The forground of this book is very simple: a young man hopelessly falls in love for a woman he can't marry. But in the background a deep psychological plot slowly evolves and carries the reader to the complex world of the Jewish towns in Eastern Europe before WW 2. Agnon as usual is very perceptive, very smart and writes with his wonderful combination of humor,cynicism and compassion.

Agnon is the James Joyce of Hebrew Literature. This book is relatively short and accessible. It serves as a great intro to his works. In a few brief passages, Agnon vividly re-creates Jaffa and Vienna of circa 1900. In the same way that Joyce adds references to all of western literature, Agnon brings in both western and Jewish literature. This short book is packed with references to ancient Greek literature, Hebrew bible, Talmud, medieval commentaries, 19th century German philosophy and more. Yet it is an engaging, dramatic story, full of romance, suspense and the supernatural.

The late S.Y. Agnon, Israel's Nobel Laureate and acknowledge master of modern Hebrew fiction, is the author of more than 24 novels, novellas, and short story collections, was a master storyteller who aptly and amply demonstrated the literary abilities of the Hebrew language. Betrothed (written in 1943) is set in Palestine, in 1909, where a gentle scholar who studies the sea encounters a beautiful girl in the grip of a mysterious illness. This engaging story was first translated into English by Walter Lever in 1966 and is now available as an unabridged, flawlessly produced and narrated audiobook which will splendidly introduce a whole new generation to a master craftsman of enduring literature.

As a lover of Yiddish writers I disagree with the reviewer who compared S.Y. Agnon to Isaac Bashevis Singer. I enjoyed Only Yesterday but don't think it compares at all to anything written by Singer. I found many passages in this book seemingly pointless and rambling, the grammar, in parts, was simplistic as was the style. This could have been the "fault" of the translators. I did enjoy parts of the books and wanted the whole book to be as good as the best parts but it wasn't the case. If you love books written by Yiddish authors I wholeheartedly recommend reading Only Yesterday by S.Y. Agnon but I urge you to read everything by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

"Only Yesterday" is, perhaps, Agnon's greatest work. In it, he displays the skill of a consummate novelist with the sensibilities of a poet. For those who are familiar with Hebrew poetry, particularly Biblical poetry, "Only Yesterday" conveys in English the rhythms and structure of classic Hebrew poetry while transmitting a sensual and, ultimately, tragic story. It is really not comparable to Singer; it is something far above and beyond Singer's work.

Agnon deserved his Nobel Prize. His most important work, Only Yesterday, casts an array of lights into the inner world of Judaism. Anyone who enjoys Bashevis Singer or Sholom Aleichem will kick themselves for the years they wasted without Agnon, who surpasses them. The translation itself is a wonder. It reproduces the Biblical style of narrative which Agnon brought to modern Hebrew literature. Agnon melds the traditional elements of Rabbinic parable and folkloric animal stories into the modern narrative of the turn-the-century Jewish settlers of Palestine. All in all, the appearance of the English translation is a great event, a must read for lovers of Jewish literature.