According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anorexia nervosa, most commonly referred to simply as anorexia, has the highest mortality rate of any mental disorder. People with anorexia view themselves as overweight – even when they are dangerously underweight – and without treatment, this medical and mental health condition can be life-threatening. Our community, as we well know, is not immune. Former Baltimorean Rochelle (neée Cook) Garfield creatively tackles this important issue, among others, in her newly released novel, Out of the Shadow, which is dedicated to the memory of her grandmother, Mrs. Ethel Bagry Shafran, a”h. I had the pleasure of finding out the back story for our WWW readers.
Rochelle was born in Baltimore to Rabbi Simcha and Esky Cook. She was raised on Yeshiva Lane, and attended Bais Yaakov of Baltimore through 12th grade. She attended Bnos Chava Seminary in Israel and then Towson University, where she obtained her masters in speech language pathology. Shortly after graduating, Rochelle moved to Atlanta with her husband, Yerachmiel Garfield. They lived in Atlanta for 10 years and then moved to Houston, Texas, where Rabbi Garfield is the head of school of the local Orthodox day school. Rochelle works three days a week as a speech-language pathologist for the public school district, seeing students in high schools. The other two days a week, she has her own private practice, where she sees children in their homes or schools. She has developed a unique screening method for speech therapists to use to screen students on their caseload for dyslexia. Helping students with dyslexia is another passion of hers, and she speaks about this topic around Texas, and occasionally travels to other states to speak there, too.
MP: Rochelle, what inspired you to write about anorexia?
RG: My aunt died of anorexia when I was two-and-a-half. I grew up hearing many stories about her, about how special she was, and about how painful it was that no one could save her. I used to read everything I could find on the topic and did some reports on it in college. The main character in the book I wrote, Lori, opens a clinic for people suffering from eating disorders. It was a way of me trying to fix what happened to my aunt, wondering what would have happened if she had gotten help in a place like this clinic. In the book, Lori creates a new and innovative approach to treating anorexia. People often ask me if this is a real approach. It’s not (or maybe it is and I just haven’t heard about it!) It’s just something I envisioned through all my reading.
MP: What other topics are covered in your book?
RG: There are many topics covered! If I share all of them, I will give away some of the plot. But I’ll share some of the ones that won’t ruin it for anyone: psychotherapy, child prodigies, parenting issues, sibling rivalry, and family conflict. I did extensive research on each topic. Some of the research was done before I even started writing. For one of the topics (that I can’t reveal without giving away part of the plot), I needed help from a professor in Israel. I emailed him, not thinking he would respond. But he very kindly put me in touch with his daughter, who spent a couple of hours on the phone with me, answering all my questions.
MP: Did personal or professional experiences help you write about these other topics?
RG: Everything that’s in the book relates to things I experienced or people’s stories I have heard. I love hearing people’s life stories. Over the years, I have learned that everyone has a story. Every time I meet another person, I’m amazed by the new and different stories I hear. The high school students I work with have so many fascinating (and sometimes very sad) life stories. I’ve learned so much from the students I’ve worked with over the years and have been so inspired by people’s resilience and perseverance.
MP: Why did you decide to market your book to the secular world, rather than keep it in our greater community?
RG: Twenty years ago, I wrote another book meant for a frum audience. I submitted it to a frum publishing company that told me they would publish it. About a week later, they changed their mind, saying there were some topics in the book that they weren’t sure they were ready to publish. (This was a few years before Mishpacha magazine started. Things are different now that the frum magazines are talking about lots of topics that were previously taboo.) The woman I was in contact with was extremely nice and wrote me a beautiful handwritten note, telling me not to stop writing. This experience was both disheartening and inspiring. I felt down about the book falling through but encouraged by that nice letter. I guess the fact that the frum publishing company didn’t want to publish it because of topics they felt were too “worldly” for a frum audience made me wonder what would happen if I tried to publish a book for the secular world. I thought it might be easier. It wasn’t at all, but that is another long story! Ironically, this book, Out of the Shadow, ended up being published by a frum publishing company. The person who published it believes this book is valuable for a frum audience to read!
MP: How long did it take you to write the book, and is another one in the making?
RG: It took me about a year-and-a-half. I dedicated two summers to writing and then spent a set amount of time each week writing throughout the year. I was very connected to the characters while I was writing the book and it almost felt sad to finish, like I was saying good-bye to really close friends. After that, I hired an editor and worked hard on adding and revising parts, which took another couple of years. Trying to get it published was the next big job. That was a long journey, too. I didn’t really think about writing another book while I was focused on seeing if I could get this book published. But now that it has been published, my mind has started racing again. I have lots of ideas. One of them is to write a nonfiction book that is a collection of stories from students I have encountered.
MP: For what age reader is your book appropriate?
RG: It’s meant for both adults and teenagers. It’s hard to say what age teenager it’s appropriate for. There are some topics that parents might not want their younger children reading about. But that’s personal to each family.
MP: What do you hope to achieve through your publication of your book? What were your goals in publicizing the issues presented?
RG: I just hope to open people’s minds to understanding that everyone has a story, that people shouldn’t judge other people, that you never know what people have been through. I hope to also help people realize that relationships are dynamic and to not give up hope on past relationships that are frayed.
MP: Have you gotten feedback yet that you can share about your book?
RG: People keep commenting that the characters seem so real and it gives them a lot to think about.
MP: Thank you so much for providing us with the back story of Out of the Shadow, and hatzlacha rabba! Do you have any closing words?
RG: Yes, I want to publicly thank my fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Lisa Schechter. Although it was 33 years ago, I still vividly recall a note she wrote to me on a creative writing assignment for her class. She praised my writing skills and told me she thought I had a future in writing. I never thought of myself as a writer until then, but from that day on, I dreamed of writing a novel. I am so grateful for her words. They stayed with me since that day. A teacher may never know what a powerful impact she had on her student, just by giving her/him a compliment. So, thank you Mrs. Schechter, from the bottom of my heart!
Out of the Shadow (JewishSelfPublishing February, 2020) is available at amazon.com.
