Tampa Jewish Book Festival begins Sept. 25
With the Times Festival of Reading benched – for this year at least – bibliophiles can turn to the Tampa Jewish Book Festival for their autumn author-speaking requirements.
Four women authors are featured for 2024.
At the events, sponsored by the Tampa Jewish Community Centers & Federation, each author will speak, conduct a Q & A, and sign books.
Sept. 25. Margalit Fox, author of the historical tome The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum: The Rise and Fall of an American Organized Crime Boss. In mid 19th century New York City, Fredericka Mandelbaum was a fixture of high society and Gilded Age privilege. She was also a fence, and a thief; by the mid-1880s as much as $10 million worth of purloined luxury goods had passed through her Lower East Side shop.
So says the book jacket: “Margalit Fox tells the unforgettable true story of a once-famous heroine whose life exemplifies America’s cherished rags-to-riches narrative while simultaneously upending it entirely.”
Happy hour event (7 p.m.) at Tampa JCC, on the Cohn Campus, 13009 Community Campus Dr., Tampa.
Sept. 27. Alyson Richman, author of The Time Keepers. Richman, best known for the World War II novel The Lost Wife, sets her latest in 1979, where the lives of two Long Island women are changed by the arrival of an orphaned boy and a mysterious Vietnam vet.
So says the book jacket: “Inspired by the true story of a Vietnamese refugee who entrusted the dramatic account of her escape from Vietnam to the author, and also that of a wounded veteran, Richman sheds light on those whose lives were forever impacted by the devastation of that war.”
Four-Course Luncheon (12 p.m.) at Seasons 52, 204 N. Westshore Blvd., Tampa. Reservations required.
Sept. 29. Emily Matchar, author of In The Shadow of The Greenbrier. In West Virginia’ White Sulphur Springs is the Greenbrier Resort. Four generations of the Zelners, a Jewish family made up of immigrants and natural-born Americans, are inexorably tied into the socio-political history of the storied building, which once served as a luxury prison for Nazi diplomats.
So says the book jacket: “An immersive family saga rich with historical detail, In the Shadow of the Greenbrier explores the inevitable clash between past and future and the extraordinary moments in ordinary lives.”
High tea (noon) at Shanna and Bryan Glazer JCC, 522 N Howard Ave, Tampa.
Sept. 29, Judy Silverstein Gray, co-author of Unwavering: The Wives Who Fought to Ensure No Man is Left Behind. Taylor Baldwin Kiland and Gray explore the actions and achievements of a group of American military wives during the Vietnam War.
Coffee and treats (4 p.m.) at Shanna and Bryan Glazer JCC, 522 N. Howard Ave, Tampa.
Each event is ticketed – for details (and tickets), visit the website.
