Congratulations to Jennifer Lang and Vine Leaves Press on the release of Places We Left Behind, a "memoir-in-miniature" that examines commitment and compromise in a marriage via a creative blend of prose and poetry.
★★★★★ “For anyone who has ever loved deeply and been willing to take risks for the sake of love.” ~Rachel Barenbaum author of Atomic Anna
Places We Left Behind by Jennifer Lang
NEW RELEASE: September 5, 2023Genre: Creative Nonfiction
4.8 stars, 49 ratings on Goodreads
Paperback: $13.49
Ebook: $5.99
When American-born Jennifer falls in love with French-born Philippe during the First Intifada in Israel, she understands their relationship isn't perfect.
Both 23, both Jewish, they lead very different lives: she's a secular tourist, he's an observant immigrant. Despite their opposing outlooks on two fundamental issues—country and religion—they are determined to make it work. For the next 20 years, they root and uproot their growing family, each longing for a singular place to call home.
In Places We Left Behind, Jennifer Lang puts her marriage under a microscope, examining commitment and compromise, faith and family while moving between prose and poetry, playing with language and form, daring the reader to read between the lines.
Praise for Places We Left Behind
★★★★★ “Each facet in this collection is its own world-in-miniature that ultimately coheres into a compelling whole.” ~Sue William Silverman, author of How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences
★★★★★ “Offers readers a compelling tale of unexpected commitment alongside unconventional nonfiction exploration.” ~Dinty W. Moore, author of Between Panic & Desire
★★★★★ “International marriage, different levels of religious observance, and raising children in both the USA and Israel amidst ongoing conflict...the recipe for gripping, surprising reading.” ~Patrick Madden, author of Disparates
★★★★★ “A poetic, playful and sometimes painful story of marriage, perseverance, commitment, and most of all love—for our families, our partners and finally—ourselves.” ~Corie Adjmi, award-winning author of The Marriage Box and Life and Other Shortcomings
★★★★★ “A fascinating exploration of how to juxtapose one's own happiness with the sacrifices needed to please the other.” ~Evan Fallenberg, author of The Parting Gift
★★★★★ “A smart and compelling narrative about the twists and turns of a relationship when religion, identity, and a sense of place are focal points...this mesmerizing love story is irresistible.” ~Chelsey Clammer, author of Human Heartbeat Detected
About the Author
Born in the San Francisco Bay area, Jennifer Lang lives in Tel Aviv where she runs Israel Writers Studio. Her essays have appeared in Baltimore Review, Crab Orchard Review, Under the Sun, Ascent, Consequence, and elsewhere. A Pushcart Prize, Best of Net, and Best American Essays nominee, she holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and serves as Assistant Editor for Brevity. Often findable on her yoga mat with her legs up her living room wall: practicing since 1995, teaching since 2003. Places We Left Behind was a finalist in Chestnut Review’s chapbook prose competition.Learn more at IsraelWriterStudio.com.
About the Publisher
Vine Leaves Press likes to blur the line between commercial and experimental works. They publish book-length vignette collections, writing reference books, short story collections, memoir/autobiography, and character-driven novels with a literary bent. Subscribe to the Vine Leaves Press newsletter to receive FREE advanced review copies of upcoming new releases, news about their authors and subscribers, and/or to read the monthly opinion column, SPILL IT! or a daily dose of 50-word stories. Learn more at VineLeavesPress.com.