Sonia Taitz

eBook is coming soon!

Praise for DOWN UNDER:

“DOWN UNDER is a beautifully constructed farce that reaches out in many directions -- some amusing, some disturbing. The novel portrays a young boy’s thrillingly brave and heroic struggle with his domineering father. We are hooked on the character of Collum Whitsun, and on his girlfriend Jude’s obsession with this young, courageous boy. The writing is at all times so subtle and so right. When middle-aged Collum sees himself become his father, the author brings a tragic dimension to her tale, even as the hero begins to go kablooey. It is all very enticing to follow her intelligent lead.

While very much of the moment, and no less than a witty take on the zeitgeist, this novel is at the same time imbued with deep dark truths, and a sense of warped wisdom. Sonia Taitz is able to segue from an arch scene or grotesque moment to a heartfelt observation or smart insight with ease, finesse, and an unerring sense of literary mischief. A bravado performance, full of truth.”
---WESLEY STRICK, Screenwriter and Director, CAPE FEAR, TRUE BELIEVER, FINAL ANALYSIS

“A sly, subversive take on the familiar boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-becomes-a world-famous-movie-star-and tries-to-win-girl-back story, DOWN UNDER is a sheer delight. Sonia Taitz has written a fast-paced, quick-witted novel filled with trenchant observations about celebrity, aging, culture wars and the search for true love. I raced through this witty and insightful book, anxious to reach the end. It came not with a whimper but a bang.”
--JILLIAN MEDOFF, NYT best-selling author of I COULDN'T LOVE YOU MORE and HUNGER POINT

“DOWN UNDER is a sharp, sad, and funny trip to the emotional antipodes. Weaving a story that’s based, in part, on the broken soul of one of the world’s erstwhile heroes, the author takes us from the northern exurbs of New York to Australia and back. Love, madness, and the meaning of loyalty form the backbone of this fabulous (in every sense) yarn. Sonia Taitz combines depth, pathos, and hilarity, creating a love story that is part legend, part cautionary tale, and entirely delicious.”
--SUZANNE FINNAMORE, NYT best-selling author of OTHERWISE ENGAGED and SPLIT

"DOWN UNDER IS A TOTALLY AMAZING PIECE OF ART. Full of HUMOR and DARING TRUTH, the author manages to weave A DELICATE TALE OF TRUE LOVE, TRAUMA and LOYALTY, with a GENTLE POETIC TOUCH.

SONIA TAITZ IS CAPABLE OF WRENCHING THE READER'S HEART, making them LAUGH AND AT THE SAME TIME reach out and COME TO INSIGHTFUL REALIZATIONS ABOUT HUMAN'S DEEPEST EMOTIONS and LONGINGS THAT SOMETIMES SEEM UNFATHOMABLE.

THIS FICTION MADE ME PONDER ON THE SUBJECT OF 'TRUE LOVE' MORE THAN ANY OTHER love stories did. It made me feel sore with the characters, sympathize with them, understand and forgive. It is not just a typical romance fiction where a boy meets a girl, falls in love, separates, and tries to re-unite again, though seemingly it may be.

JUDE EWINGTON IS OUR MODERN DAY HEROINE. A passionate, feminist, intelligent and educated woman in her middle age, once handsome, her youth has begun to deceive her. Jude tries to age gracefully and gets into action by using products that promise to restore appearance -- though unmistakably, she is hurt. She finds the romantic life with her husband has drastically hit low notes while he continuously flies from New York to Europe and back for business trips -- and she is tied down to their twin sons at home.

Jude still feels strongly about love. For her, 'love is the deepest source of truth’ without which life is incomplete. So she attempts to excavate and ignite the old spark with her husband, just to realize it has burnt out already. This is when her quest for true love begins. She had always kept track of her first lover whom she had hurt, but who she knows will love her regardless of age and time. Jude opens up a Facebook account in attempt to reach out to him.

Outwardly, our hero Collum Whitsun is a dreamboat. He has led a fake life ever since he parted from Jude. Once a poor, shunned, and hurt boy, domineered by his drunkard father, he reached his heights in his career as an actor in Australia. He was 'happily married' for some years, loved without being understood, hero-worshipped by fans, and is now divorced with kids. Middle aged himself, he realizes he is approaching downfall both in his life and career. There is a vacuum which no fans or fake lovers can impregnate or understand. At this juncture, Jude is the only true lover who will understand him, and he wants to go back to her and give her a second chance.

DOWN UNDER IS A STORY ABOUT SECOND CHANCES. How far can Jude go in quest of her true love, leaving behind a husband to whom she is attached and children she adores? There is also society, moral codes and her sense of loyalty that doesn't allow her to fly free. But Jude is a woman of action, too. Once she had hurt Collum by sending him away, for first and foremost, she was her parent’s loyal daughter (and they hated Collum openly for being brutish and raw).
Now will she take the second chance that life has to offer and follow her heart’s quest? Will he be a hero capable of fixing things?

Parents' upbringing and society play a major role in shaping a person and Collum has already shown destructive tendencies. However, Collum’s love was everything Judy ever dreamed about. He had flashed his love like a hero in front of everyone as she remembered. Will she find that true love back again? What conclusion does Jude come to regarding true love after her quest? There are so many aspects to ponder about in this novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the humor that came along with it. Side by side, there is also a parallel story of the younger generation, Delaney and David, which reflects the suppressed existence led by the elder generation and finds an outlet in the end. This parallel plotline adds more to the insightful understanding of the main story.

If you feel you love a little bit of romance, humor, suspense and are bold enough to face the truth, go and grab a copy of this fiction. It will not disappoint you."
---SHVOONG.com
[What is "SHVOONG?" It's a gorgeous newish cultural website, based in NY and TA. The word is a Yiddish derivation of the German "Schvung" -- which means "momentum," or "rush."]

DOWN UNDER is brisk, smart, really well-observed... Sonia Taitz knows a lot about people: how they are, what they want, 'the broken-hearted child that often lies beyond the rise and fall… of complex people who self-destruct.' Of recent books I’ve read, in fact, no one knows more about what she calls 'emotional kamikazes.'"
--JESSE KORNBLUTH, Editor of Headbutler.com

"ENGAGING and PROFOUND.... Sonia Taitz weaves her tale with meaning and tenderness." -- Wise Women World

An AMAZON Best-Seller and Book Club Favorite
BEST MEMOIR MEDALIST: ForeWord Reviews
Keynote Speaker at CHICAGO TRIBUNE /​ PRINTERS' ROW LIT FEST
C-SPAN BOOK TALK: Featured Author
http:/​/​www.c-spanvideo.org/​program/​Watchm
Recommended by:
PEOPLE Magazine: "heartwrenching and funny"
VANITY FAIR Fanfair/​ "Hot Type" (Elissa Schappell)
THE JERUSALEM REPORT ("a new voice in Jewish literature")
THE READERS' DIGEST -- "Can't-Miss" List (Dawn Raffel)
BOOKLIST: The American Library Association
KIRKUS Reviews
THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE
THE PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
and more.

Featured on Ron Hogan/​ Beatrice/​Shelf Awareness Podcast:
"LIFE STORIES: THE ART OF THE MEMOIR" #18

"A HEARTBREAKING MEMOIR OF HEALING POWER AND REDEEMING DEVOTION"
-- James Wolcott, essayist, critic, and author of LUCKING OUT and CRITICAL MASS

"From the time Taitz was small, her parents’ stories about the Holocaust were 'like telling me about THE SECRETS OF THE COSMOS'.... Her Jewish home, 'where even the walls were sighing,' makes her eager for an outside world and education. She realizes, however, that her promised land is not Yale Law School, and finally becomes her own “true self” while studying literature at Oxford....

"Even now, as the last Holocaust survivors pass away, WRENCHING REVERBERATION RUN THROUGH SONIA TAITZ'S POIGNANT, POETIC MEMOIR."
-- Whitney Scott, BOOKLIST (the American Library Association)

"A HAUNTING MEDITATION ON THE NATURE OF TIME"
-- Mark Whitaker, memoirist, Managing Editor, CNN

Nominated by the American Library Association for THE SOPHIE BRODY MEDAL

"One of the YEAR'S BEST READS!" -- The Jewish Journal

"I LOVED THIS BOOK AND DIDN'T WANT IT TO END. THE LOVE that Sonia has for her parents, in spite of all their flaws, is TRULY AMAZING. She wants them to move forward instead of constantly backwards. Sonia's experiences and the people that she meets open her parents' eyes and helps them heal....

"EXTREMELY MOVING, SAD, FUNNY, and GORGEOUSLY WRITTEN.
SONIA TAITZ IS A WORDSMITH. Every page is both descriptive and lyrical. Very highly recommended."
--Bookaholics

"A HEART-TOUCHING memoir that WILL LEAVE YOU AWESTRUCK."
--PrintsAsia. com

"BEAUTIFUL, FUNNY, POIGNANT BUT NOT SENTIMENTAL, Sonia Taitz's memoir reads LIKE A NOVEL, MADE MORE POWERFUL BY TRUTH. Taitz’ style is LYRICAL AND RICH... [REVEALING] her parents' story and her own SLOWLY AND MASTERFULLY through the eyes of a BROODING, FIERCELY INTELLIGENT, AND RESTLESS DAUGHTER. As she goes from child to adult, and her parents age, we see more layers.... We get to see CULTURE CLASH and GENERATIONAL CLASH....

"Sonia’s story contains LOVE, HUMOR, SHOCK, PAIN -- AND A TRULY AWESOME ROMANCE. It would be hard to make up parts of the story, because readers wouldn’t believe it. Taitz’ gift is in making you want to devour it; IT IS A PAGE-TURNER THAT IS AT ONCE ENGAGING AND PROFOUND. TAITZ WEAVES HER TALE WITH MEANING AND TENDERNESS. The same events and the same circumstances could have been woven with pain and bitterness – and perhaps at other points in her life they were – but instead SONIA TAITZ CHOOSES COMPASSION AND ACCEPTANCE AS HER TWINE. Her tale is richer for that choice;
HER LIFE IS RICHER FOR THE TELLING. SO IS OURS."
---- WISE WOMEN World