(Fiction, 288 pp. 2023)
Lilach, a longtime Israeli expat, is living a charmed, predictable life in Silicon Valley. She and her successful tech executive husband are complacent in their close relationship with their now-teenage son, Adam. After a brutal attack on a local synagogue shakes the community’s sense of safety, Adam and other Jewish boys enroll in a self-defense class taught by a charismatic former Israeli Special Forces officer. Beyond Lilach’s hovering scrutiny, Adam and the teens develop confidence and a deep bond with one another. When their African American classmate dies at a house party, the tragedy sets in motion antisemitism-tinged rumors implicating Adam. Suppressed tensions in the community ignite, exposing dark secrets at the intersection of race, identity, and privilege.
Discussion Questions from Little Brown and Company, 2023
Review by Chloe Cheimets, Jewish Book Council, September 26, 2023
Review by John Self, The Guardian, August 22, 2023
Review by Kirkus Reviews, May 24, 2023
Review by Jennie Frazer, The Jewish Chronicle, September 8, 2023
Review by Publishers Weekly, August 2023
Review by Andrew Esensten, j., August 3, 2023
Review by Buzz Magazine, August 29, 2023
Author interview with The Human Risk Podcast, August 30, 2023
Author interview with Sam Lee, The Spectator Book Club, August 2, 2023
