Lisa Niver's Blog: We Said Go Travel, page 46

Why Didn’t We Watch the Olympics This Year?

Photo from NBC News

Several weeks ago, a friend of mine asked me about the Olympics, being held in Beijing, China. As someone who lived in Beijing for 4 years, I was both intrigued and confused at the fact that I was barely aware the Olympics were even taking place. I’d like to explore why I, and some of my readers, were so blissfully unaware of the Olympics this year, at least compared to past years when the Olympics were at the center of the zeitgeist.

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There’s several factors to consider here. I’m going to make many comparisons to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a mere 14 years ago. The Olympics happened two years before I moved to China, which would have made me approximately 10 years old. However, I remember the construction of the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube Arenas, and their world debut at the Opening Ceremonies. I remember the running and swimming competitions most, with athletic titans Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps leading their respective packs.

[image error] Brandon Cohen in China, Photo from Cohen Family

This was, of course, a Summer Olympics, which boasts events involving track, field, court, and pool, encompassing popular games such as soccer, basketball, and volleyball. Sure, the Summer Olympics have their fair share of ancient and/or publically inaccessible sports, such as the throwing sports (javelin, shot put, discus, and my personal favorite, hammer-throw), but the vast majority of the sports represented at the Summer Olympics are things the average person can see themselves reflected in and strive to improve at. Running, swimming, jumping, and recreational sport played at their highest possible professional level. The average person has access to all of these things, which helps to draw viewership and keeps watchers engaged from event to event.

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This is less true for the Winter Olympics. The nature of the games itself has an air of pretension and privilege. Most of the sports require expensive external gear or specialized training and knowledge inaccessible to the average person, especially those living in warm climates. Arguably the two main sports of the Winter Olympics are skiing and snowboarding, and their dozens of variations including slalom and jump. If you’re from a landlocked, flat area, it’s likely that you’ve never had access to snowy mountains on which to practice your skills. This disconnect would make you either less inclined to watch professional versions of the sport, or alternately, more inclined, out of pure fascination and desire to become familiar with the sport. It seems, of my friends at least, that this year, many chose to ignore the games altogether, or were vaguely aware they were happening but paying no attention to individual events. This is a far cry from 2008, where families gathered in their living rooms with ample appetizers and liquor to watch each event meticulously and root for their home countries.

[image error] Photo from Cohen Family, A Wedding Couple in front of the Birds Nest Beijing

If skiing and snowboarding are inaccessible, it’s almost not even worth mentioning the vast majority of other sports represented at the Winter Olympics. How many individuals do you know that have been bobsledding? Or gone curling? Luge, anyone? Do any of my readers even know how they would go about getting started at the luge, ignoring completely the regional accessibility? I suppose you’d start out as a kid sledding down hills and develop a desire to go faster and faster, eventually upgrading your sled to sport-regulated gear and changing out small hills for more dangerous, steeper inclines that have you hurtling downhill head-first as fast as a car. The sheer danger of the sport alone is enough to make most rational humans turn away, and the sport’s history of injuries and death supports this. This is not to shame the specific sport, but to highlight the disconnect between the Winter Games events as a whole with the population they assume will watch.

Beijing National Stadium (Bird’s Nest): Olympics Venue from China Highlights

It’s impossible to have this conversation without acknowledging current events. First of all, COVID-19 is still running rampant, despite relaxing mask mandates and declining hospital admission rates. We’ve lived through at least four variants of the same virus, and been forced into quarantine at least once, twice if you’ve caught the virus. This has had a predictable impact on the general psyche of this generation, and has shepherded many formerly extroverted people into lives of solitude. Viewing parties, if they happened at all, were likely few and far between, and the shared sense of camaraderie and pride for our home team was masked along with our faces. COVID also delayed the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games by a full year, making it less than a year since we’d seen the Olympics, a marked difference from the two-year gap usually left to give audiences a break between the athletic festivities. We also just had the Super Bowl, a grandiose spectacle of American might in athleticism and global musical contribution. All of these make for a fairly overstimulated audience member, especially a casual sport-viewer with little investment in the success of any particular team or athlete. On top of this, many Americans still view China in a negative light, in many cases falsely blaming them for the creation and spread of COVID-19.

[image error] Beijing National Aquatics Center, Photo from West China Tour

Beijing hosted the Olympics only 14 years ago, albeit the Summer Games. Part of the allure of watching the Olympics is the new, remote destination of the host city (ie. Rio de Janiero 2016), and the unique culture the host country brings to the games, both through the infrastructure and the Opening Ceremony, which is usually a massively televised event. I remember in London’s 2012 Opening Ceremony, where both the Queen and Mr. Bean represented pinnacles of English culture. Then there were the 2014 Sochi Olympics, which happened in spite of global tensions with the host country, Russia. We got a view of a beautiful Russian city and the most expensive Olympic Games ever. Two years later, Russian athletes were banned from participating in the games under their own flag, however still being allowed to participate as the Russian Olympic Committee (arguably acting with impunity and skirting any form of punishment). This caused some viewers to distrust the politics of the Olympics, especially in the wake of recent Russian military involvement in Ukraine. The same Russian Olympic Committee sent a 15-year-old female skater to this year’s Olympics, who publicly failed a test for performance-enhancing drugs, and yet was still allowed to compete in her events (in stark contrast from American runner Sha’Carri Richardson, who was forced out of the Summer games last year for testing positive for marijuana after the death of her mother).

[image error] Beijing Water Cube Water Park, Photo from Cohen Family

There was supposedly a “media boycott” surrounding the Olympics this year, and if this is true, it certainly worked, regardless of the political motives behind it. Some boycotted because of China’s treatment of its ethnic Uighur group; others boycotted for China’s treatment of Taiwan, which grew in relevance as they threatened to use the global chaos surrounding Ukraine as an excuse to invade Taiwan. Regardless, the Olympics came and went with minimal coverage. The only major headlines surrounding the games were that of Eileen Gu, an American-born athlete who competed, and won medals, for China. This unfortunately served to heighten racial tensions at a time when Asian-Americans had already been the target of much public scrutiny, resulting in a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes.

[image error] The Water Cube becomes the Ice Cube for the 2022 Olympics

On a different note… just curious, how many TV subscriptions do you have? Personally, my dad subscribes to family plans for Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBO Max, and Hulu. We don’t pay for, and therefore don’t have access to, Peacock, Paramount Plus, Roku, and dozens of other streaming services that have popped up in the wake of Netflix’s breakthrough success in the mid-2010’s. Which begs the question: which of these were the 2022 Beijing Olympics available to stream on? If you know, you’re likely in the minority here.

Before subscription services, during the Olympics, you’d turn on almost any major TV channel and be immediately indoctrinated in whatever sport was occurring at that very moment. We had around-the-clock recap coverage of sports that had happened earlier in the day, so you didn’t miss a moment while watching another event happening simultaneously. This year, however, I was barely aware of each event as it occurred, making it impossible for me to tune in and watch the few events I would have cared to see.

Granted I’m not the biggest sports fan, but our family has always watched the Olympics together in celebration of our country and its athletes. I yearn for a post-COVID world where viewing parties come back in full swing, and we can watch and break bread together like in the old days. However, that simply wasn’t in the cards this year, and I had to resort to watching highlight compilation reels on YouTube.

International athletic events are the news-worthy events that used to grab our attention in year’s past, but with a world in flux, torn apart by disease and war, it’s hard to focus on the beauty of figure skating or the speed of a slalom run. The Olympics have a complicated political history, looking back to when Jesse Owens travelled to Nazi Germany and pissed off Hitler, or when Israeli athletes were slaughtered by Palestinian terrorists in Berlin, or when a domestic terrorist’s bomb went off at the Games in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996. Given all of this and the state of current events, it seems almost ironic that the Olympics were held this year in Beijing. All of this being said, I look forward to the Los Angeles Games in 2028, assuming I’ll be wealthy enough to afford a ticket.

[image error] Los Angeles 2028 Olympics

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Niver In PRINT: Blog Bytes January 2022 Jewish Journal

Thank you to the Jewish Journal for publishing me online for over a decade. [image error] Since they resumed print publication in Fall 2021, I have been in the Blog Bytes section more than sixteen times!Here are the three issues that I was in during January 2022: Jewish Journal Jan 7, 2022: p.30

From my article, “Grateful for Your Support:”

“I hope in 2022 we can safely celebrate with family and friends. I hope that you are making small steps each day to make your dreams come true!” See all of my 2021 content here!

[image error] [image error] [image error] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtz7B...Jewish Journal Jan 21, 2021: p.30

My article about “Creating 2021 Content during COVID-19“

“I appreciate being able to create new content during this challenging rollercoaster COVID-19 2021 year.

[image error] [image error] [image error] Jewish Journal Jan 28, 2022: p.30From my article, “DEMA Show 2021: In Vegas, I learned to TikTok!”

“At the show, I started a social media challenge of 5 videos a day for 30 days. Thank you to everyone for being in my new videos! It was so much fun to see everyone in person and talk scuba!”

[image error] [image error] [image error] THANK YOU TO THE JEWISH JOURNALSee my stories that were in the September print issuesthe October print issuesthe November print issuesthe December print issues [image error]

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A Soviet Childhood in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine

Thank you to Julia Bendis for sharing this excerpt from her book, No Smiling Allowed: Growing up in Soviet Russia and other funny stories from a Jewish immigrant.

ABOUT NO SMILING ALLOWED: This book is a comedic take on life in the former Soviet Union, as an immigrant in America. Bendis has compiled many years of funny stories about her old-fashioned and traditional Russian parents, their understanding of how life works in the United States, their hilarious adventures, and her own younger generation’s view of what it was like to blend in as a weird-looking kid from Russia. The audiobook follows Julia and her family from their life in Riga, Latvia, which was part of the former Soviet Union, through their move to California and all the adventures in between. Who knew that assimilation in a new country could have so many hilarious twists and turns? “Grandma started running around with a metal pot, asking all the neighborhood kids to sit and pee in it. That’s a sight I will never forget. She was a tough Ukrainian Jew that survived the war, so no kid wanted to ask questions. They just sat on it and peed in that pot.”

[image error] A Soviet Childhood: Excerpt courtesy of Julia Bendis

My life began on a hot and humid day in June of 1976, in a big town called Dnepropetrovsk, which is in Ukraine. Try saying that name a few times! Everyone remembers what the weather was like on the day they were born, right? Obviously not a single person in my family remembers what type of day it was, I am only assuming that it was hot and humid since summers in Ukraine are equivalent to the summers in the south here in the states—stifling hot, suffocating and full of mosquitos. Of course there was no such thing as air conditioning back in Soviet Russia either. The only reason I was born in Ukraine and not in Riga, Latvia where we lived, was because my mom wanted to deliver me in her native land surrounded by family and friends. The phrase “it takes a village” comes to mind, and it’s very much how our life was back in Soviet Union. Between neighbors, friends and family we had a good village looking out for my brother and I, while both of my parents had to work.

I’d like to think that my thirteen years of life in Latvia was filled with the happiest of memories, although my parents and grandparents don’t quite share the same sentiment. After all, how happy can life be when you live in a Communist regime right? Government constantly looking over your shoulder, and forget about freedom of expression, press, religion or going to the bathroom with a closed door for that matter. You think I’m joking, but when Soviet people talk about communal bathrooms, they don’t mean typical public bathrooms we enjoy here in America, where toilets have doors for privacy, and toilet paper doesn’t rip your privates apart; I literally mean everyone can see everything you are doing, and you think twice about using toilet paper out of fear of what sand paper could do to your behind. Sometimes you got lucky and found a public bathroom with a door in it, but most times you were shit out of luck, literally. But for me, growing up in Soviet Union was filled with good memories. Sure, we didn’t have luxuries like fancy clothes, normal toilet paper that didn’t give you sores, or exotic fruit like bananas or fruit of any kind for that matter and forget having green vegetables. (I didn’t see a real banana ‘til I was in America). And don’t get me started on the censorship over what music you listened to or what movies you could watch; everyone besides high politicians lived in tiny apartments, some having to share a kitchen with a whole other family, as in actual communal apartments. Where was I going with this? Oh, yes, my beautiful life back home; If you really think about it, we were surrounded by a loving family, grandparents and cousins not to mention lifelong friends that made even the hardest of days seem brighter, which is really the only thing that a child needs in life.

            I will talk more about this later, but life in Latvia was a tad better than in the rest of the Soviet Union. The Baltic States or Republics as they were known back then, which comprised of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia never wanted to be a part of Soviet Union, which of course didn’t stop Stalin from occupying all three countries and making them part of the Russian Empire. I think it’s in the Russian DNA: if we want something there is nothing in the world that will stop us from achieving it, whether it’s climbing the corporate ladder or invading foreign countries. To Russians especially it doesn’t really matter much what the task is, if it’s something they deeply desire and simply cannot live without, you bet it will happen! I think it’s also why Russian women are so good at getting what they want, especially as it pertains to our love life and settling down. I tell my sons to be careful dating Russian women, and to be even more careful dating the Jewish Russian ones. One minute you are happily single, enjoying the bachelor lifestyle and the next thing you are married with 2.5 kids, a house in the suburbs and a Volvo station wagon in the driveway. We rake you in with our charm and dry sense of humor, not to mention our skills in the bedroom, and by the time you realize what’s happening it’s too late because now you have a mortgage and kids’ college to pay for. But I digress…

            My point here is this: Russians/Ukrainians/anyone from the former Soviet countries are the most hard working and skilled people you will ever meet. We literally invented the phrase ‘work ‘til you are dead’ because that has always been the reality of our culture, and why Soviet immigrants end up so successful in foreign lands, but rarely do they enjoy life. I honestly never thought that my parents would ever retire, and my dad probably never will because as he put it, ‘I don’t know what I will do with myself if I don’t work. The day I stop working is the day you should probably just bury me…’ Actually I think he said give me a day to relax and then kill me. Did I mention that we are also overly dramatic and a bit morbid?

            From a very early age I remember being a hard worker and trying to be a good student. I purposely didn’t say that I was a good student because school never came easy for me, I hated everything about it except for the social aspect, of course. My brother always said that I had a gift of gab, and it only developed stronger and stronger over the years. I was, however, a big stickler for rules, and could not stand kids that slacked off or didn’t follow rules. Even as a kid it bothered me so much that I made sure to lecture everyone who broke the rules, pointing out that if they continued down that path, they would undoubtedly become losers living with their mothers. The problem with that argument is that most people in Russia and other Soviet countries ended up living with their mothers their entire life, so my point was moot. Not only would people live with their mothers, but also fathers, grandparents and sometimes aunts and uncles along with all of their children. You could say I was a tightly wound individual even as a child; I wouldn’t, but you could. Maybe it’s the communist culture or just who I am, but everything in my life had to make sense and more importantly everyone had to follow the rules and guidelines set in place. These rules and guidelines were mostly of my own doing, which is absurd for a child, and even more ridiculous when you see no other children being that anal and actually just being children and enjoying life.

In all of my forty-plus years on earth, I can honestly say that I have only enjoyed life about a handful of times. And it was no more than ten minutes at a time the most, mainly because I would start to panic that I’m forgetting something or missing an important event or God forbid, actually having a good time! I did not like change, and according to my mom, had a strict morning regimen even as young as three-years-old. When we got ready for the day, there was a constant and never-ending battle with my wardrobe. Apparently, I had to wear a particular outfit every day of the week, on my own accord of course, but the issue was that it also varied every day, and my poor mom could not keep up with my changing moods. For example, on Mondays I had to wear a dress with flowers on it so if I wasn’t given that particular dress I would throw a fit. We didn’t own a washing machine, in fact most people didn’t and had to wash clothes by hand and then let them hang to dry, which meant that people wore things more than once because the whole washing and drying process would take forever. I would cry and yell until I got the dress that I wanted. I refused to wear pants, because apparently in my little three-year-old mind no girl wears pants. Let’s just say I came out of my mother’s womb already filled with ideas of how life should be and who was going to be in charge and it was certainly not going to be my parents. I believe this psychotic routine was finally put to rest when my uncle came to visit; he observed the madness one morning and ended it with a threat to give me away if I didn’t stop being a little brat. You see my uncle Misha was the very definition of a tough Russian/Ukrainian guy; he served in the Russian army and was probably the only Jew in history to be physically and mentally feared by his fellow army comrades.

I believe his exact words were, (please read with a heavy Russian accent): “My little Yulia, you keep zis up and I personally give you new home in Siberia. No problem, very easy to do!” Russians love to say “no problem” because we can always find a solution to any problem, and I mean any. As soon as my Uncle left, I am fairly certain I found a new problem to throw a tantrum about.

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BIO
Julia Bendis is a matchmaker, author, mother and relationship educator. Julia is a third generation matchmaker, who specializes in intimacy, dating and relationship coaching. She recently published a comedic book about life in the former Soviet Union, it is available in print and as an audiobook on Amazon Audible. ‘No Smiling Allowed: Growing up in Soviet Russia and other funny stories from a Jewish immigrant’ is a culmination of short stories about life in the USSR, moving to America and what it was like to navigate a completely foreign life, culture and language.

Julia was born in the former Soviet Union, Ukraine to be precise and lived in Latvia with her family. They immigrated to California in 1989 right before the collapse of Soviet Union. She decided to start her matchmaking and coaching business after matching people as a hobby her entire life. Matchmaking is literally in her blood; she watched her grandmother and mother set people up feeling that she too has a keen intuition for matchmaking and bringing people together.

Food, intimacy and human connections are the most important aspects of life and why Julia spends her life educating people about love, sex and how to date properly…

With each client, Julia gets to know them on a personal level, their needs, wants and desires for their future mate.  After the initial meeting, Julia personally hand selects a potential match from her database, by meeting and recruiting new clientele, or through her large network of other matchmakers. When a potential client is not ready for dating, Julia focuses on coaching and guidance for their future. When she isn’t working (which seems to be all the time) she is meddling into her sons’ love lives, cooking for her loved ones and helping those in need. Julia’s passions have always been helping victims of human trafficking, those in abusive relationships and women’s rights. Recently with the invasion and war unfolding in Ukraine, Julia has been helping with translations, donations and helping the Ukrainian people in any way possible.

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Road Trip READY: Genesis GV70 to Joshua Tree

During COVID, I have taken two amazing California road trips. My first was in a Genesis G80 to Death Valley National Park. Not only was it my first time to Death Valley but it was my first time in a Genesis which we all LOVED! Recently, for President’s Weekend 2022, I went to Joshua Tree for the first time in a brand new GV70 3.5T AWD Sport Prestige. Both the National Park and the car are FANTASTIC!

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We were not the only ones to love the GV70 as it was named MotorTrend’s 2022 SUV of the Year®! And as Genesis says, “the first-ever GV70 is here to satisfy your cravings, needs and wants. Featuring incredible performance, athletic styling and advanced technology, this SUV proves that in the end, want wins.” Our car exterior was Mauna Red with an Ultramarine Blue interior. Every detail seemed carefully handcrafted from the seats to the dashboard to the seemingly endless safety features.

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SANGYUP LEE, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND HEAD OF GLOBAL DESIGN, GENESIS says: “The audaciously designed new GV70 breaks new ground for Genesis through purity of design execution. This follows the Genesis G80 and GV80, which demonstrated the perfect balance of our design identity—Athletic Elegance.”

We loved that the GV70 had so many sophisticated cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors with Smart Cruise Control and Remote Smart Parking Assist. The 14.5-inch HD screen allowed us to follow the navigation even when we had no service on our phones! The touchscreen was easy to use and gave us accurate routing to all of our destinations in the National Park.

This car feels like it is from the future since you can use the Genesis Digital Key and have your smartphone lock or unlock it as well as starting the car with a tap of your finger using the industry-first in-vehicle fingerprint reader!

I was impressed with the full 360º-view around the vehicle while we were parking–every side, angle and above the vehicle made sure that we had no blind spots and avoided any obstacles while parking. I also really loved the Blind-Spot View Monitor which gives “a live view of your blind spot in the gauge cluster, giving you more confidence when changing lanes.”

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After years of working on a cruise ship and being involved in safety drills twice a week, I am always thinking about possible incidents and accidents. I loved that this vehicle has been rated as one of the safest vehicles on the road and chosen as a 2021 IIHS TOP SAFETY PICK+ by a set of comprehensive collision tests, standard headlight performance, and crash prevention technologies. 

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I cannot wait for our next road trip and I highly recommend both the GV70 and the G80! Truly spectacular for driving, safety and teenager approved! Our two teens said there was plenty of room in the back seat–and they preferred the GV70 (but they did love the G80 too!)

Thirty VIDEOS from our Adventures in Joshua Tree:

Learn more about our G80 Genesis Road Trip to Death Valley [image error] Genesis X Concept Car [image error] Road Trip: Death Valley in a Genesis G80

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Women’s History Month: READ Woman On Fire

From the author of the award-winning FUGITIVE COLORS and THE UNBREAKABLES, WOMAN ON FIRE is a gripping tale of a young, ambitious journalist embroiled in an international art scandal centered around a Nazi-looted masterpiece—forcing the ultimate showdown between passion and possession, lovers and liars, history and truth.

[image error] WOMAN ON FIRE summary from HarperCollins Publishers

After talking her way into a job with Dan Mansfield, the leading investigative reporter in Chicago, rising young journalist Jules Roth is given an unusual—and very secret—assignment. Dan needs her to locate a painting stolen by the Nazis more than 75 years earlier: legendary Expressionist artist Ernst Engel’s most famous work, Woman on Fire. World-renowned shoe designer Ellis Baum wants this portrait of a beautiful, mysterious woman for deeply personal reasons, and has enlisted Dan’s help to find it. But Jules doesn’t have much time; the famous designer is dying.

Meanwhile, in Europe, provocative and powerful Margaux de Laurent also searches for the painting. Heir to her art collector family’s millions, Margaux is a cunning gallerist who gets everything she wants. The only thing standing in her way is Jules. Yet the passionate and determined Jules has unexpected resources of her own, including Adam Baum, Ellis’s grandson. A recovering addict and brilliant artist in his own right, Adam was once in Margaux’s clutches. He knows how ruthless she is, and he’ll do anything to help Jules locate the painting before Margaux gets to it first.

A thrilling tale of secrets, love, and sacrifice that illuminates the destructive cruelty of war and greed and the triumphant power of beauty and love, Woman on Fire tells the story of a remarkable woman and an exquisite work of art that burns bright, moving through hands, hearts, and history.

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Excerpt from the new book: WOMAN ON FIRE by Lisa Barr. Copyright © 2022 by Lisa Barr. Reprinted courtesy of Harper Paperbacks, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

“Good evening, and welcome,” Margaux begins. “I’m Margaux de Laurent, and I’m thrilled to be here with you tonight.” She doesn’t need a microphone. Her rich voice resonates, her British accent posh and well-heeled, reflecting her privileged up- bringing. “This is DLG’s eighteenth year presenting at Art Basel. Tonight’s showcase is particularly important to me because it’s more than just an exhibit—it’s personal.” She gestures toward the large covered canvas perched behind her, and everyone’s gaze follows. She has her audience in the palm of her hand. “This painting has been missing from our family collection for eight decades. Until now . . .” There is a pregnant pause as Mar- gaux makes a panoramic sweep of the packed house, then turns to her assistant standing near her dressed in head-to-toe black.

“Unveil it.”

The drape comes off in one dramatic swoop and Jules gazes up in awe at the enormous canvas, and then a shock wave hits her as though she walked into a restaurant and a surprise party were waiting for her on the other side of the door. She may be imagining it, but Margaux smiles directly at her from the podium, a mercurial grin that quickly dissolves into a sneer. Jules’s blood thumps; her anger mounts. That painting does not belong to her. “Liar!” Jules screams at the top of her lungs, but no actual sound emerges. Her voice is hollow. Perspiration slides down the back of her designer dress. This can’t be happening.

But it is.

The clapping is random at first, and then a resounding ovation breaks out, deafening, like the winning goal in a World Cup game. Jules’s face burns, yet her hands are cold, as though her body temperature is malfunctioning, realizing that she is the one who has been played.

Margaux revels in the applause. Her hard gaze finds Jules once again. Her iced smile is no longer a mere victory lap—it’s a You’re f$cked with a cherry on top.

Jules sees Adam trying to push through the packed house and make his way toward her. Before she can react, she feels a hard rap on her shoulder and follows the finger. A sharp-faced young woman stands before her in a white leather minidress so tight that it would take a scraper to get it off. Jules recognizes her as the Door Girl, who stood at the mansion’s entrance marking off the guest list—which clearly isn’t her day job.

“Follow me,” the woman commands under her breath. As in now. Jules’s legs no longer seem to hold her up. Her gaze shoots to the other side of the room, searching for Adam, but he is gone. Where? Her head is spinning. Think, think.

Her gut warns her to run like hell, but the bigger part of her knows that she’d better do as she is told. The or else looms over her head like a black cloud. Jules follows the woman out of the courtyard, through a discreet side door, down a short narrow staircase, and into the unknown. Before she can see what’s happening or revise her decision, Jules’s purse is snatched, and she is pushed roughly into the back seat of a waiting vehicle by a firm, meaty hand.

She turns briefly, and through the car’s tinted rear window she spots the Door Girl standing in the zigzag shadows of a lit-up palm tree in the distance. Suddenly, without warning, a hood is placed tightly over Jules’s head and her hands are tied. The air leaves her lungs, and it feels like her head is departing from her body as the car accelerates. She braces herself against the sticky leather seat. Why didn’t she leave or run or scream when she had the chance? Is the damn painting worth her life and those of the people she loves?

BUY your copy of WOMAN ON FIRE [image error] Lisa Barr, photo courtesy of HarperCollins

Have you read this one yet?

WOMAN ON FIRE by @lisabarr18 tells the story of a remarkable woman and an exquisite work of art that burns bright, moving through hands, hearts, and history…

Available now: https://t.co/h1Ule111rD pic.twitter.com/SlYH4WDu27

— Harper Perennial (@HarperPerennial) March 10, 2022

FROM DEADLINE :

‘Woman On Fire’: Sharon Stone To Produce & Star In Film Adaptation Of Upcoming Lisa Barr Novel:: Sharon Stone (The Flight Attendant, Ratched) has optioned the rights to Lisa Barr’s upcoming novel Woman on Fire, inking a deal to produce and star in a film adaptation.

[image error] Woman on Fire is a Katie Couric Must-Read Books 2022 [image error] BUZZFEED: Must Read Historical Fiction 2022 [image error] Publishers Weekly – Starred review  [image error] PUBLISHERS WEEKLY – Book Pics of the Week [image error] Jewish Book Council: New Winter Favorite Books! [image error] JEWISH BOOK COUNCIL EVENT: APRIL 11, 2022

Come hear Lisa Barr speak with James McAuley at JBC vir­tu­al Unpack­ing the Book event, Lisa Barr and James McAuley — Art, Assim­i­la­tion, and Reclaim­ing a Stolen Lega­cy, which will be pre­sent­ed in part­ner­ship with the Jew­ish Muse­um and Tablet Mag­a­zine on Mon­day, April 11th at 7 PM ET–click here for free tickets!

Jewish Book Council Essay: The Ongo­ing Bat­tle Over Nazi-Loot­ed Art by Lisa Barr

[image error] Hadassah’s APRIL One Book, One Hadassah! EVENT April 7, 7pm [image error] MARCH EVENTS: MEET LISA BARR

March 11 @ 6 p.m. PST 
Vromans Bookstore, Pasadena, CA – In conversation with Variety Features Editor Malina Saval
EVENT REGISTRATION LINK: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/lisa-barr

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March 12 @ 7 p.m. MT
Tattered Cover, Aspen Grove. In Conversation with with Denver7’s Suzanne Gutierrez

March 15 @ 7 p.m. CST
B’nai Tikvah Synagogue, Deerfield, Illinois.

March 25 @ 6:30 p.m. ET
Books & Books, Coral Gables, An evening with bestselling author Emily Liebert

March 31 @ Noon
Luncheon — Guest Speaker: Beth Hillel Bnai Emunah

WOMAN ON FIRE by @lisabarr18 got a starred review from @PublishersWkly!

Read the full review here: https://t.co/vgG5t2ibGk pic.twitter.com/Dfjxd3iIZR

— Harper Perennial (@HarperPerennial) March 9, 2022

Author Bio 

Lisa Barr is the award-winning author of WOMAN ON FIRE, THE UNBREAKABLES and the historical thriller FUGITIVE COLORS, a suspenseful tale of stolen art, love, lust, deception and revenge on the “eve” of WWII. The novel won the IPPY gold medal for “Best Literary Fiction 2014” and first prize at The Hollywood Film Festival (Opus Magnum Discovery Award). In addition, Lisa served as an editor for The Jerusalem Post, managing editor of Today’s Chicago Woman, managing editor of Moment magazine, and as an editor/reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times. Among the highlights of her career, Lisa covered the famous “handshake” between the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat, and President Bill Clinton at the White House. Lisa has been featured on Good Morning America and Today for her work as an author, journalist, and blogger. In breaking book news: Actress Sharon Stone is set to produce and star in the film adaptation of WOMAN ON FIRE.

Advanced Praise for WOMAN ON FIRE

Barr’s vigorous prose complements her fully realized characters. Readers will be gripped from start to finish …”  –Publisher’s weekly – Starred Review

“Woman on Fire is a sharp, propulsive page-turner that will keep readers in suspense.” – Booklist

“Part-thriller, part-historical fiction, this book will have you gripping the pages until the very end.” –Buzzfeed 

“Thick with history, scandal, romance and deceit, WOMAN ON FIRE is a truly compulsive read.”  – Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of LOCAL WOMAN MISSING

“An exuberant and propulsive thriller laced with sex, art, and history, Lisa Barr has created an unforgettable story that forces readers to question where the line should be drawn between the pursuit of justice and the hunt for revenge.”  – Alyson Richman, international bestselling author of The Secret of Clouds.

“Barr’s riveting dive into the dark side of the international art world, led by an intrepid young journalist, had me on the edge of my seat.” —Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue

“Addictively propulsive and laced with rapid-fire twists and turns, this sizzling tale of deception, lust, Nazi-looted art, and murder crackles with tension and comes vividly, strikingly alive in Lisa Barr’s skilled hands.” —Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author of The Forest of Vanishing Stars

WOMAN ON FIRE by @lisabarr18 is “a thrilling page-turner that delivers everything from coded messages and secret knocks, to generational wounds and captivating characters.”

Read the full @NYJournalofBook review here: https://t.co/fN79VeAzRb pic.twitter.com/5PAmqcXK70

— Harper Perennial (@HarperPerennial) March 8, 2022

new york journal of books: Woman on Fire: A Novel: “delivers a message of hope, drawing the story full circle to focus on the timeless power of beauty and love, two forces that can outlive even the darkest situations.”

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