What to Do About the Solomons

Shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

"There’s nothing more exciting as a bookseller (or a reader) than discovering a new writer who creates memorable characters in a setting we don’t see every day. Funny, sexy, and smart.”—Judy Blume, New York Times "Summer Reading Recommendations, From 6 Novelists Who Own Bookstores"

From a remarkable new voice, Bethany Ball, comes a transporting debut; a hilarious multigenerational family saga set in Israel, New York, and Los Angeles that explores the secrets and gossip-filled lives of the members of a kibbutz community.

Marc Solomon, an Israeli ex-Navy commando now living in L.A., is falsely accused of money laundering through his asset management firm. As the Solomons’ Santa Monica home is raided, Marc’s American wife, Carolyn—concealing her own dark past—makes hopeless attempts to hold their family of five together.  News of the scandal makes its way from America to the rest of the Solomon clan on the kibbutz in the Jordan River Valley, and there we encounter various members of the family and the community—from Marc’s self-absorbed movie actress sister, Shira; to his rich and powerful construction magnet father, Yakov; his former star-crossed love, Maya; and his brother-in-law Guy Gever, a local ranger turned “artist.”  As the secrets and rumors of the kibbutz are revealed through various memories and tales, we witness the things that keep the Solomons together, and those that ultimately tear them apart.

Elegant, sexy, and provocative, What to Do About the Solomons weaves contemporary Jewish history through a distinctly modern and very savvy tale of family life. This is an exhilarating first book from a fresh new star in fiction.