Meet the Author - Book Reading and Signing with Lisajoy Sachs

Lisajoy Sachs is an award-winning author of historical fiction whose Bright One series is inspired by her family’s Jewish history. Drawing upon letters, photographs, postcards, oral histories, and meticulous research, she writes intimate, deeply human novels about identity, displacement, resilience, and the courage found in ordinary lives. Sachs lives in New York’s Catskill Mountains and speaks to readers and community groups about the family history and research behind her work. Her planned six-book Bright One series traces one family across generations, exploring the choices they made to survive, and the lasting consequences of those choices.

The series begins with Bright One, a powerful historical novel inspired by the life of Sachs’s great-grandmother, Jetti Finkelthal. In Czernowitz, Romania, Jetti is a young Jewish mother struggling to protect her family as antisemitism spreads and the world around them becomes increasingly dangerous. Determined to secure a future for her daughter, Berta, Jetti faces impossible decisions shaped by love, fear, courage, and sacrifice.

The story continues in Golden Flight, released in July 2026. In 1933, fifteen-year-old Berta leaves Czernowitz on a journey that will change her life forever. A marriage intended to secure her safety carries her across borders and eventually to Istanbul, where dwindling funds and repeatedly delayed passage leave her suspended between the home she has lost and the future she cannot yet reach.

During this special author event, Lisajoy will discuss the family history and extensive research behind the series, read excerpts from both books, answer questions, and invite conversation with attendees. Copies of Bright One and Golden Flight will be available for purchase and signing.