- What is the title of your latest release
THE WOMAN BEYOND THE SEA
- What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Three unforgettable women are at the heart of the novel The Woman Beyond the Sea, which spans three generations and reveals a story of female strength and courage. My heroines face challenges and torments that their lives or the gods of fate have showered upon them, yet they each meet a great love that can make them win against all odds to live fulfilling lives.
- How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I never decide in advance, the story unfolds and leads me as I write it.
- Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
I wouldn't want to hang out with any of the heroines, they've had difficult lives. But I would like to get to know them personally because each of the heroines is a woman who is strong and victorious and unique, even in her weakness.
- What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Compassion, love, courage.
- What’s something you learned while writing this book?
If there is no forgiveness, there is no love. You must forgive in order to love.
- Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I edit while writing, but of course the book is ultimately edited by a professional editor.
- What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Carbohydrates in any form.
- Describe your writing space/office
I work in my study surrounded by books and the awards I received for my work. My writing desk was designed and built especially for me. It is a very large desk with two rows of drawers. My study is open in two directions into my house, so I have eye contact with the house and what is going on in it. The room is very bright with a large window facing the garden. I am sitting on a chair that costs a fortune but is worth every penny, and I feel wrapped in safety and hugged by the books and by the family members with whom I can see, as mentioned.
- Who is an author you admire?
I'm not a fan of anybody, but I appreciate Elsa Morante, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Victoria Hislop, Meir Shalev, Hanya Yanagihara, John Grisham, Dan Brown, Ken Follett.
- Is there a book that changed your life?
The book of the books, the Bible.
- Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)
It was a miraculous moment. After years of primal fear of writing a novel, I decided to dare to begin. I wrote a few pages and sent them to the publishing house "Modan", and asked the editor to tell me what she thinks. A few hours later I was invited to the offices of Modan Publishing. Since I knew the editor-in-chief personally, I was convinced that it was not pleasant for her to tell me on the phone that it was a waste of my time and that she would rather do it face to face. I remember driving on road number 1 connecting Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the most congested road in Israel, and I was really annoyed that she was asking me to get stuck in traffic for telling me no. To my surprise, I was told that they wanted to sign me. I felt my heart bursting out of my chest, it was crazy excitement, I thought I was in a dream, here it is going to happen, I am going to write the book that I wanted to write my whole life.
- What’s your favorite genre to read?
A novel that combines a love story with a family story and spans several generations, with the historical events occurring during the time the story takes place being integrated into the lives of the heroes. And sometimes, as you will see from the list of my favorite authors, I like to unwind with a suspense story.
- What’s your favorite movie?
Oh, I am so banal. Obviously, the movie "Gone with the Wind". I've already said that I like a love story combined with a family story and historical events.
- What is your favorite season?
I am a woman of autumn, but also a woman of spring.
- How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
With my family and closest friends. In recent years, for every birthday, I have taken my family on vacation in the Western Galilee, a lush area that combines the green Galilee mountains and the blue Mediterranean Sea, where guest rooms are located in the heart of fields or agricultural farms, restaurants, wineries, and historical sites.
- What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Obviously, the series based on the book "The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem" broadcast on Netflix and chosen to be among the 50 best Netflix TV series.
I don't stop watching reruns of "Friends". You can say I'm addicted to the series, the same for "Seinfeld".
I recently saw Steven Spielberg's "The Fabelmans", a very moving personal film recommended with all my heart, and if we mention Spielberg, then of course we should mention the important "Schindler's List".
It's also always nice to watch "Pretty Woman" over and over again and my favorite movie of all time "Gone with the Wind".
The book I wholeheartedly recommend is "A Little Life" by Hanya Yanagihara. This is a book that is hard to get into at first, but once you get in, you can't leave it. This book, if I may quote the New Yorker, "blew my mind, shocked me, and took over my life."
- What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I really like simple and unpretentious Israeli food based on seasonal and local ingredients, Southern Italian food, Greek food, Arab food and Japanese food. I don't like sophisticated food and it's a bit difficult for me with French food that is too heavy and rich.
- What do you do when you have free time?
Travel with my family and friends throughout Israel, but mostly abroad.
- What can readers expect from you next?
I am currently writing my third book, stuck with the ending that changes from time to time, but I am sure it will be fine, and the book will be published at the end of 2023. Unlike my previous books, The Woman Beyond the Sea and The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, in which I dealt with mother-daughter relationships, this time the book deals with mother-son relationships, and as usual, it is combined with a story of love, separation, family and history.
Big plans were made for both The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem and The Woman Beyond the Sea for this year, but I won't go into detail: there is a well-known Jewish proverb that says: "There is no blessing found except in what is hidden from view."
A mesmerizing novel about three generations of women who have lost each other—and the quest to weave them back into a family.
An immersive historical tale spanning the life stories of three women, The Woman Beyond the Sea traces the paths of a daughter, mother, and grandmother who lead entirely separate lives, until finally their stories and their hearts are joined together.
Eliya thinks that she’s finally found true love and passion with her charismatic and demanding husband, an aspiring novelist—until he ends their relationship in a Paris café, spurring her suicide attempt. Seeking to heal herself, Eliya is compelled to piece together the jagged shards of her life and history.
Eliya’s heart-wrenching journey leads her to a profound and unexpected love, renewed family ties, and a reconciliation with her orphaned mother, Lily. Together, the two women embark on a quest to discover the truth about themselves and Lily’s own origins…and the unknown woman who set their stories in motion one Christmas Eve.
Women's Fiction Historical | Saga [Amazon Crossing, On Sale: March 21, 2023, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781542037556 / ]
Sarit Yishai-Levi was born in Jerusalem in 1947 to a Sephardic family that has lived in the city for seven generations.. Before turning to journalism, Yishai-Levi acted in theater and film for several years. Yishai-Levi has published four non-fiction books. Her first novel, The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, a bestseller in Israel. It is now being made into a feature film.
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