Author Talk - Places We Left Behind with Jennifer Lang

Join us in the Scott Room for an author talk with Jennifer Lang about her debut work Places We Left Behind. This innovative memoir in miniature offers a compelling look at commitment, personal stories, and love.

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 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.

About the author:

Born in the San Francisco Bay Area before moving to White Plains here in Westchester, Jennifer Lang now 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.