזה? לעג לפריפריה? לא ברור.

[Gal · Rating 5 out of 5]

הפתעת השנה שלי
רומן מפתיע, אנושי וסיפור קומדיה קיומית מלנכולית סוריאליסטית מצוין.
שמישהו יעשה לי מזה סרט.

[Lila Porat · Rating 4 out of 5]

ספר רענן, צעיר ומעניין, הזוי מצד אחד ומאוד אקטואלי מצד שני. ספר שנותן הרבה חומר למחשבה, שואל שאלות על מערכות יחסים, על הגשמת חלומות, על משפחה, האם בגרות זה רק אחריות? ספר מתעסק בחיפוש ערכים ועוגנים.

[Elazar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent premise for a fantastical story. Could have been written better.

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read! I think it's really about family, mostly about parents and children, more than it is about startups or tech, but that's just my take. A bit wacky and odd, overall enjoyable.

[Kyané · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an exiting read. From the contrasting personalities of the Lilienblum’s to their dynamics as a family, everything seemed very intriguing. The subplots created real life-like chaos. I loved that. As well as the secondary characters and everything they added to the story. Not only did the narrative provide a constant sense of intimacy (it truly felt like i was witnessing everything unfold) but it also showed the different ways all of the family members experience life itself and the lengths they are willing to go for each other.
I’m looking forward to read more of Iddo Gefen’s works.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Astra Publishing House for the ARC.

[Shahar · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up because of the end. good ideas that didnt work for me .

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first book by Iddo Gefen, and it was exceptional!

The story revolves around a family living in the desert of southern Israel. The main character, Sarai Lilienblum, is a talented inventor who mysteriously disappears from their family lodge. Her latest invention, which transforms desert sand into rain clouds, goes viral on the internet. As a result, the entire family begins working on producing the cloud factory.

Each family member either has to give up their job and life or sacrifice their happiness to start this venture. We see that no one is perfect, and they each face their struggles. I believe that this is what makes a family; they are all trying their best despite putting aside their own needs. It’s about love and friendship which every human needs!

I loved this book, and I can’t wait to read more of his work. Daniella Zamir did a fantastic job translating it. The vibes this gave me were definitely Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.

Thank you to Netgalley for my ARC.

[The One Where Aimee Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is special. It’s quirky and whimsical and funny and ridiculous in the best way. It’s heartfelt.

The Lilienblum family lives in a remote part of the Israeli desert, near the world’s largest erosion crater. Boaz, the father, owns a hostel-like lodge. It’s a tough way to support a family; the trickle of tourists who cross the threshold are lured by the intrigue of a long-unsolved missing person case, not the beauty of the landscape. This Cliff community is seen as backwards and it’s the least likely place for a tech startup to flourish. So naturally, that’s where the story takes us. What follows is a beautiful story about family, love, friendship and finding oneself. That Iddo Gefen manages to tell such a story while satirizing startup culture is pure creative genius.

I loved every moment of this book and wasn’t ready for it to end! Even though it's only March, I can confidently say this will be one of my top reads of the year!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Astra Publishing House for the ARC. Mrs. Lilienblum’s Cloud Factory will be out 4/1.

[Andrea Mass · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book tremendously! It takes place in a fictionalized version of Mitzpe Ramon in Israel and is a family dramady - the mother is an inventor, the father runs the local hostel, the son never left, and the daughter couldn't leave home fast enough. There's a race to invent a machine that produces rain, a missing hiker that's fascinated tourists for a decade, and a few other story lines that I don't want to spoil.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this 3.5 stars

The story itself is very unique and having a startup in Jerusalem was so interesting. I loved the family dynamics between the kids and their parents and the idea of a vacuum that can create rain was so interesting. Even the story of McMurphy was not what I expected. The book also pokes some fun at Silicon Valley which I enjoyed. The main reason why I can’t give it 4 or more stars was that the story did have lulls where it got a little boring. Also I would have liked some form of tension in the book. The scam and involving the people staying in the hostel was one opportunity for that I felt was missed. In fact I don’t think we ever even interact with the Icelander and I wish that we would have.

[Casey Harrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whimsical Startup Family Dramedy

This book was so fun to read as someone who primarily reads nonfiction. It’s hard to place it in one category, but I would put it somewhere between family drama and comedic satire.

The story is 100% character-driven. Even the setting itself is a character, a massive erosion cirque (crater) in the Negev desert whose jaw-dropping beauty belies its treachery. I absolutely loved the characters because they were all deeply flawed and deeply human. It was incredible to watch the main character, Eli’s, evolution over the course of the novel as he follows his own path to self-discovery. Naomi, his sister, was my favorite character. Ethically ambiguous, she is the master of making things happen and seizing full advantage of every opportunity. The titular character of Sarai Lilienblum, Eli and Naomi’s mother, is a quirky inventor and teacher who never quite figured out how to fit in to society, simultaneously propelled and hindered by her unconventional creativity. And rounding out the core family, the loyal and demure father and husband Boaz relentlessly pursues his dream of operating a thriving lodge in a blooming desert whilst ultimately sacrificing everything for the wellbeing of his wife and children. The other characters who interact with the Lilienblum family drive the plot forward: Robert McMurphy, the mysterious traveler whose unexplained disappearance years ago sparked a niche tourism interest in the village on the edge of the crater, Tamara, the curious and freewheeling reporter from Spain who takes an interest in the McMurphy story (and Eli), Hannah Bialika, the elderly wealthy widow of a notorious businessman who lives in a huge mansion built into the cliff’s edge, and Ben Gould, an Elon Musk-like billionaire investor who catches wind of Mrs. Lilienblum’s invention and makes plans to visit.

The prose has a dreamlike quality and reads like a Wes Anderson film. Magical realism abounds and everything feels colorful and warm. During a Q&A with the author that I was privileged to attend, I was unsurprised to hear that he was inspired by Wes Anderson’s work, and that certainly comes through. The translator did an incredible job adapting this to an English-speaking audience as well.

I think I will definitely re-read this book again. It was quick and delightful, and it is a timely critique of the absurdity of startup culture and prominence of headline-driven scandal culture. I really hope this gets adapted to the screen someday so even more people can enjoy it!

[Deke Moulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow.
Absolutely love this journey. Full of so many silly eccentric characters trying to figure out how the titular Mrs. Lilienblum’s cloud producing vacuum cleaner could become the next huge thing in the tech world.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second Gefen book (also translated by Daniella Zamir, who again did a great job) and it is delightfull. A mix of magical realism, some fantasy and some scifi, it blends into an odd story but in a good way.
Eli is a 22 y old living in what was meant to be a ski resort in the south of Israel. His father runs a hostel nearby, and his mother is an inventor. She stumbles on a way to make sand into water. Together with his sister, the four form a start up “Cloudies”.
Because of them working together and some of their earlier memories and experiences revealed, it shows very layered and universal themes within families.
The book has a nice languid pace, but not too slow. As readers we get to peel back a layer of the proverbial onion, so with every chapter things make a little more sense. It also poses very interesting philosophical questions on ethics, personal vs group responsibilities. Delightfully atmospheric.

[An · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book doesn't really satirizes the less savory and preachy aspects of the corporate tech world, but it's mostly about how different family members Come together to make their dreams come true in a tumultuous climate (figuratively and literally) while trying to achieve financial stability. I appreciate the intent and the foreshadowing, the execution is muddled by too many subplots making the overall experience feel only okay. There’s just too much happening and I’m not sure all these elements were necessary for the story to work. The ending also feels very fairy-tale-like, and I think Naomi was the only fully developed character in the entire family, which is a bit disappointing.

Thanks to netgalley and Astra publishing for the ARC

[Briann Shear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun and interesting book. Mrs. Lilienblum is a talented unconventional inventor who has come up with a machine (an old red vacuum cleaner) that can turn sand into rain. This is the beginning of a wild ride, meeting her husband, son and daughter, and a cast of characters who all have their individual needs and agendas. through these multiple lenses we observe many topics that come into play—-living your authentic life, family relationships, hi-tech business, the interaction of business and artistic pursuits, and more. So much to think about, presented within a quirky, entertaining narrative.

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful and fantastical read! It touches on themes of the mother-son relationship, hometown pride vs. the “real world,” and of course, pokes fun at the tech world. At times it was quirky and odd, and then others, surprisingly poignant. I can see this as an indie film, like when they turned Keret’s Kneller’s Happy Campers into Wristcutters. I highly recommend, especially if you’re someone who misses Israel like I do. Or, like Iddo (haha).

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

45: His high school home room teacher used to go on and on about how normal it was to rebel, how it was a natural, inseparable part of becoming an adult, which always left him to wonder how abnormal it was not to rebel. To feel perfectly content with where you lived.

[Orrezz]

הרעיון יפה ואופטימי, אבל פחות התחברתי לכתיבה.

[Hannah Rosenthal · Rating 3 out of 5]

חביב.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quirky tale of an inventor mother, a thoughtful son, an entrepreneur daughter and a hapless father who together create a company that can manipulate local climate. Funny , clever and entertaining

[Melissa MacLeod · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a strange little story. I'm happy I happened to pick it off the new arrivals shelf.

[RegretfulPenguin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to 4

Thanks to Astra House and NetGalley for the ARC copy of this novel!
Publishing date: April 1st 2025

Inventor Sarai Lilienblum disappears from her family-run lodge, to be later found in the middle of a crater in the southern Israeli desert, drinking Martini in a bathrobe. Her newest invention, a repurposed vacuum cleaner which promises to turn desert sand into rain clouds, goes viral through social media, and from that point on, the whole family commits to build a start-up to achieve the production of the cloud factory on a larger scale.

This one is the story of a family, of sacrifices made for the sake of the unity of the family: we have Mrs. Lilienblum, a talented inventor who gives up on her career dreams to follow her husband in opening a touristic lodge in a little village in the desert; Naomi, the eldest daughter, who quits her successful job in Tel Aviv to support her family in building this start-up; Boaz, the father, whose sacrifice will be clearer towards the end; and finally, Eli, the narrator (the story is in third person, but the focalisation is internal) who sacrifices his personality to please the other members of his family.

The novel is labelled as "comic", which I somewhat agree, especially when describing the building of the start-up (which is a hell of a mess at the beginning, reflecting the chaos the protagonists brings to the party) and the ruthless world of venture capitals and business angels (whose aim is not to foster creativity or the possibility of a better world, but rather -surprise- more money). I greatly appreciated this satirical approach.

What I had some issues with are the characters. We have Sarai who, once she's in the start-up, completely avoids responsibility (ok, understandable when you have the whole picture, but she made my eyes roll quite a few times); then Boaz and Naomi, who are one the mirror image of the other, they both left me disappointed in the end.

Eli is a passive narrator: aside from his active endeavours to solve the mystery of McMurphy (and OH BOY did he solve it... *sad face* *screaming*), he's quite passive in the start-up. Everybody does things behind his back, despite him being the co-founder, so most of the times he's a spectator I felt some pity for.

Overall, the characters are perfectly imperfect, which I think was the aim. Does that mean that I liked them? Not necessarily. (taste!)

I commend Gefen's writing style, as the story could have induced excessive pathos in some places, but he managed to beautifully tell this story without useless pleasantries.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Irish hiker who went missing in a dessert crater in southern Israel, an eccentric middle-age high school teacher who invents a machine that supposedly can create rain clouds using an old vacuum cleaner, and e-mail phishing scam using the name General Luciano Rodríguez Ancelotti III . . . as the Kirkus review states, there's "no shortage of promising premises" in this bizarre satire of Israeli start-up culture. While it was funny and clever at times, and I was compelled to finish it, it just didn't quite come together for me. Iddo Gefen is a neurocognitive researcher at the Virtual and Augmented Reality Lab at the Sagol Brain Institute in Tel Aviv. He won the Israeli Minister of Culture Award and the $100,000 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature for his collection of short stories, Jerusalem Beach (published in English in 2021). Born in 1992, Gefen has been called the best Israeli short story writer since Etgar Keret and the voice of his generation. His debut novel, Mrs. Lilienblum's Cloud Factory, will be published in English in April 2025 (I received an ARC from Edelweis) and he's definitely and Israeli writer to watch for especially if you're a fan of Keret, Eshkol Nevo and Yishai Sarid.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is something wonderful about watching an author’s work blossom and grow. In my review* of Iddo Gefen’s “Jerusalem Beach: Stories,” I noted that the stories “prove Gefen is a talent to watch.” There is, of course, always a danger that a work will not live up to one’s expectation. In fact, when reading the opening chapters of “Mrs. Lilienblum’s Cloud Factory” (Astra House), I worried that the author was not going to be able to pull together the disparate pieces of his puzzle. I am happy to say that, not only did he successfully manage to do that, but his witty and quirky novel ultimately proved to be a moving piece of literature.
See the rest of my review at https://www.thereportergroup.org/book...

[Erin Martins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mrs. Lilienblum's Cloud Factory is a quiet, imaginative story that mixes lightheartedness with something darker and more emotional. I loved the mood of this book. The writing is so dreamy that it makes you feel like you're in a strange, tender world. There’s a sad quality that makes it seem deep and thoughtful, even when the plot gets a little strange.

I loved the originality and mood, but the pacing was off at times, which kept it from being a full 5-star read for me. Even so, it's a unique and memorable book that stuck with me after I finished it. I think people who like literary fiction with magical or speculative elements and a more thoughtful tone would like it.

Thank you to Astra Publishing House and Netgalley for a chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Yenta Knows · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing notes on 1/28, having read 209/273. I am going to lead the discussion for my book club.

Many stories.
Family story — the Lilienbaums and their interactions
Mystery — where is Robert McMurphy? Who is his family?
Satire of high tech startups
Coming of age for Eli
Romance between Tamara and Eli
Startup story of Cloudies
Mystery of Sarai: brilliantly creative and quirky, or just quirky?
Dilemma of Naomi? What does she really want?
Mystery of Hannah Bialika and her marriage. Love, hate, greed, why were they still together?


On page 209: “I realized the power a good story had in people.” Although spoken by Boaz Lilienbaum, thought is Geffen.

Eli has great emotional intelligence. Suspect that in the parameter, Eli is Iddo.