THE THIRD DAUGHTER has reached the top!

The Jewish Book Council announced its winners....

2020 National Jewish Book Award
Finalist

THE THIRD DAUGHTER  reached a finalist spot in the Book Club category. (It's an honor to lose to Alice Hoffman....)

This seal will be appear on the cover of the novel as of the next printing.

In her letter to my publisher, HarperCollins, JBC Executive Director wrote: "We recognize and appreciate your editorial decision to publish a book of such high quality.... one that contributes to informed living, understanding, and entertainment for the entire English-reading world."

Yes, once again with my fiction writing, I've stepped into an arena few have ever dared entered. It took compassion and maturity on my part, but it was my fabulous editor, Kate Nintzel, who has had the courage and wisdom to support the project and then to publish THE THIRD DAUGHTER.


WOW again!

Two days after the JBC announcement, BookMovement, which serves tens of thousands of book clubs, posted its choice of the "Historical fiction of the month!" It has selected THE THIRD DAUGHTER, and is offering a giveaway of copies of the book!

Click here to enter BookMovement giveaway for book clubs.
(And please don't forget to mail me a photo of your meeting for a monthly drawing of a beautiful shawl, replica of the one worn by the protagonist on the cover--at AuthorTalia@aol.com .)

 

After months and years of toiling alone, it's such a pleasure to share my work with you....

 
 After spending long days, weeks and months ladling words out of an ocean of emotions and empathy, it’s a great feeling to take my work to the public and to discuss the social issues that fire my imagination--and to find such receptive readers.

* I Skype with book clubs, joining the second part of the meeting, after members have had a chance to discuss the book, to exchange opinions and even to disagree. That's what makes a meeting more thought-provoking. (Please contact me to check my availability to Skype at AuthorTalia@aol.com, not this newsletter gmail account.)
* My book tour is in full swing, with over 30 keynotes and presentations in the first part of 2020 alone!  (Please join me if you can.)
* I have given numerous written interviews.
* I have spoken at radio and podcasts. (Please listen to one broadcast here.)
* Most importantly, I get to educate readers about sex trafficking, and through the humanity of the protagonist, to gain understanding and compassion. In a call for action, I direct audiences to my activism page and show them what they can do to fight this scourge in their own backyard.

 The shameful secret readers are most surprised to learn.... 

 Set in the late 1800s in Buenos Aires,  THE THIRD DAUGHTER is a story of a young Jewish woman lured under false promise of marriage from Russia to South America, where she's forced into prostitution. With faith and fortitude, she struggles to free herself, while trying to bring down the powerful traffickers' ring.

Historically true, THE THIRD DAUGHTER was inspired by Sholem Aleichem's short story, The Man from Buenos Aires,  that appeared in the same collection as Tevye the Dairyman. I invented the story of one of Tevye's daughters after the family flees a pogrom (--a sequel to Fiddler on the Roof.) They meet this mysterious, shady man, who lures the daughter from Russia to Argentina with a false promise of marriage--only to force her into a brothel. 

Zwi Migdal was a legal union of traffickers headquartered in Buenos Aires, that operated with impunity for 70 years. THE THIRD DAUGHTER is a tribute to the estimated over 150,000 Jewish girls and women whose haunting voices impelled me to tell their truth....

But as the iconic  Phyllis Chesler writes in her endorsement, the novel has "a satisfying, redemptive ending!"

And readers echo it:  "This book will be on my mind for the rest of my life, "The best book I've ever read," and "I can't begin to describe how good it is...."
(Please click for more reviews.)

On the personal side....

More often now interviewers ask me “Who are you?” “What else do you do besides writing?”  They read my [extensive] bio on my website, yet still wonder about me.

Yes, there is life outside writing, publishing, activism, and book touring. In fact, I have a very large family—a husband, Ron Carner, and four grown children, all married with kids of their own…. We all love to spend time together, and make a point to do that often, but are okay when we don’t, when each goes their own way, involved in their own busy lives. Ron and I are very proud that our children are all well-adjusted, productive adults that carry our Jewish values forward.

The 19 of us, with me on the top step next to Ron

Ron and I travel internationally a couple of times a year. This spring it will be France (where I am researching novel #6,) and in the Fall it will be Japan. We have a busy cultural and social life of theater, concerts and friends.

I study French online daily, and exercise most days (jazz dance alternate with weights or Pilates.) When my schedule permits, I join a Mah-Jongg game. I particularly like nature walks, and whether in New York or Boca Raton, I always find a park or a nature preserve to listen to the birds….

How do I find time to write? I don't require a lot of sleep....

Please join me for an engaging literary event:  

In my presentations, I do not do "readings," but rather deliver thought-provoking talks about the social issues behind each of my novels. Audiences and event organizers find them "enriching," "extraordinary," "engaging," "superbly performed," "eye-opening," and "unforgettable." 

In the coming months you'll find me in New York area, New Jersey and Florida. Please check my Book Tour page and meet me there!  
 

Hadassah Cascades (FL) January 2020

 
I would like to single out one upcoming event, my presentation about sex trafficking on Friday, March 20th, at the UN, at the Commission of the Status of Women. For the second time I get to broadcast my novel's message on the international arena. (The previous presentation, on March 2007, was about infanticide in China and its platform was my novel, CHINA DOLL.)

To schedule an event with me, please contact my event coordinator, Lisa Bernard at MecoxHudson@gmail.com or (203)919-8406 

Thanks--and more....   

Thank you all for your interest and support.

I would like to ask you to help spread the word. One way is to post a review on Amazon and/or GoodReads. Even a couple of lines will do, but it helps to get the word out.

Thank you for your friendship in the real and cyber worlds--and I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Talia

www.TaliaCarner.com



P.S.  You may read the first chapter of THE THIRD DAUGHTER on my website--and of course, order at your local indie store, on B&N,  Amazon, and iTunes.

P.P.S. The novel is available also in LARGE PRINT!

THE THIRD DAUGHTER is making waves!

First, I'd like to wish those of my readers, friends, and followers who celebrate the New Year, a healthy and peaceful one! And may we all find time to read more books!

THE THIRD DAUGHTER is making waves!

Second printing! A month after the release of my novel #5, THE THIRD DAUGHTER is going into a second printing--and garnering great reviews by prestigious literary sources:  *  The New York Journal of Books: "The character of Batya is a satisfying heroine, strong, resilient, brave, and vulnerable. The Third Daughter is a tribute to the women who endured... An important book!" * Library Journal: "Recommended for its complex characters and a story based on a little-known part of history."  * The Jewish Book Council: "Care­ful­ly researched and metic­u­lous­ly nov­el­ized....Carn­er is adept at illu­mi­nat­ing the injus­tices that women are subject to.... The brave, resource­ful, loy­al and fierce, protagonist is a Jew­ish hero­ine who shines bright­ly like a Shabbat candle..."   * Bloggers, too, rave about the novel. Please read more reviews here.

What is this historical novel about--and what sets it apart?

Set in the late 1800s in Buenos Aires, THE THIRD DAUGHTER is a story of a young Jewish woman lured under false promise of marriage from Russia to South America, where she's forced into prostitution. With faith and fortitude, she struggles to free herself, while trying to bring down the powerful traffickers' ring. Historically correct, THE THIRD DAUGHTER was inspired by Sholem Aleichem's short story, The Man from Buenos Aires, that appeared in the same collection as Tevye the Dairyman. I invented the story of one of Tevye's daughters after the family flees a pogrom (--a sequel to Fiddler on the Roof.) They meet this mysterious, shady man, who lures the daughter from Russia to Argentina with a false promise of marriage--only to force her into a brothel.   Zwi Migdal was a legal union of traffickers headquartered in Buenos Aires, that operated with impunity for 70 years. THE THIRD DAUGHTER is a tribute to the estimated 150,000 to 200,000 Jewish girls and women whose haunting voices impelled me to tell their truth.... But as the iconic Phyllis Chesler writes in her endorsement, the novel has "a satisfying, redemptive ending!"

Radio, Podcast and TV interviews:

This past month was filled with radio, podcast and TV interviews. It's a delight to speak with hosts who have read my new novel and are enthusiastic to share information about it with their listeners and viewers. In the photo, I am being miked for an interview on Linda Frank's program, "The Writer's Dream."

Book groups are selecting the novel!

THE BUZZ IS ON! Reading groups are always on the lookout for a book that will provoke thinking and be a great conversation starter. The social issue of sex-trafficking--and the historical secret revealed in THE THIRD DAUGHTER-- are sure to generate a lively discussion. And I am always game to join a part of the meeting by phone or by Skype. In a special promotion, all groups that sends a photo of members holding their copies of the novel (or the digital covers) will participate in a monthly drawing of an embroidered Spanish shawl! It is a replica of the one worn by the protagonist on the cover of the book,.  Please write to me at AuthorTalia@aol.com to schedule my visit--and/or to send your photo.

Please join me in person to hear the story behind the story:

My book tour has started with several successful speaking events already behind me, while invitations are still coming in for this Fall--in East Hampton, NY, NJ, and PA. This winter, you'll find me in FL and beyond, but that list is too long to post here, so please check my Book Tour page. Wednesday, October 16, 2019, 11:30 AM Annual Fundraising Literary Luncheon Brandeis National Committee Greater Hartford Golf Club of Avon 160 Country Club Rd, Avon, CT 06001 Wednesday, October 16, 2019, 7:00 PM “Meet The Author” Mark Twain Library Redding, CT Saturday, October 19, 2019, 6:00 PM Book party Janet Lehr Gallery 68 Park Place (Behind BookHampton, off Main Street) East Hampton, NY 11937 Thursday, October 24, 2019, 7:00 PM Book Club discussion BookMark Shoppe 8415 3rd Ave Brooklyn, NY 11209 Thursday, November 7, 2019 1:00 PM Literary Tea in honor of Jewish Book Month Main Line Reform Temple/ Beth Elohim 410 Montgomery Ave, Wynnewood, PA 19096 Wednesday, November 13, 2019, at 7:00 PM Stamford Hadassah & Beth-El Sisterhood Temple Beth El, 350 Roxbury Road, N. Stamford, CT 06902 (No charge, but please register.) Sunday, November 17, 2019, 11:30 AM Book & Author Luncheon Nathan Cember Memorial Lecture Series Congregation Sons of Israel (CSI) Nyack, NY Sunday, December 15, 2019, 10:00 AM Literary event  Merrick Jewish Center 225 Fox Blvd Merrick, NY Wednesday, December 18, 2019, 9:30 AM Bagel & Book Hadassah The Cascades (and others) Clubhouse at the Cascades 6601 Cascades Isle Blvd, Boynton Beach, FL (To schedule an event with me, please contact my event coordinator, Lisa Bernard at MecoxHudson@gmail.com or (203)919-8406 )

Thank you for your interest and support, Talia www.TaliaCarner.com  P.S. You may read the first chapter of THE THIRD DAUGHTER on my website--and of course, order at your local indie store, on B&N, Amazon, and iTunes. P.P.S. The novel is available also in LARGE PRINT!

THE THIRD DAUGHTER broke out of the gate!!!

It's my new baby!!! On September 3rd, HarperCollins released the novel and joined me in hosting an exciting party at the NYC Friars Club. In attendance were my publishing team, journalists, celebrities, authors--and representatives of anti-sex-trafficking organizations.

A fascinating story never before told!

THE THIRD DAUGHTER was inspired by Sholem Aleichem's short story, The Man from Buenos Aires, that appeared in the same collection as Tevye the Dairyman. I invented the story of one of Tevye's daughters as the family flees a pogrom (--a sequel to Fiddler on the Roof.) They meet this mysterious, shady man, who lures the daughter from Russia to Argentina with a false promise of marriage-- only to force her into a brothel.   Zwi Migdal was a legal union of traffickers headquartered in Buenos Aires, that operated with impunity for 70 years. THE THIRD DAUGHTER is a tribute to the estimated 150,000 to 200,000 Jewish girls and women whose haunting voices impelled me to tell their truth.... But as one reviewer writes, the novel has "a satisfying, redemptive ending!"

Bloggers are raving about the novel:

Bloggers who received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of THE THIRD DAUGHTER have posted enthusiastic reviews and recommended the novel to their followers.  They also take creative photos of the book! Here are some quotes: "...this novel had me hooked until the very last page...! Carner’s storytelling ability was fantastic and you will feel like you are right in the middle of Buenos Aires...." --Girly Book Club "This novel is as gripping as her previous books…. I found myself wanting to know what would happen next. The book was well written and the main character was easy to admire…" --Doing Dewey Decimal "Carner has done wonderful research to bring us this important and unforgettable story of exploitation and empowerment….She is an excellent story-teller who brings history and imagination together to fictionalize the true history of young Jewish girls who were forced into prostitution in Buenos Aires." --Amos Lassen "...it was moving without being too sentimental or emotional…. Carner captured the atmosphere of Buenos Aires and Batya’s despair and fortitude...." --Julz Reads "Talia Carner has written a raw, heartbreaking, disturbing, and important story….it is engaging and entertaining …. Batya was such a sympathetic character..." --Audio Killed The Bookmark Please click for more reviews.

Book clubs' promotion

A good book club selection is one that is more than well-written. It must provoke thinking and be a superb conversation starter. The social issue of sex-trafficking and the historical secret revealed in THE THIRD DAUGHTER are guaranteed to generate a lively discussion. In the coming months, any group that sends a photo of members holding their copies of the novel (or showing the digital covers) will participate in a monthly drawing of a replica of the Spanish embroidered shawl worn by the model on the cover of the book, an outfit that followed the description of Batya's clothes.  (The group that wins the magnificent shawl may pre-decide who will be its final owner--the hostess? A birthday girl? One who reached a fund-raising goal?) Of course, I will be delighted to Skype or phone into the meeting. Please write to me at AuthorTalia@aol.com to schedule--and/or to send your photo.

My anti sex-trafficking campaign.

While THE THIRD DAUGHTER takes place in the late 1800s, the methods used by traffickers today are, sadly, the same. Human misery increases the supply of desperate girls and women (and some boys) eager to believe the promise of "America." But 1/3 of traffic victims are USA-born, with recruitment age being 12-14 years old! I've teamed up with about 20 anti-sex-trafficking organizations that deal with the many aspects of sex-trafficking. A page on my website explains the problem in detail and offers links to activism. YOU CAN DO SOMETHING to fight it in your own backyard! Event organizers who invite me to keynote may ask me to use the stage to educate their audience about the roles of airlines, schools, businesses, hotels, sports arenas, prisons and banks in sex trafficking—and in the efforts to abolish it. (Or, they may choose other aspects of the novel as described below.)

What if the subject is just too much for our audience?

Another fascinating backstory of THE THIRD DAUGHTER is the little-known history of Argentine Jewry. How did Argentina become the third largest Jewish community in the world?  It is due to the vision and unprecedented benevolence of one man, Baron Maurice de Hirsch, who, in the 1880s, bought the freedom of hundreds of thousands of Jews from the Czar. He bought huge tracts of land in Argentina, established agricultural colonies, and shipped the beleaguered Jews to their new home.  And then there is the larger topic of the creative process: Readers often ask me how do stories find me? And what do I do once they implant their seeds in my brain? The answer: I take a skeleton out of the closet and dance with it. The skeleton being the many social issues around the globe that vie for attention. Please discuss the topics with my Events Coordinator, Lisa Bernard, at MecoxHudson@gmail.com or (203)919-8406

Don't miss my upcoming appearances:

Here are the events in Fall 2019 in NY, NJ,and PA. Please check my Book Tour page for winter 2020 in Florida, and spring 2020 in Metro New York and Maryland/ Washington DC (--and keep checking periodically for additional events.) Tuesday, September 17, 2019, 11:30 AM Book & Author Luncheon Women’s Club of Glen Cove Sea Cliff Yacht Club 42 The Blvd, Sea Cliff, NY 11579 BY INVITATION ONLY Wednesday, October 2, 2019, 7:00 PM Hadassah-Brandeis Institute Brandeis University Women’s Studies Research Center, Epstein Building 515 South Street, Waltham, MA OPEN TO THE PUBLIC (RSVP: NLeonard@brandeis.edu (781)736-8110) Thursday, October 3, 2019, 10:00 AM 20th Anniversary Celebration The Miriam Fund Combined Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Boston Hebrew College 160 Herrick Road, Newton Centre, MA BY INVITATION ONLY Wednesday, October 16, 2019, 11:30 AM Annual Fundraising Literary Luncheon Brandeis National Committee Greater Hartford Golf Club of Avon 160 Country Club Rd, Avon, CT 06001 OPEN TO PUBLIC (Pre-registration required) Wednesday, October 16, 2019, 7:00 PM “Meet The Author” Mark Twain Library Redding, CT PUBLIC INVITED! Thursday, October 24, 2019, 7:00 PM Book Club discussion BookMark Shoppe 8415 3rd Ave Brooklyn, NY 11209 Thursday, November 7, 2019 1:00 PMLiterary Tea in honor of Jewish Book Month Main Line Reform Temple/ Beth Elohim 410 Montgomery Ave, Wynnewood, PA 19096 OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Wednesday, November 13, 2019, at 7:00 PM Stamford Hadassah & Beth-El Sisterhood Temple Beth El, 350 Roxbury Road, N. Stamford, CT Sunday, November 17, 2019, 11:30 AMBook & Author Luncheon Nathan Cember Memorial Lecture Series Congregation Sons of Israel (CSI) Nyack, NY Tuesday, November 19, 2019, 10:00AM Book Discussion, THE THIRD DAUGHTER Blue Door Books 501 Central Ave, Cedarhurst, NY Sunday, December 15, 2019, 10:00 AM Literary event  Merrick Jewish Center 225 Fox Blvd Merrick, NY OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Wednesday, December 18, 2019, 9:30 AM Bagel & Book Hadassah The Cascades (and others) Clubhouse at the Cascades 6601 Cascades Isle Blvd, Boynton Beach, FL Don't see an event in your area? Organize one, or ask your JCC, synagogue, civic and educational organization to invite me. (JCCs and some synagogues are members of the Jewish Book Council, and can be booked through it.) And/or contact my events coordinator, Lisa Bernard at MecoxHudson@gmail.com , (203)919-8406

Ready for a literary adventure?

If you haven't yet read THE THIRD DAUGHTER, please order your copy in any format—print, digital, audio or LARGE PRINT. (All my novels are published as trade paperback to keep the price down.) Please ask your library, too, to add it to their list. Either way, I have lots of bookmarks for you and your friends. Please write to me at AuthorTalia@aol.com.

Thank you for your interest and support, Talia www.TaliaCarner.com  P.S. You may read the first chapter of THE THIRD DAUGHTER on my website--and of course, order at your  local indie store, on B&N,  Amazon, and iTunes.

Sex and tango in Buenos Aires in the late 1800s

THE THIRD DAUGHTER, a new novel

In my new novel I dared enter an arena never explored before....             

              

It took enormous courage for me to write THE THIRD DAUGHTER and to expose a buried, tragic chapter in history in which estimated 200,000 women were deceptively lured from Eastern Europe into prostitution in South America during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The whispers of millions of girls and women ensnared into sexual slavery grew into loud cries in my head until I had to give them a voice. It took research, but also maturity, compassion and skill to follow the thread that turned THE THIRD DAUGHTER into a story of courage in the face of danger and hope in the face of despair.

The novel will be released on September 3rd by HarperCollins. (It is available for pre-order wherever books are sold.)

Summary of THE THIRD DAUGHTER:   

       

The turn of the 20th century finds fourteen-year-old Batya in the Russian countryside, fleeing with her family from endless Jewish massacres. Desperate, her father leaps at the opportunity to marry Batya to a worldly, wealthy stranger who can guarantee his daughter an easy life and passage to America. Feeling like a princess in a fairy tale, Batya leaves her old life behind as she is whisked away to a new world. But soon she discovers that she’s entered a waking nightmare. Her new “husband” does indeed bring her to America: Buenos Aires, a vibrant, growing city in which prostitution is not only legal but deeply embedded in the culture. And now Batya is one of thousands of women tricked and sold into a brothel.

As the years pass, Batya forms deep bonds with her “sisters” in the house as well as some men who are both kind and cruel. Through it all, she holds onto one dream: to bring her family to America where they will be safe from the anti-Semitism that plagues Russia. Just as Batya is becoming a known tango dancer, she gets an unexpected but dangerous opportunity—to help bring down the criminal network that has enslaved so many young women yet has been instrumental in developing Buenos Aires into a major metropolis.

This shameful chapter in history is true!   

              

For 70 years, a legal union of traffickers headquartered in Buenos Aires operated with impunity. Zwi Migdal’s members--well-dressed men, speaking Yiddish and flaunting their success--returned to visit their native Eastern European communities on recruitment expeditions. They offered marriages and jobs in the New World, but instead kidnapped these girls and women and forced them into prostitution.

Protected by the Argentine government's laws (as the state budget relied on taxing the brothels,) Zwi Migdal reported at the turn of the 20th century profits of $50 million a year. In some years they employed up to 30,000 women all across South America, (and reaching New York's Lower East Side.)

The inspiration....       

While there is plenty of English-language material about Zwi Migdal (and a lot more in Spanish,) there is hardly any work of fiction since, in 1909, the Yiddish storyteller Sholem Aleichem published a short story, THE MAN FROM BUENOS AIRES. (You may read its translation on my website.)

Interestingly, this story about a shady businessman who brags about his riches but never reveals the nature of his affairs, appeared in the same story collection as the stories about Tevye the dairyman and his daughters, most known in its theatrical adaptation to FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.

My imagination was fired at the question of what would have happened if, after fleeing a pogrom, Tevye’s unmarried daughter met that shady man from Buenos Aires?

Activism          

              

In the coming months, before the novel's release, I will team up with anti-trafficking organizations, local, domestic and international. As I had done with my previous social-issue-centered novels, I will use THE THIRD DAUGHTER as a platform for speaking opportunities and calls for action.

In my book tour, I will inform audiences what they can do about the evil of human slavery in their own backyard. If your organization sponsors a fund-raiser, a literary event, or any form of public stage from which to educate and inspire, I would welcome your invitation. Please contact my event coordinator, Lisa Bernard, at MecoxHudson@gmail.com, or call her at  (203)293-4741 .

I am looking forward to visiting your community.

Read more on my website....              

My website has been updated to include material about THE THIRD DAUGHTER:

* Chapter one 

* Author Q &A 

* The fascinating historical background of the novel 

* Shocking videos about Zwi Migdal and prostitution in Argentina 

* And the above mentioned Sholem Aleichem's story 

 And finally.... 

              

I can't end this blog without mentioning one more inspiration for THE THIRD DAUGHTER--my late mother's painting. My mother, Reviva Yoffe, was a renowned Israeli artist, and this painting, which she had named "The Tango Dancers," revealed to me something profound about these two characters' relationship. When I struggled with doubts as to whether even tackle the subject of bondage, I found encouragement from my late mother....

Thank you for your interest and support. I am looking forward to reconnecting with you in the coming months. Please email me your questions and thoughts.

Talia Carner

www.TaliaCarner.com

  

P.S. Please pre-order THE THIRD DAUGHTER now--in print, digital or audio--and help get the buzz going.