Jewish Book Festival brochure

Praise for this season’s festival authors and books
“This book is beautiful and brilliant. The substance of
Elie Wiesel’s teaching will always be with us. Now,
thanks to Ariel Burger – a writer of great spiritual
and intellectual integrity – we have access to the way
Wiesel taught generations of students, not only
through his words but in the way he lived his life
and held his relationships. Wiesel was a treasure of
true humanity in the face of unspeakable suffering.”
– Parker J. Palmer, author of On the Brink of Everything
and The Courage to Teach
“Sarvas’s rich and engaging second novel is worth
the decade’s wait since his first... Sarvas couples
a suspenseful mystery with nuanced meditations
on father-son bonds, the intricacies of identity, the
aftershocks of history’s horrors, and the ways people
and artworks can – perhaps even must – be endlessly
reinterpreted.”
– Publishers Weekly
“Erbelding writes vividly of intrigue and espionage,
secret negotiations, money laundering, ransoming of
victims, and rescue ships... Erbelding’s history is an
important contribution to understanding America’s
humanitarian efforts during and after WWII and a
timely perspective, given questions about today’s
world crises.”
– Booklist
“The Intermission deftly pulls apart the puzzle of one
couple’s marriage and lays the pieces bare, posing the
question: Would you walk away from your marriage
in order to save it? A provocative, insightful look at
the intricacies of marriage, the role of fate, and the
unpredictable nature of love.”
– Jamie Brenner, bestselling author of The Husband
Hour
“This exquisitely crafted and compassionate novel
offers a lesson in honesty, regardless of how difficult
the truth may be. It will offer plenty of discussion for
book groups.”
– Library Journal
“Long renowned as a master of historical fiction,
Alyson Richman spreads her wings and soars with
the contemporary story… The Secret of Clouds is an
unforgettable gift.”
– Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of
The Orphan’s Tale
“A mysterious collection of papers hidden in a historic
London home sends two scholars of Jewish history
on an unforgettable quest... Kadish’s characters are
memorable, and we’re treated to a host of them: pious
rabbis and ribald actors, socialites and troubled young
men, Mossad agents and rule-worshipping archivists.
From Shakespeare’s Dark Lady to Spinoza’s philosophical
heresies, Kadish leaves no stone unturned in
this moving historical epic. Chock-full of rich detail
and literary intrigue.”
– Kirkus Reviews
“Tova Mirvis has already established herself as a
first-rate novelist with The Ladies Auxiliary, The
Outside World and Visible City. With The Book of
Separation: A Memoir, Mirvis shifts genres, reveals
some of the autobiographical germs of her fiction,
and compellingly chronicles the process of separating
from Orthodoxy... The respect for intra-Jewish
difference that Mirvis models for her children – and
for readers – is a precious gift to the Jewish literary
world... Beautiful and poignant.”
– Lilith magazine
“With warmth, intelligence and a wryly humane
voice, Carol Zoref gives us an unforgettable heroine
and shines a light on a forgotten chapter of the American
story. Richly atmospheric and deeply tender,
Barren Island is a thought-provoking pleasure.”
– Brian Morton, author of Starting Out in the Evening
and Florence Gordon
“The book offers practical advice, interesting narratives,
and a sound perspective on how to change
one’s viewpoint from drudgery to exploring an older
adult’s wealth of knowledge and experience in a
positive manner.”
– Portland Book Review
“Nuanced, sharp and beautifully written, Sadness Is
a White Bird manages, with seeming effortlessness,
to find something fresh and surprising and poignant
in the classic coming-of-age, love-triangle narrative,
something starker, more heartbreaking: something
new.”
– Michael Chabon, novelist and short story writer
“Graceful, instructive, wry speechwriter memoirs
like Litt’s are the exception rather than the norm...
Thanks, Obama will join the ranks of lasting works
about the texture of political life, and of coming-ofage
accounts by staffers who grow up personally and
politically at the same time.”
– The Atlantic