Eva Etzioni-Halevy (Triumph of Deborah, The Garden of Ruth) tells why it is difficult to convince her children to have anything read to them ... In this month's 1-On-One!

Is it possible to be a good writer without being a good reader?

My answer is a resounding “no.” To write fiction, it is necessary to read fiction, which supplies one with the “tools of the trade”: it sparks the imagination, enlarges one’s vocabulary, and improves one’s taste, so that one can more readily distinguish between a plausible plot or convincing characters and sheer junk, whether in someone else’s work or in one’s own. To anyone aspiring to write fiction, I would say: shut off the TV and read, read, read!

According to a report of the Independent Book Publishing Association, over five million American adults belong to reading groups. What, do you believe, is the basis for this country's love for literature and books?

I have not done any research on the topic, but my impression from holding talks to so many American reading groups is that they are “manned” most prominently by women. So the question should really be reformulated to read: what is the basis for American women’s love for books and for discussing them. My reply would be that women generally love to empathize with others, whether live persons or literary characters, and they love to share their thoughts, impressions, and feelings, particularly with other women. Why this is so highly developed particularly in America I don’t know, but it is certainly fortunate for us authors.

Have you ever belonged to a reading group?

No. I live in Israel, and here the institution of reading groups is not so highly developed. But there are many Bible study groups, and I have been participating in some of those (see what I have to say about the Bible in this context below).

What advice do you have for reading group members when it comes to selecting books for discussion?

Choose books that, in addition to being emotionally attractive, have something controversial in them, so that there will be a lot to argue about.

What books are you reading now or do you plan to read?

These days, I am concentrating exclusively on historical and biblical fiction. The last book I read (twice) and finished only a few days ago is The Babylonians by Nathaniel Norsen Weinreb, which falls into both categories. It is a real tour de force, but is now unfortunately out of print. As for the next one to read, I have not made that weighty decision yet.

If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring one book with you to read, what would it be and why?

Please see my answer to question 12 about the book that changed my life (sneak preview: The Bible) and why. It is the same book I would take to a deserted island with me. Come to think of it, perhaps I will.

If you could have dinner with three writers (dead or alive) who would they be and why?

I would not want to have dinner with truly revered writers. I would be too shy and tongue-tied to talk to them freely. I prefer to admire them from afar.

Have you ever read anything you're too embarrassed to admit (except in this interview)?

Yes. Novels by Georgette Heyer. A great read for when you are tired and just about to drift into sleep. At least, that’s what I remember, because I have not read them now for several years.

Favorite book when you were a child?

Not very original: the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. I remember one story in particular: “The Snow Queen.” It truly fired my imagination. I read it many times and kept thinking about it even when I did not.

If you have children, is this the same book you read to them? If not, what is your favorite book for your children?

As my eldest is now fifty and my youngest thirty-six, it would be difficult to convince them to have anything read to them.

Favorite heroine and hero in literature and why?

I don’t know if you can call it literature, but I found the biblical leader, prophetess, and judge Deborah, and the biblical warrior Barak and their personal tale, as described in the Bible, particularly intriguing. The scripture tells us that when leader Deborah ordered warrior Barak to go out to war against the Canaanites, who threatened Israel with destruction, he demanded that Deborah accompany him to the battlefield. It further recounts that she ended up going with him to his hometown as well. Yet she was a married woman, and the text does not indicate that the husband, Lapidoth, accompanied her.

Long before deciding to write my novel The Triumph of Deborah, as I read the story, I began asking myself: what did her husband have to say to that excursion? What would any husband say if his wife went off to distant parts with another man? It makes good sense that this created marital problems between them. Would they be able to overcome those problems? Further, I asked myself, what transpired between Deborah and Barak when they were together with no husband in sight?

These were the aspects of Deborah and Barak and their story that I found most compelling, and they prompted me to write the novel, in which I used my imagination to answer these questions.

Book that changed your life?

It sounds presumptuous, but it’s nevertheless true: the Bible. It so happened that, rather late in life, as part of searching for my roots, I began reading the Bible, and I was fascinated by it.

What intrigued me was that the people described in it, although they lived thousands of years ago, were so strikingly similar to us in their hopes and fears and anxieties. That so much has changed, yet human nature has not. I took an amazing journey thousands of years back in time, yet when I arrived, I felt myself back at home.

I was also enchanted by the fact, that the people in the Bible (Old Testament), even some of its most exalted heroes and heroines, are described not as angels, but as true human beings, with strengths but also with weaknesses, many of which stemmed from their sexuality. I was also moved by the fact that the women are presented as intensely sexual persons. I began to identify in particular with the women, whose feelings and impulses I could visualize as if they were my own.

So I totally reincarnated myself: from a political sociologist I turned myself into a biblical novelist. I began to write about biblical women, stories of love, betrayal, and redemption through more love and friendship, written for reading pleasure, yet meticulously faithful to the Bible.

Words to live by?

Don’t do what others expect of you, but what you truly want to do. And do it now, because the days go by like fleeting shadows, and you won’t get another chance.