Iris Mitlin Lav grew up in the lib­er­al Hyde Park neigh­bor­hood of Chica­go, Illi­nois. She enjoyed a long career of pub­lic pol­i­cy analy­sis and man­age­ment, with an empha­sis on improv­ing poli­cies for low- and mod­er­ate-income fam­i­lies. Gitel’s Free­dom is her sec­ond nov­el. Lav and her hus­band live in Chevy Chase, Mary­land, with Man­go, their gold­en­doo­dle, and grand­chil­dren nearby.