Waldman, Ayelet 1964–

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Waldman, Ayelet 1964–

PERSONAL:

Given name pronounced "eye-yell-it"; born 1964, in Israel; daughter of Leonard (a fund raiser) and Ricki (a public health administrator) Waldman; married Michael Chabon (an author), 1993; children: Sophie, Abraham, Zeke, Ida-Rose. Education: Wesleyan University, graduated; Harvard University, earned law degree, 1991.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Berkeley, CA. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Attorney for a law firm in New York, NY, c. 1991-92; worked for public defender's office in Orange County and Los Angeles, CA, c. 1992-96; Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley, currently adjunct professor of law.

WRITINGS:

"MOMMY TRACK" MYSTERY SERIES

Nursery Crimes, Berkley Prime Crime (New York, NY), 2000.

The Big Nap, Berkley Prime Crime (New York, NY), 2001.

A Playdate with Death, Berkley Prime Crime (New York, NY), 2002.

Death Gets a Time-Out, Berkley Prime Crime (New York, NY), 2003.

Murder Plays House, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 2004.

The Cradle Robbers, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Bye-bye, Black Sheep, Berkley Prime Crime (New York, NY), 2006.

OTHER NOVELS

Daughter's Keeper, Sourcebooks (Naperville, IL), 2003.

Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, Doubleday (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Ayelet Waldman's career intentions had always been to work as a public defender. Even after she married Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon, she never thought being an author herself might be something she would want to pursue. But events in her life conspired to turn her path from law to literature so that now she is a best-selling mystery author of the "Mommy Track" mysteries, as well as of the well-received mainstream novel Daughter's Keeper.

The daughter of ardent Zionist parents, Waldman came from a liberal background that led to her initial career in law. "My parents were good liberals," she told Heidi Benson in the San Francisco Chronicle, "and they trained me that you have to give back. And being a criminal defense lawyer was the perfect combination of theatrics—because I really wanted to be an actress, but I was too short—and doing good." After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1991, she joined a law firm in New York City. Not too long after that, she met her future husband, Michael Chabon, and the couple moved to the Los Angeles area. Here, Waldman became a public defender, working primarily on drug cases. But after Waldman and Chabon were married and she began having children, life as an attorney became increasingly impractical. A combination of guilt over neglecting her children and frustration about what she felt were ridiculously overzealous laws against petty drug dealers led Waldman to quit. "I thought, ‘I just can't do this anymore, be part of this system sending people to jail,’" she told Michael J. Ybarra in the Los Angeles Times. "I loved what I was doing, but the drug sentences were so insane it nearly killed me. I don't like to lose; I lost all the time. The prosecutors have all the power."

Waldman decided she would be better off focusing on motherhood. She left her job in 1996 but found that being a full-time mom was not without its problems. She had felt guilty over "being a crappy mother," as she told Benson, but she was also upset over leaving her job: "It was actually sort of heartbreaking, because this was the job I'd always wanted." Feeling she might find a happy compromise, Waldman got the idea of teaching law part time. In order to do this, however, she thought she should beef up her resume by publishing a couple of articles in law reviews. While at the library, ostensibly researching her article, Waldman began scribbling down the first pages of a novel instead, a story featuring a lawyer and mother named Juliet Applebaum. After writing the first fifty pages, she showed her efforts to her novelist husband, who encouraged her to continue and helped get her debut novel, Nursery Crimes, published in 2000.

Nursery Crimes became the first in a series of lighthearted mystery novels in the "Mommy Track" series. In these books, Applebaum quits her job as a federal public defender to become a full-time mother, yet she finds herself repeatedly drawn into murder investigations and becomes a private investigator. Her first case involves the death of a nursery school owner, yet most of the fun involves Applebaum's struggles with domestic life as she simultaneously tries to solve the crime. Nursery Crimes was followed by several more books in the series, many of which have received positive reviews. Booklist reviewer Barbara Bibel called The Big Nap, the story of the suspicious disappearance of Applebaum's baby sitter, "an entertaining mystery with a satirical tone." In a review of A Playdate With Death, in which Applebaum suspects foul play is involved in her personal trainer's "suicide," a Kirkus Reviews contributor enjoyed the "funny tidbits about bringing up toddlers and the liberal mom's dilemma over giving her kids toy guns to play with." A Publishers Weekly critic added that this novel provides a "swift and engaging plot" that is ideal for "those with a taste for lighter mystery fare." Death Gets a Time-Out, a tangled mystery involving a film star, rape, murder, and a large cast of suspects, received similar praise for Waldman's blend of crime solving and domestic troubles. While a Publishers Weekly reviewer complimented the way the author "skillfully unravels the intertwined relationships between all [the] … characters to reveal a cunning plot," a Kirkus Reviews writer remarked that "Waldman is at her witty best when dealing with children, carpooling, and first-trimester woes."

Additional "Mommy Track" titles include Murder Plays House, in which Applebaum's search for her family's dream house becomes inexorably linked to a murder investigation; The Cradle Robbers, in which the missing child of an incarcerated mother becomes Applebaum's focus; and Bye-Bye, Black Sheep, in which Applebaum is exposed to a crime-ridden Los Angeles neighborhood as part of her search for a forgotten murder victim. In each title, Waldman weaves into the narrative commentary about various social issues. Booklist reviewer Barbara Bibel remarked that Waldman makes "some serious points about what is really important in life," and that she "provides full-bodied characters, humor, and a socially conscious plot that entertains as it enlightens." A critic for Kirkus Reviews maintained, however, that "Waldman has bouts of preachiness better suited to the op-ed page than a mystery." Waldman's ability to entertain was commended by a Publishers Weekly contributor, who wrote that "her humor shines through," and also by Booklist reviewer Bibel, who wrote that she "manages to depict the life of L.A.'s yuppie parents with humor."

In 2003, Waldman began to explore writing novels outside of the "Mommy Track" series, and published Daughter's Keeper. While the plot still involves crime, the focus of the story is really the relationship between a mother, drug store owner Elaine Goodman, and her daughter, Olivia. Drawing on her outrage over how the legal system relentlessly pursues and punishes those who are even remotely involved in drug crimes, Waldman tells the story of Olivia's unfortunate involvement with her boyfriend, a Mexican immigrant named Jorge. Jorge, frustrated that he cannot earn a decent income because he is an illegal immigrant, turns to drug dealing. When Olivia, against her better judgment, passes along a message about a deal to him, she is implicated in a crime that gets her sentenced to ten years in prison. This happens just as Olivia discovers she is pregnant, and she implores her mother to raise the child until she can be released. Although mother and daughter have had a strained relationship, Elaine eventually agrees to put off her own plans to help her daughter, and her personal sacrifices help melt their long frosty relationship.

Many critics noted Waldman's focus on drug policies in America, with People reviewer Ting Yu stating that she "offers a compelling portrait of the unintended victims of the American legal system." "Olivia's final statement at her sentencing," a Kirkus Reviews writer noted, "is a no-holds-barred indictment of the evils of mandatory minimum and the absurdity of the current drug laws." Other reviewers were also complimentary about Waldman's portrayal of her characters. For example, SchoolLibrary Journal writer Francisca Goldsmith said: "The two women and the men in their lives are fully realized, with both their sympathetic and shameful motivations clearly limned." Although Suzan Sherman, writing in the New York Times Book Review, felt that "not everything here works" in terms of plot, she called Waldman's depiction of the character of Elaine an "incisive portrayal." Booklist contributor Deborah Donovan also appreciated the author's "perceptive digging into a tenuous mother-daughter relationship pushed to unexpected limits."

In 2006 Waldman sparked controversy with a New York Times column in which she stated she loves her husband more she loves her children. Her novel published later that year, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, touches on the same theme of maternal ambivalence. Emilia is a newly married New York lawyer who has recently lost her newborn baby and struggles with a lack of maternal feelings toward her five-year-old stepson. In an interview with Alden Mudge on the BookPage Web site, Waldman described the source of Emilia's emotional upheaval: "I wanted to write about this feeling that you have when you just don't like a kid. It happens all the time. And I thought, what if that kid is yours and you don't have that maternal bond?" Waldman continued: "Step-parenting seems to be this quintessential dilemma. You're supposed to assume all the affection and devotion of a parent but at the same time this is someone who quite often hates you and who stands between you and your spouse."

According to a Publishers Weekly reviewer, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits is an "honest, brutal, bitterly funny slice of life." "In addition to being a romantic, shocking and sometimes painful page-turner," commented Chelsea Cain in the New York Times Book Review, the novel "does the unthinkable: it actually says something new and interesting about women, families and love." Booklist reviewer Kristine Huntley commended Waldman's "ability to get to the heart of Emilia's complicated and often-conflicted feelings." A critic for Newsweek International noted that "the book's strength … is that it allows Emilia to grow not because of her loss but in spite of it."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 1, 2001, Barbara Bibel, review of The Big Nap, p. 1642; May 15, 2002, review of A Playdate with Death, p. 1580; September 1, 2003, Deborah Donovan, review of Daughter's Keeper, p. 63; June 1, 2004, Barbara Bibel, review of Murder Plays House, p. 1709; August, 2005, Barbara Bibel, review of The Cradle Robbers, p. 2004; January 1, 2006, Kristine Huntley, review of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, p. 62; September 1, 2006, Barbara Bibel, review of Bye-Bye, Black Sheep, p. 64.

Chicago Sun-Times, August 25, 2002, Delia O'Hara, "Author and Mommy Gets Her Life on the Right Track," p. 13; November 12, 2003, Delia O'Hara, "Every Parent's Nightmare," p. 62.

Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA), January 14, 2004, "Heading Off Track: Author Ayelet Waldman Explores New Writing Path."

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2002, review of A Playdate with Death, p. 532; May 1, 2003, review of Death Gets a Time-Out, p. 648; August 15, 2003, review of Daughter's Keeper, p. 1044; June 15, 2006, review of Bye-Bye, Black Sheep, p. 606.

Library Journal, June 1, 2000, Rex E. Klett, review of Nursery Crimes, p. 208; September 1, 2003, Nancy Pearl, review of Daughter's Keeper, p. 211.

Los Angeles Times, October 5, 2003, Michael J. Ybarra, "Style & Culture; Taking on the Law; Ayelet Waldman Lashes Out at Drug Sentencing in Her New Novel," p. E4.

Newsweek International, March 13, 2006, "Some Kind of Love: No One Said becoming a Stepmother Was Easy," review of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits.

New York Times Book Review, September 28, 2003, Suzan Sherman, review of Daughter's Keeper, section 7, p. 28; February 12, 2006, Chelsea Cain, "Atom Bomb of Desire," review of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, p. 21L.

People, December 16, 2002, Galina Espinoza, "Author, Author: She Writes. He Writes. And Both Ayelet Waldman and Michael Chabon Raise Kids," p. 151; October 27, 2003, Ting Yu, review of Daughter's Keeper, p. 47.

Publishers Weekly, May 21, 2001, review of The Big Nap, p. 83; May 13, 2002, Tim Peters, "PW Talks with Ayelet Waldman," p. 54, and review of A Playdate with Death, p. 54; June 9, 2003, review of Death Gets a Time-Out, p. 40; July 7, 2003, review of Daughter's Keeper, p. 48; October 3, 2005, review of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, p. 45; June 26, 2006, review of Bye-Bye, Black Sheep, p. 36.

San Francisco Chronicle, October 22, 2003, Heidi Benson, "Profile: Ayelet Waldman," p. D1.

School Library Journal, November, 2003, Francisca Goldsmith, review of Daughter's Keeper, p. 172.

U.S. News & World Report, June 23, 2003, Beth Brophy, "Clues You Can Use," p. D4.

Washington Post, December 22, 2003, "Mandatory Madness," p. C2.