 FEBRUARY 11 • 2021 | 31

J

aclyn Goldis has written 
and critiqued her own 
novels and feels confident 
about the time to pursue pub-
lication.
Her first, completed when she 
was 17 and living in Bloomfield 
Hills, never reached an agent’s 
desk. Almost 20 years later, her 
fourth, completed in Tel Aviv, 
became the first submitted for 
agent consideration and was 
moved along to be accepted by 
a publisher. 
When We Were Young 
(Grand Central, Forever 
Imprint), with a release date of 
Feb. 16, recalls the early loves of 
three generations of women in a 
Jewish family. It reaches from a 
Greek island during World War 
II to Florida in current times. 

“The book mostly focus-
es on the grandmother and 
granddaughter,
” said Goldis, 
who shares a close relationship 
with her maternal grand-
mother, Libby Newman of West 
Bloomfield. 
“It’s the story of a bride just 
before her wedding. The bride’s 
old boyfriend comes back to tell 
her why he broke up with her 
the last summer their families 
vacationed together on the 
island of Corfu. 
“Meanwhile, the girl’s grand-
mother begins to correspond 
with the lover she had during 
World War II on a Greek 
island.
”
Goldis wanted a beach setting 
for her novel, and she picked 
Corfu because she was looking 

for a lesser-known area with 
the history of being invaded by 
the Nazis. Research brought her 
focus to Greek territory, where 
she spent three weeks, about 
four years ago, as she started the 
book. 
“I don’t know that I could 
write about a place I hadn’t been 
to,
” she said.
Goldis, who attended Hillel 
Day School and graduated 
from Andover High School 
while her family belonged 
to Congregation Beth Ahm, 
majored in economics at the 
University of Michigan and 
earned a law degree from New 
York University. She practiced 
estate law in Chicago between 
2007 and 2015 before deciding 
to devote her days to writing.
“I always want to follow my 
dreams,
” she explained. “I’ve 
been a writer since my earliest 
memory. When I left my job in 
Chicago, I was up for a partner-
ship, but I think there’s really 
something to be said about fol-
lowing your heart.
”
Before deciding to move into 
a Tel Aviv apartment in 2017, 
Goldis traveled the world.
“I have traveled a lot in my 
life, and I believe that those 
experiences generally have con-
tributed to my writing in that I 
enjoy writing about 
American women 
abroad, perhaps 
also because I live 
abroad,
” said Goldis, 
a single who enjoys 
running and medi-
tating daily.
“I think there is 
something interest-
ing about exiting 
your everyday life 
and assimilating or 
trying to assimilate to another 
culture and people.
“I went to Tel Aviv and 
thought I would just stay for 
a month but never left. I love 
warm weather and living 20 
steps from the sea. I like that 

Tel Aviv is a small city. I walk 
down the street and see people I 
know. It feels like home because 
I have a ton of family here.
”

STAGES OF WRITING
As the author develops books 
beyond her debut novel, she fol-
lows a routine depending on the 
stage of development. During 
the brainstorming/outlining 
phase, she needs quiet time and 
spaces for ideas to flourish and 
takes her notebook wherever 
she goes.
The research stage comes 
next, and that includes inter-
views. Moving into the first 
draft, she writes new material 
in the morning and edits in the 
afternoon.
“I am not a writer who sub-
scribes to the philosophy that 
one needs to write every day,
” 
she said. “I like to be in flow, 
and there are many days I don’t 
write new material because I 
am in a different stage of the 
process, like brainstorming or 
editing or doing promotional 
things.
”
Goldis, whose favorite 
authors include Pat Conroy and 
Daniel Silva, labels her style as 
“book club fiction,
” which she 
defines as offering thought-pro-
voking themes and conflicts 
that lend themselves 
to discussion. She 
also classifies her 
books as women’s 
fiction with histor-
ical and romantic 
elements.
With the pan-
demic restrictions, 
Goldis is scheduling 
digital presentations 
— for other writers 
and for readers. A 
visit to her website, jaclyngoldis.
com, provides details for an 
upcoming workshop, Feb. 21, 
on how to pitch a manuscript. 
More and varied presentations 
are in the works and will be 
posted. 

ARTS&LIFE
BOOKS

SHAI HANSAV

COURTESY OF FOREVER

 The

of a

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Jaclyn

Goldis

Former lawyer, now romance
novelist, fi
 nds inspiration in Tel Aviv.

