DORON, Lizzie << back to list Lizzie Doron was born in Tel Aviv and raised as an only child by her mother, a survivor of the War. After an academic career in Cognitive Sciences and Theoretical Linguistics at Tel-Aviv University, Doron is now a full time writer, currently working on her sixth book.. Her first three books, a trilogy, were bestsellers, and have been included in the Israeli school curriculum, upon the recommendation of the Education Ministry. The author is the recipient of the Jeanette Schocken Preis (Germany 2007) WIZO Prize (Italy 2008) and the Premio Letterario Francesco Alziator (Italy 2009). (photo © David Garb) Bibliography & Foreign sales WHERE WERE YOU BEFORE THE WAR (Fiction) ONCE THERE WAS A FAMILY (Fiction) DAYS OF SILENCE (Fiction) (A Trilogy) Lizzie Doron’s trilogy - a collection of short stories, Why Didn’t You Come Before the War (1998); the novel Once There Was A Family (2002); and Days of Silence (2003) - portrays the lives of the inhabitants of a strange, almost autonomous world, in the middle of Tel-Aviv. Determined to recreate their shuttered lives, each of these survivors from hell deals with his “life after death” in his own way, trying to hold on to a kind of sanity. At the heart of the trilogy stands Helena, the narrator’s mother, an ingenious and creative woman, equipped with a bitter sense of humor and a strong sense of dignity. The first book is told from the point of view of a growing girl, while the second is seen through the eyes of a young woman who comes back home to bury her mother. The third novel tells the stories of the community’s elders, from the point of view of the manicurist who has worked in the neighborhood for over 30 years, and knows everybody, intimately. As the novel progresses, the hidden world of the manicurist is revealed, her love affair with the hairdresser, and the lives and secrets of the people who have reinvented themselves. With the help of an external narrator all the pieces come together and the trilogy is complete. Rights sold to: Germany, Juedischer Verlag Suhrkamp; France, Heloise d’Ormesson; Italy, La Guintina; Russia, Text Publishers; Poland, Muza; Croatia, SysPrint; Israel: Halonot; Keter, Yad Vashem; Reviews ”With great sensitivity and a feel for the comic element, Lizzie Doron has written a wonderful book. She has given the indescribable form and her mother dignity and individuality.” Neue Zuericher Zeitung ”There is tenderness and a lot of restraint but also oddities in the simply drawn up chapters. With the eyes of a grown-up who remembers, the reader discovers not only evil but the shadow it projected over those that suffered, the wounds that it dug and the abyss it opened.” Les Mondes des Livres “The literary banality of evil is something you won’t find in Lizzie Doron’s book Once There Was A Family… Even those who are liable to toss this wonderful book away at the mention of the word ‘holocaust’ will be surprised at what a little gem it is – wise and full of humor. One can’t help being charmed by the two marvelous Holocaust-survivor ‘shiva specialists’ who accompany the narrator on her journey to discover the mother she never knew – and herself. Among the visitors to the house of mourning are a mix of characters from here and from there…The living and the dead come to pay Helena their last respects. But this is not a melancholy, lifeless procession. Despite their tragedies the visitors are vibrant, colorful characters, sometimes even comical. Even the most ironic and sober-eyed descriptions of them are brimming with compassion and love.” Ha’aretz ”Where Were You Before the War?” is an admirable Jewish story --- one of those that makes you cry without knowing whether it is out of joy or sadness or both.” Vogue ”Where Were You Before the War?” is an effortless read but not without emotions. The reader is quickly carried away by the bitter-sweet story of a much adored child of an eccentric mother who colors her little girl’s hair blond since ”only the blond ones survived…” Le Figaro Magazine