April 27, 2012
Questions of identity, faith, memory, sexuality, neurosis, idealism, community and the burden of choice bustle around in the Jewish psyche, much as they do within the psyches of all the characters in Meidav’s third novel, coming out in paperback this August.
Daughter of an Israeli who descended from Rashi, Meidav explored the psyche of a French war criminal who loved a Jewess in her second book, Crawl Space (Picador), and returns to time-honored Jewish themes of interpretation, choice, good, and evil in Lola, California.
Set in millennial California, this novel delves into the friendship of two girls, Lana and Rose, who are now grown women. Lana’s father is a famous philosopher who attracts cult-like followers and now awaits sentencing on death row. What happens within the girls’ memory of their friendship when they re-encounter each other at midlife alters the father’s fate. Critics have raved: “This gorgeous, audacious novel goes far beyond a story of two girls, though. Meidav is harrowingly precise in her descriptions of the place … Lola, California is a startling novel, as prodigiously smart as it is technically proficient. Her characters may be narcissistic zeligs, but Meidav is an American original.” —Anne Trubek, The Daily Beast
“Poignant … Brilliantly evoking the millennial shadows that haunt its California setting and rich with humor and heartache, it’s one of the most arresting and thought-provoking books of the season.” —The Barnes & Noble Review
“An intimate and lyrical look at the choices that bind friends and family together, yet also push them apart.” —Roni K. Devlin, Shelf Awareness
“Brilliant … awesome.” — Publishers Weekly
“One of the most anticipated books of 2011.” — The Millions; WNYC-New York
Daughter of an Israeli who descended from Rashi, Meidav explored the psyche of a French war criminal who loved a Jewess in her second book, Crawl Space (Picador), and returns to time-honored Jewish themes of interpretation, choice, good, and evil in Lola, California.
Set in millennial California, this novel delves into the friendship of two girls, Lana and Rose, who are now grown women. Lana’s father is a famous philosopher who attracts cult-like followers and now awaits sentencing on death row. What happens within the girls’ memory of their friendship when they re-encounter each other at midlife alters the father’s fate. Critics have raved: “This gorgeous, audacious novel goes far beyond a story of two girls, though. Meidav is harrowingly precise in her descriptions of the place … Lola, California is a startling novel, as prodigiously smart as it is technically proficient. Her characters may be narcissistic zeligs, but Meidav is an American original.” —Anne Trubek, The Daily Beast
“Poignant … Brilliantly evoking the millennial shadows that haunt its California setting and rich with humor and heartache, it’s one of the most arresting and thought-provoking books of the season.” —The Barnes & Noble Review
“An intimate and lyrical look at the choices that bind friends and family together, yet also push them apart.” —Roni K. Devlin, Shelf Awareness
“Brilliant … awesome.” — Publishers Weekly
“One of the most anticipated books of 2011.” — The Millions; WNYC-New York
