LESSANS FAMILY Literary Series 2022-2023
Love to read? Enjoy meaningful discussions? Join us for one, or all, of the upcoming Lessans Family Literary Series discussions.
PURCHASE TICKETS
Roundabout By Elaine Durbach Norstein
October 14, 2022 | 10:30 AM
Nothing in Sally’s life has worked out as she intended.
When her beloved Felix dies suddenly, she feels he has betrayed her too. But as she goes through his possessions, in the seaside cottage outside Cape Town where they finally found happiness, each discovery unlocks more questions.
And each day brings new answers — about their love and what pushed them apart, and how she can build a fulfilling life for herself.
“The mystery is wrapped in beautiful prose, and revealed slowly, bit by juicy bit. I wanted to read it
over time, but found myself diving in, and devouring it over a weekend, because it is that kind of book.”
— Amazon Review
The Man Who Sold Air
in the Holy Land
Omer Friedlander
December 9, 2022
10:30 AM
A Death in Jerusalem
Jonathan Dunsky
January 23, 2023
12:30 PM
Beat The Devils by Josh Weiss
February 10, 2023
10:30 AM
USA, 1958. President Joseph McCarthy sits in the White House, elected on a wave of populist xenophobia and barely‑concealed anti‑Semitism. The country is in the firm grip of McCarthy’s Hueys, a secret police force evolved from the House Un-American Activities Committee. Hollywood’s sparkling vision of the American dream has been suppressed; its remaining talents forced to turn out endless anti‑communist propaganda.
The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz
February 16, 2023
11:00 AM
A complex novel that builds slowly and deliberately, The Latecomer touches on the topics of grief and guilt, generational trauma, privilege and race, traditions and religion, and family dynamics. It is a profound and witty family story from an accomplished author, known for the depth of her character studies, expertly woven storylines, and plot twists.
Meet the Hamantaschen
Alan Silberberg
March 9, 2023
4:30 PM
The Postmistress of Paris
Meg Waite Clayton
March 16, 2023
2:00 PM
Modern Jewish
Comfort Food
Shannon Sarna
March 23, 2023
7:00 PM
The House of Fragile Things
Jewish Art Collectors and the Fall of France
James McAuley
April 17, 2023
7:00 PM
In the dramatic years between 1870 and the end of World War II, a number of prominent French Jews—pillars of an embattled community—invested their fortunes in France’s cultural artifacts, sacrificed their sons to the country’s army, and were ultimately rewarded by seeing their collections plundered and their families deported to Nazi concentration camps.
In this rich, evocative account, James McAuley explores the central role that art and material culture played in the assimilation and identity of French Jews in thefin de siècle. Weaving together narratives of various figures, some familiar from the works of Marcel Proust and the diaries of Jules and Edmond Goncourt—the Camondos, the Rothschilds, the Ephrussis, the Cahens d’Anvers—McAuley shows how Jewish art collectors contended with a powerful strain of anti-Semitism: they were often accused of “invading” France’s cultural patrimony. The collections these families left behind—many ultimately donated to the French state—were their response, tragic attempts to celebrate a nation that later betrayed them.
Fighting Back
Jeffrey Weiss
April 25, 2023
7:00 PM
The Most Likely Club
Elyssa Friedland
May 12, 2023
10:30 AM
| House of Fragile Things | Monday, April 17th - 7 PM |
| The Postmistress of Paris | Tuesday, May 9th - 7:00PM |
A powerful history of Jewish art collectors in France, and how an embrace of art and beauty was met with hatred and destruction
“The depths of French anti-Semitism is the stunning subject that Mr. McAuley lays bare. . . . [He] tells this haunting saga in eloquent detail. As French anti-Semitism rises once again today, the effect is nothing less than chilling.”—Diane Cole, Wall Street Journal
“Elegantly written and deeply moving. . . . [A] haunting book.”—David Bell, New York Review of Books
In the dramatic years between 1870 and the end of World War II, a number of prominent French Jews—pillars of an embattled community—invested their fortunes in France’s cultural artifacts, sacrificed their sons to the country’s army, and were ultimately rewarded by seeing their collections plundered and their families deported to Nazi concentration camps.
In this rich, evocative account, James McAuley explores the central role that art and material culture played in the assimilation and identity of French Jews in thefin de siècle. Weaving together narratives of various figures, some familiar from the works of Marcel Proust and the diaries of Jules and Edmond Goncourt—the Camondos, the Rothschilds, the Ephrussis, the Cahens d’Anvers—McAuley shows how Jewish art collectors contended with a powerful strain of anti-Semitism: they were often accused of “invading” France’s cultural patrimony. The collections these families left behind—many ultimately donated to the French state—were their response, tragic attempts to celebrate a nation that later betrayed them.
For more information, please contact Marcie Blackman at mblackman@benderjccgw.org or 301-348-3808.
The Lessans Family Literary Series Presents
Meg Waite Clayton, The Postmistress of Paris
Thursday, May 9 | 7:00 PM | $10 | Virtual – Via Zoom
The Bender JCC is thrilled to welcome back New York Times bestselling author, Meg Waite Clayton for a virtual presentation of her international bestseller, The Postmistress of Paris. Meg will be in conversation with Bender JCC community member and author, Deborah Kalb.
For more information, please contact Marcie Blackman at mblackman@benderjccgw.org or 301-348-3808.
ABOUT THE BOOK
The New York Times bestselling author of The Last Train to London revisits the dark early days of the German occupation in France in this haunting novel—a love story and a tale of high-stakes danger and incomparable courage—about a young American heiress who helps artists hunted by the Nazis escape from war-torn Europe.
Wealthy, beautiful Naneé was born with a spirit of adventure. For her, learning to fly is freedom. When German tanks roll across the border and into Paris, this woman with an adorable dog and a generous heart joins the resistance. Known as the Postmistress because she delivers information to those in hiding, Naneé uses her charms and skill to house the hunted and deliver them to safety.
Photographer Edouard Moss has escaped Germany with his young daughter only to be interned in a French labor camp. His life collides with Nanée’s in this sweeping tale of romance and danger set in a world aflame with personal and political passion.
Inspired by the real life Chicago heiress Mary Jayne Gold, who worked with American journalist Varian Fry to smuggle artists and intellectuals out of France, The Postmistress of Paris is the haunting story of an indomitable woman whose strength, bravery, and love is a beacon of hope in a time of terror.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times bestseller and book club favorite Meg Waite Clayton is the author of eight novels, most recently the international bestseller The Postmistress of Paris. Her international bestseller and National Jewish Book Award finalist The Last Train to London is published or forthcoming in 20 languages. Her screenplay for that novel was chosen for the prestigious Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman sponsored The Writers Lab.
Meg’s prior novels include the #1 Amazon fiction bestseller Beautiful Exiles; the Langum Prize honored The Race for Paris; The Wednesday Sisters, named one of Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Essential Best Friend Novels of all time (on a list with The Three Musketeers!); and The Language of Light, a finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. She has written more than 100 shorter pieces for the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Runner’s World, and public radio, often on the particular challenges women face. She mentors for the OpEd Project and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the California bar.
