Featured Interview With Dorothea Shefer-Vanson
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Born and brought up in post-war London, the daughter of refugees from Hitler’s Germany, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson now lives in Israel, and has worked most of her life as a translator, editor, and writer. She has a B.A. from the London School of Economics and an M.A. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Now retired from translating, she devotes her time to writing, and has published four novels to date. She is married to a physicist, and together they have three children, eight grandchildren, and one grand-dog. She also enjoys painting in watercolors, and her pictures adorn the covers of her books. She is an avid fan of classical music, and every room in her house has a radio tuned to the classical music program. She enjoys traveling and her books reflect her experience of living in England, Israel, France, and the USA.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
From the moment I could read books provided my main solace and refuge from the strange and confusing world around me (described in my first novel, ‘The Balancing Game; A Child Between Two Worlds, A Society Approaching War’). I started writing in a desultory fashion as a child, and began to take it more seriously after moving to Israel and trying to come to terms with separation from home and the need to adapt to a very different way of life.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I am a great admirer of Virginia Woolf, James Joyce and P.G.Wodehouse. I like well-written novels, and have a soft spot for historical novels about Elizabethan England.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
‘Chasing Dreams and Flies; A Tragicomedy of Life in France’ is about a couple who choose to leave England and retire in France. Their ignorance of the French language and culture gets them into all kinds of scrapes and strange situations, some comic, others less so. A panoply of subsidiary characters aid and abet them in their doings, and matters come to a head when their unpleasant neighbor enters their house with murderous intent.
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles