BRATTLEBORO-On Saturday, May 17, from 3 to 5 p.m., ByWay Books & More, 399 Canal St., will host French novelist Sylvie Weil, who debuts her memoir, The Wanderings of Isaac André Gedalia, which imagines the experiences and possible afterlives of the soul of Isaac, her unborn child.
Carol Symes, professor of history at the University of Illinois, says, "This lyrical little book imagines the experiences and possible afterlives of a much-loved but lost little soul. Isaac André Gedalia is our narrator: an endearingly wise and witty unborn child whose spirit transcends mortality in its quest to connect with grieving parents, future alternative mothers, and the enduring tragedy of diaspora and Shoah encoded in his name."
This "courageous and deeply personal testimony of trauma," she continues, "is also a hopeful, humorous meditation on the human condition."
Weil has published several novels, short story collections, and books for young adults. Her works are published in French and English. She was raised in Paris and earned her degrees in classics and French literature at the Sorbonne. She has taught French literature at Barnard, Bennington, and Hunter Colleges, and at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
She is the daughter of mathematician André Weil and the niece of the philosopher Simone Weil. Weil's memoir about her family, Chez les Weil: André et Simone, was translated into English as At Home with André and Simone Weil.
Sylvie Weil won the Prix Sorcières, a prize for French-language children's literature, for her novel Le Mazal d'Elvina. The English translation, My Guardian Angel, and the sequel, Elvina's Mirror, received designations of Honor and Notable, respectively, from the Sydney Taylor Book awards which recognize distinguished contributions to Jewish children's literature.
For more information, call 802-490-8014, email [email protected], or visit bywaybooks.co.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.