I was born on an Israeli kibbutz to parents who had left their home in Montreal to found the new community; those early years on the kibbutz are the basis of The Last Rain.
My parents returned to Montreal when I was seven, and Montreal of the late Sixties/ early Seventies forms the background of Your Sad Eyes and Unforgettable Mouth.
In spite of a brief foray into directing in high school (“The Bald Soprano”) I always saw myself as a writer. As a child, I never stopped feeling like an Israeli temporarily living in Canada, and at eighteen I returned to Israel to study English in Jerusalem. I completed an MA in English at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and met my then partner, Yaron, a pianist.
My experiences in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem during those five years inspired my Tel Aviv Trilogy. After an unsuccessful attempt to settle in London during the Thatcher era, I returned to Montreal for a visit that ended up being a stay, and worked on an MA in Creative Writing at Concordia University. I met John there, and became a doting mom.
My lifelong passion for the Hebrew language led to a PhD in Biblical Exegesis at McGill. I taught Creative Writing, Jewish Studies, and English for twenty years at McGill, Concordia and John Abbott College, and now live in beautiful Guelph with my daughter Larissa.
I began publishing only in my forties, and have been very moved by the response of readers to my fiction. My books have been finalists for several awards, including the Governor General’s Award, the Giller Prize, and the Commonwealth Prize, and have been awarded the Hugh MacLennan Prize, the J. I. Segal Award, and the Canadian Jewish Book Award. While writing the Tel Aviv Trilogy I became involved in peace work and my contact with Israeli activists like Michaela of Machsom Watch convinced me that peace is within reach.
Please feel free to contact me with questions, comments or requests. I have closed my Facebook account and do not blog, but I’m always pleased to hear from readers, and I hope you enjoy my books.