Spring 2024
Klass Notes
Spring 2024
Even as I write this, I doubt that it’s really Spring. In the Santa Barbara area, where I live, we commonly refer to May Gray and June Gloom. But, I don’t know what to call this April…when it has been cold and gray, with lots of unseasonable rain. The good news was on a recent walk around Lake Cachuma, where we saw the lake filled to capacity…ensuring plenty of water for wildlife and people. Also note the snow-capped mountains in the background. It’s like Switzerland in Santa Barbara (though my Swiss friend Elisabeth laughs at what I call mountains—saying ours are nothing like Switzerland’s).
I intended to write only about writerly news. Though, at the beginning of Passover, 5784, I am also filled with thoughts of the world. We are celebrating freedom and the ability to sit down together at the table with our loved ones and tell the part of the history of Jewish people when we escaped bondage. And yet, celebrations all over the world feel as if they should be muted, not filled with unbridled joy. There is so much sorrow as the many Israeli hostages remain in captivity, the Palestinians are suffering mightily with deprivations humans never should experience, the war in Ukraine grinds on, and an election looms in November while political extremists try to control effective government in Washington.
Yet, with these many sobering events, we still gather at Passover and all the other family celebrations to come, and treasure our loved ones. This year I am particularly appreciative of friends and family. My sister died this month and my circle is aging. The closer I get to 80, the more I love and want to hold close the many long-time friends in my life. None of my dear ones has escaped without physical or psychological scars…how absurd if we got through life without them. And, so I’ll share what makes me the happiest: writing and reading.
I have several big news items to report on my late-in-life publishing career. First of all, after long last, the audiobook for The Earthquake Child is now widely available on all platforms, including Audible/Amazon, Google Play, Kobo, NOOK, etc.
Click play button below for 1 min audio sample
I learned a lot getting this audio book into the world. Audible, certainly the biggest distributor of audio books, held things up for technical reasons I never really understood. Kimberly Wetherell is the narrator. Although we’ve never met (Kimberly lives in Brooklyn), we’ve developed a very special relationship. She also narrated my earlier novel, Love is a Rebellious Bird. I was so pleased with her work, I asked her to do this new book as well. Sending chapters back and forth for editing, as well as listening to the words I put on paper spoken out loud, not in the intimacy of my own writing room, I felt very close to Kimberly. I trusted her with my novel, getting just the right tone and amount of expression into its reading. In this second book, she also had the challenge of sounding like a belligerent teen-aged boy, a scared young birth-mother, and a mature woman who is struggling through tragedy and challenge. I think she got all of it right! But, for those who listen, please let me know your thoughts.
Next, I wanted to announce that for five days only, Saturday, April 27th until Wednesday, May 1st, the ebook version of The Earthquake Child, will be priced at $.99. A deal! This is made possible by my publisher SheWritesPress, who obtained an international deal for me through BookBub. It means that readers all around the globe who subscribe to BookBub will receive this special offer which is also being matched by my publisher for these five days only. So, this is a good time to order the ebook of The Earthquake Child and get this special price.
And last in writerly news, I want to announce that a story I wrote is being included in the upcoming production of The Braid (formerly known as the Jewish Women’s Theater). This wonderful group has their home in Santa Monica, and is known for bringing their traveling shows to many parts of California and beyond. The shows are also available on Zoom. I’ve followed this theater group for ten years, first regularly attending their shows in Palo Alto when we lived in Northern California, then helping bring them here to the Santa Ynez Valley. They have a unique format. Each show has a theme. Professional actors read, but also act, the true stories of the theme being produced. There is immediacy and humor and pathos and I’ve never left one of The Braid’s performances without many laughs as well as wiping away a few tears. Past performances have focused on Social Activism, Food, The Holocaust, Immigrants, Health, Grief and Loss. Recent shows have addressed the topic Jews of many colors. I have submitted a few times in the past, but now one of my stories will be in the May-June, 2024 show. This production’s theme is: Asian American Jews, and is done in cooperation with The Lunar Collective, an organization of Asian American Jewish people. (I’ve learned that there are many more than I realized). One of the stories performed will be about my husband David, who is of Chinese ancestry. I wrote about our meeting and his eventual decision to become a Jew by Choice. I hope you’ll be able to attend one of the shows. Although my husband is a very fine looking fellow, he’ll be played by a very handsome Asian American actor. I’ll be at the Los Gatos as well as the Calabasas shows. Come say hello!
Finally, I’d like to recommend, as always, a few books that have made this last season’s reading exciting and meaningful for me. These are, in no particular order:
1. Day by Michael Cunningham. Cunningham also wrote The Hours, a beautiful homage to Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. This novel was turned into a gorgeous movie and then an opera! Cunningham uses a similar formular in this book, visiting the same extended family before, during and after the Covid pandemic. It’s also a tribute to moving forward while remembering loss and grief (certainly a theme of Mrs. Dalloway, as well.)
2. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. Although Wilkerson writes non-fiction, her ear for story telling still makes this tough material a page-turner. Along with many others, I think this latest book by Pulitzer-winning Wilkerson, is one of the most important I’ve read. Her comparison of the treatment of American Blacks, lower caste Indians, and Jews during the Holocaust, had me shaking my head in sorrow. And yet, I learned so much and hope I absorbed messages that will make me a more compassionate person.
3. The Library of Legends by Janie Chang. I recently moderated a panel for the Assistance League of Northern California. This extremely worthwhile organization sponsored Lunch with the Authors. I got to speak about my own work, but also met Janie Chang, a Canadian historical fiction writer. I read several of her books, but found this one delightful for you historical fiction fans. She bases her story on her father’s experiences in China as an academic. Before World War II, universities in China went on the move to protect precious collections of ancient scholarly works, as well as the highly-respected university students, themselves. This says a lot about China’s pre-war regard for intellectual activity.
4. The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff. I loved Groff’s earlier works, Florida and Fates and Furies. Each one of her books is completely different from the others. In her brand new novel, Groff takes us to colonial America, where a young girl escapes from a colonial settlement and must live in the wilds of America. I heard Groff interviewed by Santa Barbara’s treasure, Pico Iyer, recently. She was so smart and her views on the natural world were enlightening. It’s a magical and lyrical read.
5. Japan for Beginners by the above-mentioned Pico Iyer. In preparation for our trip to Japan, we read quite a bit about the country—one I found incredibly complex and probably the least easy-to-understand place I’ve ever visited. Pico Iyer’s book is not really a typical guidebook, but a small book that gives the reader the feel of life as experienced by Iyer in his decade-long sojourn in Japan. I loved the glimpses into everyday life in residential Kyoto and thought back to it when we were recently in Kyoto.
6. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. Released in 1997, Golden’s book spent several years on the NYTimes best-seller list and was turned into a very watchable movie. I found it also provided great background for our trip to Japan. We kept our eyes out for any real-life geishas in Kyoto…but were taken with all the beautiful Japanese young women who rent kimonos and dress and style their hair to look like geishas when they visit the shrines and temples of Japan. We kept asking our guide if they were “real” geishas. She looked amused and said, “No, renting a traditional kimono, obi and matching sandals is just a popular custom for young women—especially on holidays.” Reading Golden’s fascinating book about geishas in pre-war Japan was also wonderful preparation for our trip.
Since I’ve included these two books about Japan, I’ll end by sharing some photos from our recent remarkable trip to Japan. In March, we spent three weeks there—first focusing on Japanese food. We were led by our friend, Rosa Jackson, the food writer and director of Les Petits Farcis Cooking School in Nice, France. Rosa helped of us experience Japanese food—high and low and from a variety of regions. The last week of the trip we spent on our own, exploring the arts and crafts of Japan. I felt so fortunate to have experienced Japan in this way. As shown in the final picture, my cup runneth over.
Thanks for reading, friends!
