Lihi Lapid is a celebrated photojournalist, columnist and best-selling author – of children’s books, cookbooks and award-winning novels. She’s also married to Yair Lapid, the former Israeli Prime Minister and current leader of the government opposition.
In 2021 Lihi published “Zarot,” a sweeping tale that explores a complicated mother-daughter relationship, the tolls of immigration, and the reality of marginalized groups within Israeli society. When it came out, it received glowing praise, especially from the notoriously harsh critics at Haaretz who called the novel “a wonderful work written with restraint and wisdom.”
This spring, three years later and in what is an entirely different world, the English translation – “On Her Own” – was published by HarperCollins. We sat down to talk about October 7th, feminism, special needs, and what it’s like to have a major work of fiction – written by the former Prime Minister’s wife – come out in the middle of a war.
The end song is Hey Shketa (“Hey Quiet One”) by Ivri Lider. (Licensed by Israel Story through Acum.)
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The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
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