From the award-winning Israeli-born author, activist, and acclaimed speaker (formerly worked at Redbook magazine) Talia Carner, comes THE BOY WITH THE STAR TATTOO, her new book which centers around an assistant to an Israeli naval officer stationed in Normandy, tracing orphan roots to the rescued French village from post-WWII.
When she identifies the mother, Sharon is unprepared for the shock of her discovery. Her historical novel THE BOY WITH THE STAR TATTOO was released by HarperCollins in February 2024.
Currently on her book tour, the epic historical novel weaves two yet-untold events set in France.
The first is set in 1946 in the aftermath of the Holocaust when agents from Eretz Israel roamed the European countryside to rescue hidden Jewish orphans (Youth Aliyah). The second is set in 1969, relating to the daring escape of the boats of Cherbourg, in Normandy, which were commissioned and paid for by Israel but whose delivery was blocked by a French arms embargo. Carner wrote the book after seeing a road sign leading to Cherbourg, which reminded her of the 1969 event.
Formerly the publisher of Savvy Woman magazine, Carner was a marketing consultant to Fortune 500 companies targeting the top of the pyramid of the women’s market.
Talia says, “The research on the social and political mood in France in that period and later, the Franco-Israel relationship, was exhaustive and included 30 interviews, five trips to France, and the use of drones during the pandemic.”
From worldwide violence against women and questions of contemporary Jewish identity to the plights of children, Talia Carner gives a voice to those without one. Talia says, “Of all the public dramatic events that Israel has executed, the Cherbourg Project is only second to the 1976 Entebbe Raid. The 1969 story of the Boats of Cherbourg has rarely been told—and never in fiction. The second story woven into the novel is that of Youth Aliyah, the rescue of Jewish orphans after WWII who were brought to then-Palestine, the first and only such project in human history. The novel offers a back-to-basic narrative about Israel in its earlier years. It is a poignant reminder of the courageous spirit of those who committed themselves to survival.”
From teaching business to women in Russia to participating in women’s economic forums in Beijing, Talia is engaged in the global realities of denying women their dignity and human rights including clitoridectomy, gendercide, sexual enslavement, and maternal mortality of child brides to the stoning of women, and the use of rape as a tool of war. Alternately, she demonstrates the growth of a society that opens its public arena to women—and how a community thrives when women are educated, participate, and lead.
More about the author
Talia Carner’s heart-wrenching suspense novels, (published by HarperCollins) THE THIRD DAUGHTER, HOTEL MOSCOW, JERUSALEM MAIDEN, CHINA DOLL, and PUPPET CHILD, have been hailed for exposing society’s ills. She is a committed supporter of global human rights and has spearheaded projects centered on the subjects of female plight. A Toastmasters’ Gold Level speaker, she has participated as a panelist or keynoted over 500 events and 350 Zoom presentations to civic, religious, and cultural organizations. Talia Carner is a board member of HBI, the Jewish women’s research center at Brandeis University, and an honorary board member of several anti-domestic violence, child abuse intervention, and anti-sex-trafficking organizations.
Humans possess a great depth of capacity when it comes to altruism. Again and again, we demonstrate our tendency to reach out when others are in distress. Cultivating these instincts is one of the ways in which we connect with our own humanity. Studies have indicated that altruism is not entirely innate. Environment plays a key role in the development of the qualities of altruism. Practicing this trait strengthens not only our own individual ability to extend hope and help to our fellow species, it allows us to explore more deeply our own inner kindness.
“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” –Martin Luther King, Jr.
Mark Guglielmo had just finished an exhibition at Villa Victoria Center for the Arts in Boston, Massachusetts when he decided to emphasize what he felt was a missing ingredient in today’s society- altruism. Guglielmo’s work tries to emphasize this message by piecing together photo collages to form a larger image. For another show, he used photos from his time spent in Cuba. To complement the work, Guglielmo conducted interviews which were then incorporated in the exhibition. The particulars of the work involved thousands of photographs. Guglielmo captured detailed images of every nuance of a person, place, or thing. From these, he painstakingly compiled what he refers to as “a 1000-D version of reality.”
A natural storyteller, Guglielmo says the audio portion of his work was important to transport people to Cuba. Guglielmo witnessed the changes to the island nation. He decided to record the perspective of the Cuban people when it came to the changes to their relationship with the U.S. Guglielmo kept his conversations informal and allowed Cuban residents to drive them in order to keep them safe from government targeting for speaking out.
The conversations revealed the daily lives of Cubans often in the context of wealthy western tourists vacationing in the shadow of extreme poverty. Political tensions between the U.S. and Cuba have interfered with plans to show the work there.
Bucanero en Playa Ancon | Buccaneer at Ancon Beach, Trinidad de Cuba, 2017, Photo-mosaic, 46 x 68 inches
Frank Juarez is the co-founder of the Randall Frank Contemporary Art Collection and project manager of the Randall Frank Artist Grant Program. Juarez says the Randall Frank collection began quite organically. Juarez and his high school and college friend Randall shared a lifelong affinity for art. When they wanted to work together, art was the common theme they shared. Together, they began a collection and strove to support artists from their area. In the early days, they worked under a tight budget, purchasing art quarterly and storing them in Randall’s home in Richmond, Virginia. The two began looking for opportunities to sponsor art events. Their first endeavor in this capacity was a mural project in Milwaukee’s Black Cat Alley. Randall Frank Contemporary Art Collection (RFCAC) hopes to one day create a public space where they can house their collected art and make it available to the public.
As they became more established, RFCAC decided the best, most direct way to support artists was through a grant program. RFCAC’s pilot program seeks to support artists in the Midwest and east coast regions of the U.S. The grant is presently privately funded. Juarez works in many capacities within the art world. He is a gallery director, curator, and educator. Randall works in the private sector as a chemist.
A Few Words to Keep in your Pocket: Soften your heart and open your mind to the possibilities of altruistic behavior.
For the Silo, Brainard Carey.
Featured image– Induction #1 by Tony Conrad (l) and Katrina by Rob Neilson (r) courtesy of Museum of Non-visible Art.
