Waldman, Ayelet 1964-

views updated

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. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Berkley Books Publicity, 375 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014.

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:

Nursery Crimes (part of "Mommy Track" mystery series), Berkley Prime Crime (New York, NY), 2000.

The Big Nap (part of "Mommy Track" mystery series), Berkley Prime Crime (New York, NY), 2001.

A Playdate with Death (part of "Mommy Track" mystery series), Berkley Prime Crime (New York, NY), 2002.

Death Gets a Time-Out (part of "Mommy Track" mystery series), Berkley Prime Crime (New York, NY), 2003.

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

Murder Plays House (part of "Mommy Track" mystery series), Berkley Books (New York, NY), 2004.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

A second mainstream novel, The Bloom Girls, a story that is set in 1920s Montreal, Canada; more "Mommy Track" mysteries.

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, including The Big Nap, A Playdate with Death, Death Gets a Time-Out, and Murder Plays House, 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." And 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 said "Waldman is at her witty best when dealing with children, carpooling, and first-trimester woes."

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 further 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, School Library 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."

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.

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.

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.

New York Times Book Review, July 7, 2002, Marilyn Stasio, "Crime," Section 7, p. 16; September 28, 2003, Suzan Sherman, "Books in Brief: Fiction," Section 7, p. 28.

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.

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.