1–What is the title of your latest release?
2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
THE GIRL WHO COUNTED NUMBERS is the story of an independent, Jewish-American girl who despite her protestations gives in to her father and leaves for Israel to solve a family mystery. The hunt for any evidence of her uncle takes her to unexpected places where she must confront parts of the past she never knew. With the infamous Adolf Eichmann trial happening in the backdrop, Susan picks up clues everywhere, unraveling complex layers of history, and is drawn into the tense political climate of a post-Holocaust Israel. As she gets more and more involved in the struggles of her Israeli and Jewish-Moroccan friends, she explores awakening emotions and discovers her own interest in truth, justice, and activism.
3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I spent seven months living in Jerusalem in 1961, the year of the Eichmann trial. I was on a fellowship from Brandeis University studying politics, economics, and Hebrew. Mostly I listened to people’s conversations and absorbed the atmosphere. I did not have a novel in mind then but 61 years later it was born.
6–What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I did a lot of research into the Eichmann trial and how it revolved around personal testimonies from survivors in contrast to the Nuremberg Trials which relied on testimony from officials. I also got to visit the former shtetl (a small Jewish village) of Rozvadow in Poland where the protagonist’s family came from.
7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I edited my book as I wrote it. I always edit as I write. Constantly. I find that dealing with a sentence shortly after it is written is a better way of moving the narrative forward.
8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Ice Cream – especially vanilla and raspberry.
9–Describe your writing space/office!
I share a small cubicle with my husband in the loft where I live but I have a view of the street outside in SoHo. We have three big windows. I do not need a lot of space and I pile papers in stacks, often on the floor. I always know exactly where everything is in each pile.
10–Who is an author you admire?
I admire Gish Jen and I was thrilled that she wrote a blurb for my novel as did Colum McCann and Ann Kirschner.
11–Is there a book that changed your life?
Hard to select one: So many classics, Vanity Fair, Pride and Prejudice, Crime and Punishment. I spent my early years hanging out in the local library.
12–Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
An Internet search led me to Amsterdam Publishers who specialize in Holocaust memoirs. Although my book was a novel and not a memoir, I submitted my manuscript. I was quite surprised to receive a response from Liesbeth Heenk, the publisher, accepting my book for publication. It fits into a new series that she recently started: New Jewish Fiction.
13–What’s your favorite genre to read?
Fiction, especially historical fiction.
14–What’s your favorite movie?
Citizen Kane.
15–What is your favorite season?
Spring. I love to see the daffodils popping up from the dark earth.
16–How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Since I was born on Mother’s Day, we tend to do family get-togethers, kicking off the summer season.
17–What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Call the Midwife. I love the series; the acting is superb.
18–What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Anything my husband cooks!
19–What do you do when you have free time?
I work in a ceramics studio. My latest project is making ceramic totem poles. So far, I have made 12; some for fountains, some for garden pieces, and some for indoor art.
20–What can readers expect from you next?
A collection of poems: SLEEPING WITH MY EYES OPEN
THE GIRL WHO COUNTED NUMBERS by Roslyn Bernstein
New Jewish Fiction
A Novel
Susan Reich is a 17-year-old American who goes to Israel seeking to solve a family mystery. Susan’s quest takes her to unexpected places where she confronts layers of history that she never knew. While trying to find her missing uncle, with the Adolf Eichmann trial in the background, she explores awakening emotions in herself and gets involved in the political struggles of the moment.
The seven months that Roslyn Bernstein spent in Jerusalem in 1961, when she listened to the stories of immigrants and survivors and daydreamed about their meanings, was a source of inspiration for The Girl Who Counted Numbers. She has been attentive to historical accuracies of time and place but the story of Susan Reich, her family, and friends is fictional.
Literature and Fiction Literary [Author Self-Published, On Sale: February 14, 2023, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9789493276369 / ]
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About Roslyn Bernstein
Roslyn Bernstein is the author of several books, including Boardwalk Stories, a collection of 14 fictional tales set from 1950 to 1970, and Engaging Art: Essays and Interviews from Around the Globe, a collection of 60 of her online avant-garde art pieces. She is also the co-author of Illegal Living: 80 Wooster Street and the Evolution of SoHo, written jointly with the architect Shael Shapiro. Her most recent novel is The Girl Who Counted Numbers. Since the 1980s, she has been reporting from around the globe for such print and online publications as the New York Times, Newsday, the Village Voice, New York Magazine, Medium, Huffington Post, and Guernica, focusing primarily on cultural reporting, contemporary art, and in-depth interviews with artists and curators.
Currently, Professor Emerita in the Department of Journalism and the Writing Professions at Baruch College of the City University of New York (CUNY), she taught journalism and creative writing classes from 1974-2016. A devoted teacher, she served as an advisor to Ticker, the college newspaper and established Dollars and $ense, the Baruch College business magazine. During her time at Baruch, she served as the director of the Journalism Program and was the Founding Director of the Sidney Harman Writer-in-Residence Program, a residency that has brought over 30 distinguished poets, playwrights, critics, and journalists to campus to teach intensive classes for gifted students. Prof. Bernstein is a recipient of the College’s Distinguished Awards for Teaching and Service.
Before coming to Baruch, she worked at Esquire and attended graduate school. She holds a Masters and Ph.D in English Literature from New York University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
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