Author. She published more than 20 successful Jewish-themed novels, releasing the first at age 59. Raised in New York City, she graduated from Barnard College in 1939 with a degree in history, then began writing short stories for "Cosmopolitan" and other magazines before temporarily retiring in order to raise her three children. In 1978 she saw her debut novel "Evergreen", which centered-on a Polish immigrant girl in early 20th. century New York, spend over a year on the "New York Times" best-seller list (in hardcover and paperback versions), then penned, always in longhand, a steady stream of similar works to the end of her life. She wrote three sequels to "Evergreen" (which was also made into a 1985 NBC miniseries), "Crescent City" (1984) which concerns the plight of Jews in Civil War New Orleans, "The Carousel" (1995) that confronts child sex abuse, the 1996 "Promise" dealing with divorce, and other similar fare. Her last offering was 2004's "Crossroads", which sees a woman raise her husband's illegitimate child, though at her death another follow-up to "Evergreen" was pending release. Of her motivation for writing, she said: "I got sick of reading the same old story, told by Jewish writers, of the same old stereotypes...I wanted to write a different novel about Jews-and a truer one".
Author. She published more than 20 successful Jewish-themed novels, releasing the first at age 59. Raised in New York City, she graduated from Barnard College in 1939 with a degree in history, then began writing short stories for "Cosmopolitan" and other magazines before temporarily retiring in order to raise her three children. In 1978 she saw her debut novel "Evergreen", which centered-on a Polish immigrant girl in early 20th. century New York, spend over a year on the "New York Times" best-seller list (in hardcover and paperback versions), then penned, always in longhand, a steady stream of similar works to the end of her life. She wrote three sequels to "Evergreen" (which was also made into a 1985 NBC miniseries), "Crescent City" (1984) which concerns the plight of Jews in Civil War New Orleans, "The Carousel" (1995) that confronts child sex abuse, the 1996 "Promise" dealing with divorce, and other similar fare. Her last offering was 2004's "Crossroads", which sees a woman raise her husband's illegitimate child, though at her death another follow-up to "Evergreen" was pending release. Of her motivation for writing, she said: "I got sick of reading the same old story, told by Jewish writers, of the same old stereotypes...I wanted to write a different novel about Jews-and a truer one".
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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