Novelist Goldie Goldbloom Explores Unbearable Secrets in ‘On Division’

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Goldie Goldbloom was born in Western Australia, a rugged landscape that she used as the backdrop in her mesmerizing debut novel, The Paperbark Shoe. Set during World War II, The Paperbark Shoe tells the remarkable story of Gin Toad, an outcast albino pianist whose life is forever changed when a pair of Italian prisoners of war are sent to work on her family’s isolated farm. Beautifully written with unforgettable characters, the novel was named a National Endowment of the Arts Big Read.

In her latest release, On Division, Goldbloom takes readers inside a closed community of Brooklyn Jews to reveal one woman’s unexpected awakening at middle age. Recently chosen as the San Francisco One Bay One Book selection for 2019-2020, On Division is an absorbing human tale that celebrates the messy complexities of personal and communal identity. Goldbloom, who is herself a Hasidic Jew and the mother of eight children, writes with wisdom and deep insight about the lives of a modern Orthodox family and, in particular, the life of 57-year-old Surie Eckstein. Surie’s life is filled with the blessings of family and ordered by the rules of her religion until she finds out that she is pregnant. This secret, something she can’t bear to even share with her husband, slowly separates her from her insular community in unexpected and deeply affecting ways.

Goldie Goldbloom will appear at Boswell Book Co. on Monday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m., where she will discuss On Division in conversation with Marquette University English professor CJ Hribal. This event is co-sponsored by the Harry and Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center.