I try to write in a way that is accessible to readers with ordinary vocabularies, and I try to create worlds in which the reader can become immersed. 

Iris Mitlin Lav – 25 March 2025

The Back Flap

From an early age, Gitel questions the expected roles of women in society and in Judaism. Forbidden from going to college and pushed into finding a husband, she marries Shmuel, an Orthodox Jewish pharmacist whose left-wing politics she admires. They plan to work together in a neighborhood pharmacy in Chicago—but when the Great Depression hits and their bank closes, their hopes are shattered. In the years that follow, bad luck plagues their marriage, and Gitel’s dreams are put on hold as she’s forced to be a caretaker, breadwinner and mother. An illuminating look at Jewish immigrant life in early-1900s America, Gitel’s Freedom is a compelling tale of women’s resilience in the face of limiting and often oppressive expectations.

About the book

What is the book about?

Gitel’s Freedom follows three generations of Jewish, immigrant women from the turn of the 20th century to the mid-1900s, weaving in historical and political events, religion, culture, and family dynamics.

Rayzel liked her life in Borisov, Belorussia where she owned a bakery and was a respected member of the Jewish community. She did not want to leave and never felt comfortable in America. She forced traditional women’s restrictions on her daughter Gitel, the most consequential of which was forbidding her to go to college and become a teacher. Gitel thought she’d never marry, but fell in love intellectually with Shmuel, a left-wing Orthodox pharmacist whom she met at a Workman’s Circle meeting.

Shmuel’s health was shaky and his luck and judgement were worse. Financial problems plagued the couple’s life after they lost their business in the Great Depression. She ultimately had to be the breadwinner at a time when women faced salary discrimination, while taking care of Shmuel after he had a massive stroke and also trying to raise their surprise late-in-life daughter Ilana – multiple roles she managed with exhaustion but resilience. As women’s equality proceeded with time, Ilana could choose her own path. And Gitel eventually is able to live the life she wants.

When did you start writing the book?

November 2021

How long did it take you to write it?

It took about 2 1/2 years to finish the entire process of getting it ready for publication.

Where did you get the idea from?

The book is in part based on the experiences of my family. My parents each were brought to the United States in the early 1900s from Belorussia. But the book is a work of fiction.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

I struggled to figure out the format of the book. In my first draft, I tried to have five different characters tell their stories in the first person. It turned out to be both confusing and boring, the latter because it was all telling and no action. The final version has three protagonists, the three generations of women, and is written in the third-person present tense, with a lot of dialogue.

What came easily?

Once I settled the issue of format, writing the story came pretty easily. I enjoy writing.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

As I said, the book is based loosely on my family. Gitel is based on my mother, who I think was a heroine for her resilience through repeated adversity in her real life.

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

While I read a wide variety of fiction, I prefer authors that a) write in a straightforward and non-flowery way, and b) draw the reader into a world the author has created in the book –which may be a real world from another time or place, or a completely imagined one. A few authors who stand out for me in these respects are Amitav Ghosh, Geraldine Brooks, Dara Horn, and Helene Wecker. I strive to meet both those criteria: I try to write in a way that is accessible to readers with ordinary vocabularies, and I try to create worlds in which the reader can become immersed.

Do you have a target reader?

My target reader is a person interested in Jewish history in the United States. The book could also have a larger audience of people interested in immigration stories. With immigration so much in the news today, I think readers will find commonalities of struggle that transcend religion, language, and culture.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

I try to set aside the first two hours of each weekday for writing. I sit down at the computer and pick up from where I left off the previous day. I stop writing when I’m not sure where I want the story to go next. By the next day, I’ve usually figured it out. Of course, there are some mornings that I need to research rather than write in order to decide where the story is going.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

I find outlines to be stifling and restrictive. I sometimes write a couple of words about each chapter to help me remember where I plan the story to go, but not more. Even in my prior career when I was doing policy writing, I never used outlines.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished.

If I realize that something I had written the day before seems less than good, or if I realize that something is contradictory to what I wrote earlier, I will edit immediately. But for serious editing I wait until I have a finished draft. I prefer to edit on a printed page, rather than a screen.

Did you hire a professional editor?

As I mentioned, the format of my first draft did not work. I hired an editor to do an editorial assessment, because I felt that I needed some professional advice about a better format to use. Then, again, just before finalizing the book, I hired a copy editor. Both editors were suggested by my publisher, She Writes Press.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

No. I need silence to be able to concentrate on writing.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

No.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

I began writing my first novel, A Wife in Bangkok, when I retired from my policy career at age 72. I had no platform as a fiction writer. I couldn’t imagine that an agent would be interested in me, and I also couldn’t imagine having the patience to send out 100 or so query letters to publishers. Then I learned that the wife of one of my husband’s long-time friends had published a novel with She Writes Press, a hybrid press that exists to give women like me a chance to publish. So I submitted to them and was accepted.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

She Writes Press has professional cover artists who do a wonderful job.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

I am working with the PR firm BooksForward to promote Gitel’s Freedom. And I also have plans to market it in various ways within the Jewish community.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

Writing fiction is a different skill than other types of writing, with some of its own rules. For my first book, A Wife in Bangkok, I worked with a developmental editor to go over and improve a few pages at a time. It was a long process, but I learned a great deal about how to present the story, using rules such as “show, don’t tell.” I would recommend this process to anyone who is writing fiction for the first time.

And if you are a new fiction writer, especially if it is a retirement pursuit, Indie is probably the best way to get published.

About You

Where did you grow up?

The south side of Chicago

Where do you live now?

Chevy Chase, Maryland – just on the border of the District of Columbia

What would you like readers to know about you?

I am a 79-year-old still-active woman with three adult children and two young grandsons. I live with my husband of 59 years and a goldendoodle called Mango. I had a long and fulfilling career involved with public policy, the last 25 years of which were with a non-profit organization concerned with the effect of government policies on low- and moderate-income people. I began writing fiction when I retired from policy work.

What are you working on now?

I am not writing anything new at the moment. I want to spend this year concentrating on promoting and marketing Gitel’s Freedom. Whether I will write another book after that remains to be seen.

End of Interview:

Get your copy of Gitel’s Freedom from Amazon US.