A Literary Afternoon Series
Personal appearances by 9 noted authors. Learn about their works and the creative process.
Monday, November 17, 2:00 pm
Lihi Lapid, I Wanted to be Wonderful
With honesty, humor and insight, Lihi Lapid explores the challenges of marriage and early motherhood as we follow the lives of two women. One is a fictional character trying to live the desired happily-ever-after life. The second is the author herself, who shares her real-life story, including the devastating discovery that something is seriously wrong with her young daughter.
Lihi Lapid is an author and journalist whose books deal with contemporary women’s issues. She has written two bestselling novels in Israel, Secrets from Within and Woman of Valor, and a third novel On Her Own; a cookbook entitled Lihi Lapid’s Favorite Recipes, and a bestselling children’s book, The Magic Whisper. Prior to becoming a writer, Ms. Lapid was a professional photographer. Educated at the prestigious Camera Obscura School of Art and Tel Aviv University, she served in the Israel Defense Forces as a photographer for its Bamachane magazine. She lives with her husband, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, in Tel Aviv.
Tuesday, December 9, 2:00 pm
Allegra Goodman, Isola
Beautifully written, this extraordinary adventure of one woman’s heroic fight for survival was inspired by the real life of a French 16th Century noblewoman. The heiress Marguerite is brutally punished by her unscrupulous guardian and banished to an uninhabited island with her lover and nursemaid. As survival becomes uncertain, she finds her strength in a newfound faith she never knew she needed.
Allegra Goodman is the author of six novels, including the national bestseller Sam, which was a Read with Jenna selection; two short story collections; and a novel for young readers. Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker and elsewhere, and has been anthologized in The O. Henry Awards and Best American Short Stories. She lives with her family in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Tuesday, December 16, 2:00 pm
Sara Goodman Confino, Behind Every Good Man
In this hilarious and uplifting novel, a wronged wife takes on her husband by outmaneuvering him in the one arena he thinks he owns: politics. Using her wits, political instincts, and modern ideas, she transforms his campaign.
Sara Goodman Confino is the bestselling author of five novels, and the upcoming Good Grief. After spending years teaching high school English and journalism, she is currently writing full time and trying to make a living off of the crazy stories in her head. She lives in Montgomery County, Maryland with her husband, two sons, two miniature schnauzers, and a goldfish that seems to be vying for the world record of longest living fish. When she’s not writing or frantically parenting, she can be found on the Peloton, at the beach, or at a Bruce Springsteen concert, sometimes even dancing onstage.
Tuesday, January 6, 2:00 pm
Alka Joshi, Six Days in Bombay
Using her superb story-telling skills, the author transports readers back in time and across continents in her powerful tale of female resilience, friendship, and self-discovery. Beginning in 1937, it follows Sona, a half Indian, half British young nurse who experiences prejudice from both cultures. She befriends Mira, a mysterious painter who unexpectedly tasks her with delivering three special paintings to her friends. Sona’s travels lead her to discover the secrets to Mira’s past, and a new beginning for herself.
Alka Joshi is The New York Times bestselling author of The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and The Perfumist of Paris. Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, The Henna Artist was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick and has been translated into 29 languages. Alka graduated from Stanford University (BA ’80) and California College of Arts.
Thursday, January 8, 2:00 pm
at B’nai Torah Congregation, 6261 SW 18th St, Boca Raton, FL 33433
Sam Sussman, Boy From the North Country
This stunning debut is one of the most tender mother-son novels of our era. It is based on the author’s life as told in his 2021 Harper’s Magazine memoir essay. When Evan, 26, returns home to care for his ailing mother, he discovers the astonishing truth of his origins and the secrets of a woman whose life and wisdom he is only beginning to understand. Inspired by the author’s own uncertain celebrity paternity, the novel offers a rare view into the life of Bob Dylan in the year he turned to Jewish spiritual wisdom and is a tribute to 1970s New York Jewish bohemia.
Sam Sussman wrote the Harper’s Magazine memoir, The Silent Type: On (Possibly) Being Bob Dylan’s Son. Sam has been Contributing Editor at the Tel Aviv Review of Books and lived in Berlin and Jerusalem. He earned a B.A. from Swarthmore and M.Phil from Oxford and was a Fellow at LABA: The Laboratory for Jewish Culture at the 14th Street Y.
Tuesday, February 3, 2:00 pm
Pam Jenoff, Last Twilight in Paris
This is a gripping and fast-paced mystery whose main characters are Louise (London, 1953) and Helaine (Paris, 1938). Louise is working in a thrift shop when in a box labeled “Levitan”, a Parisian department store, she finds half of a necklace she has seen before when she was with the Red Cross in Nazi-occupied Europe. Trying to find the connection between the necklace, the store and a friend’s mysterious wartime death, she learns of the dark history of Levitan, which served as a Nazi prison, and of Helaine, a French Jew who was imprisoned there.
Pam Jenoff is the author of several books of historical fiction, including the NYT best-sellers The Lost Girls of Paris and The Woman with the Blue Star. She holds a degree in international affairs from George Washington University and a degree in history from Cambridge, and she received her J.D. from UPenn. She lives with her husband and three children near Philadelphia, where, in addition to writing, she teaches law school.
Tuesday, February 17, 2:00 pm
Mary Morris, The Red House
An unsolved family mystery, a poignant coming-of-age story and World War II Italian history are masterfully woven together. Laura was twelve years old when her mother went missing; the family never recovered from her loss. Decades later, seeking answers, Laura returns to Italy where they lived before coming stateside. Clues hidden in her mother’s haunting paintings of a red house lead Laura to her mother’s hometown in Puglia. As she travels north following her mother’s trail, she uncovers wartime secrets, hidden identities, and the truth behind her family’s unraveling.
Mary Morris is the author of numerous works of fiction, including the novels Gateway to the Moon, The Jazz Palace, A Mother’s Love, and House Arrest, and of nonfiction, including the travel classic Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone. Morris is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature and the 2016 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Monday, March 2, 2:00 pm
Amy Blumenfeld, Such Good People
At 10:00 pm on a Thursday, college freshman April meets her lifelong friend Rudy in a Manhattan bar — and in an instant, lives and legacies are altered forever. Within hours, Rudy is arrested and later incarcerated; within days, April is expelled. Years later, when April is married to Peter, a candidate for local election, Rudy is up for parole. Headlines explode about her past, and she is faced with an impossible choice: Protect the life she created, or the person who sacrificed everything to make that life possible? Thought-provoking and heartfelt, this is a multi-dimensional must-read about loyalty, justice, love and second chances.
Amy Blumenfeld is an award-winning author and journalist. A graduate of Barnard College and the Columbia University School of Journalism, her work has appeared in various publications including The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Hadas-sah, Moment, O, The Oprah Magazine, and on the cover of People. She is a contributor to the USA Today Bestselling anthology, On Being Jewish Now and her debut novel, The Cast, was listed as a New York Post “Best Book of the Week.” Amy lives in New York with her husband and daughter. Such Good People is her second novel.
Tuesday, March 24, 2:00 pm
Jennifer S. Brown, The Whisper Sister
The author of Modern Girls delivers an atmospheric coming-of-age story set in Prohibition-era New York. The Whisper Sister is captivating historical fiction that offers a fresh perspective on the Prohibition era and the immigrant experience through the eyes of a resilient young woman forced to navigate a dangerous and exciting new world.
Jennifer S. Brown’s debut novel, Modern Girls, was a USA Today bestseller, a Massachusetts Book Award “Must Read,” and a 2016 Goodreads Choice semifinalist for Historical Fiction. Her writing has been published in Fiction Southeast, McSweeney’s, The Best Women’s Travel Writing, The Southeast Review, and the Bellevue Literary Review, among other places. She teaches writing, both in-person in the Boston area as well as online through the Loft Literary Center. The Whisper Sister is her second novel.
Individual Programs: $25, Gold and Gold Plus Members: $20, Platinum Members: Free; Programs at B’nai Torah Congregation are $18 for all tickets (no member discounts) Literary Afternoon Series Subscription: All 9 Programs $150, Gold and Gold Plus Members: $130, Platinum Members: Free
