Thursday, January 17th at 6:00 p.m. at B’Nai Zion Synagogue, 750 United St, Key West, Books and Books @ the Studios and B’Nai Zion Synagogue will host a reading and book signing with two bestselling authors: Spencer Wise and Bethany Ball. Wise and Ball will read from and discuss their books, both of which explore the modern-day Jewish-American experience.
From Bethany Ball, comes WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE SOLOMONS, a hilarious multigenerational family saga set in Israel, New York, and Los Angeles that explores the secrets and gossip-filled lives of a kibbutz community near Jerusalem. The book introduces readers to the Solomon family as they are faced with a life-altering scandal. Marc Solomon, an Israeli exNavy commando now living in L.A., is falsely accused of money laundering through his asset management firm. Marc’s American wife, Carolyn—concealing her own dark past—makes hopeless attempts to hold their family of five together. But news of the scandal makes its way from America to the rest of the Solomon clan on the kibbutz in the Jordan River Valley. As the secrets and rumors of the kibbutz are revealed through various memories and tales, we witness the things that keep the Solomons together, and those that tear them apart.
photo by Molly Hamill
Spencer Wise’s THE EMPEROR OF SHOES is a transfixing debut novel inspired by the author’s experiences living and working in an American-owned shoe factory in Guangdong, China. The novel follows Alex, a Jewish American ex-pat, as he reluctantly assumes the helm of his family’s shoe company. When he meets a seamstress named Ivy, she shifts his gaze. But Ivy, who is also an embedded pro-democracy organizer, has broader aims, and Alex must decide where his loyalty resides, a choice which ultimately pushes the entire factory to a crisis point.
This event marks the second partnering of Books & Books and B’Nai Zion. Last year, the two
organizations worked together to hold a reading and book signing with Francine Klagsbrun,
winning author of the 2017 National Jewish Book Award for her biography Lioness; Golda Meir
and the Nation of Israel.
This event is free and open to the public.