Holocaust novel Delicate finds its American audience after years of rejection
Author Ron Segal's Holocaust novel, 'Delicate', is finally reaching an American audience after years of rejection by publishers who felt the subject matter lacked commercial appeal. The book explores the emotional reality of memory and is being released amid a rise in antisemitism in the U.S.
Why it matters
The struggle to publish this work reflects broader cultural shifts in how the Holocaust is perceived and remembered by younger generations in the United States.
It is generally agreed that agents and publishers today like their authors to arrive with a built-in audience, or a track record of sales.Such was not the case for author Ron Segal.His novel, Delicate, was originally written in Hebrew and published in Israel in 2010, and translated for a German audience that year. Popular enough in Israel to receive a grant from the Israel Cinema Project to be adapted into a short film, and widely reviewed in Germany, Segal could not find an American publisher for an English translation.Recently, Jewish Book Council facilitated an introduction between Segal and Ayin Press, an independent publishing platform committed to “transformative” Jewish literature.
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