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Lynda Cohen Loigman

Chappaqua’s Newest Novelist Lynda Cohen Loigman Debuts “The Two-Family House”

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By Debra Hand

On March 8, 2016, surrounded by friends, family and admirers at the Chappaqua Library Theater, New Castle resident Lynda Cohen Loigman officially launched The Two-Family House, an engrossing family saga about two brothers and their families living in postwar Brooklyn that has drawn rave reviews for its compassion, thoughtfulness and complex, vivid character development from the likes of the Associated Press, Publisher’s Weekly, Bookreporter, Booklist Reviews, RT Book Reviews and the Jerusalem Post.

“I am so grateful for the tremendous community support I have received, both from the Chappaqua Library and our town residents,” Loigman said, after reading several passages from the book and answering attendees questions about its background. “It was a thrilling night!”

From Idea to Manuscript

Loigman, who lives in Chappaqua with her husband Bob (“my biggest advocate and Googler”) and children Ellie, 17, and Charlie, 13, did not set out to be a novelist. A graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School, Loigman practiced trusts and estates law at a large Manhattan law firm for eight years, and was then a legal recruiter. She had written poetry throughout high school and college –and considered writing children’s songs because of her facility with rhyme–but had never even taken a creative writing class. She had a story in her head, though, that would not release its grip for 16 years.

Loigman’s mother grew up with her sisters in a two-family house in Brooklyn shared with their three cousins, also girls. The mothers got along well, the six cousins practically siblings. But Loigman’s grandmother always spoke of how she would have liked a boy. Loigman wondered: what if one family only had girls, and the other only boys? Would each crave what the other had?

After losing her mother, Loigman decided to finally write the story that had been evolving in her mind and which she had been bouncing off friends. She registered for “The Writer’s Essential Selves” course at the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, a weekly, unstructured class in which the students wrote and discussed whatever they chose. Six and a half years later, Loigman remains a student in the class.

That first class “was a magical, unbelievably talented group of people,” said Loigman, crediting it with truly teaching her how to write. When she began, she had only written the “hook” of her story, yet was encouraged by her teacher and classmates to continue until the story was told.

The Path to Publication

Loigman acknowledges her luck in getting her book noticed and eventually published. Nearing completion of The Two-Family House, she registered for Sarah Lawrence’s June 2014 Publish and Promote Your Book Conference, which included interactive panel discussions with literary agents, editors and publicists and three “pitch sessions” for each registrant. Coincidentally, she was assigned to meet Marly Rusoff, the agent for an old acquaintance. Rusoff liked that Loigman’s story had that “hook” as well as a clear beginning, middle and end, and asked to see the manuscript upon its completion.

Loigman sent the manuscript in late July 2014; two days later, Rusoff called after reading the book in a day and offered to represent her. At Rusoff’s suggestion, Loigman wrote an essay about the inspiration behind the book, which with the manuscript was sent to editors that August.

The Two-Family House was bought that November by editor Jennifer Weis of St. Martin’s Press. The book would be released at the end of winter 2016 (one of three publication periods); cover art was chosen, and advance copies were sent out for feedback and cover “blurbs.”

Promotional Tour and Future Plans

After a launch-week book signing at Scattered Books in downtown Chappaqua, scheduled spring promotional events included (at press time) author readings at Sarah Lawrence, UJA-Federation of New York, the Museum at Eldridge Street, Temple Israel in Westport, and Brookline Booksmith in Massachusetts. Loigman has also received a great deal of support–interviews or “guest blogging” appearances –from writing and book club blogs and websites. The Jewish Book Council has even created a discussion guide for The Two-Family House, which was listed under “Best Books of the Month” in the Goodreads March Newsletter.

Loigman has already started work on her second novel. But in the interim, she hopes to meet someone with a connection to Natalie Portman, who she envisions as the perfect “Rose” in a film adaptation of her debut!

You can “Like” Lynda Cohen Loigman, Author, on Facebook. Also, please visit: lyndacohenloigman.com

Debra Hand is a longtime writer and editor for Inside Chappaqua, thrilled for her friend’s successful debut and inspired to follow in her footsteps!

The Health-Creativity Connection

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By Lynda Cohen Loigman

Lynda Cohen Loigman
Lynda Cohen Loigman

Throughout my life, I’ve done a lot of different things in an effort to be “healthy.” I’ve tried multiple diet and exercise regimens. I’m diligent about yearly mammograms and I go to my doctor when something doesn’t feel right. I’ve made an effort to reduce stress. I am mindful of mindfulness. It’s true I haven’t always succeeded, but since entering adulthood I have tried my best to pay attention to all of the factors that can shape a person’s physical and mental well-being.

Except for one.

For the longest time, I didn’t understand how important that one thing was to my overall happiness. For years and years, I ignored it, until I was practically ill from its absence.

As a child, I drew all of my older brother’s book report covers and made all of his shoebox dioramas. My parents didn’t know how to stop me. It wasn’t just the art projects–I tried to do his written work too. But by the time he got to seventh grade, I was banned from helping, and was told to find other ways to express myself. I made dolls out of walnut shells and tiny aquariums out of empty tic-tac boxes. I wrote stories and poems. I sewed and colored, and while I did those things I belted out every song I could remember from the annual television airings of West Side Story and The Sound of Music. My parents begged me not to spill glue on the floor. They asked me to stop singing so loudly in the kitchen. They told their friends I was “creative,” but it didn’t really feel like a compliment.

As I got older, it was hard to find time for craft projects, but I held on to a few creative pursuits. I wrote poems (bad ones) and I acted in my high school’s musicals. In college I was in an a cappella group. But once I was in law school, my creative life came to a screeching halt.

Don’t get me wrong–a lot of wonderful things happened to me during law school and throughout my legal career. I met my husband, we got married and had our first child. After eight years of practice, I quit my job and we moved to Chappaqua. A few years later, we welcomed our son and our family was complete.

When our youngest was in preschool, I had several hours to myself each morning. But the more free time I accumulated, the worse I felt. Despite the beautiful town we live in, the wonderful friends, and the daily satisfaction of helping to raise our family, I was discouraged. I went back to work part-time–but the sense of purpose I craved didn’t materialize. I was unhappy, and I was pretty sure I knew why.

The word creative is defined as follows: “relating to or involving the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.” Was making paper dolls with my daughter creative? Making up silly rhymes for my son? Singing with my children, dancing, reading them stories? Of course it was. All of those moments were creative, important and incredibly precious. But there is a difference between creative play with children and personal creativity.

I have friends who are miserable unless they exercise vigorously every day. I have friends who have given up meat or dairy because it makes them feel better. I have friends who take medication to lower cholesterol or blood pressure or to curb painful anxiety and depression. So why couldn’t I recognize that I needed a creative outlet to feel healthy? Perhaps I knew already, but I wasn’t able to admit it. After all, isn’t that common when it comes to our own health and wellness? We put off exercise, we promise to start our diet tomorrow, we refuse medication that might help us because we see it as an admission of weakness.

I’m happy to report that I finally made my creative health a priority. It took turning 40 to give me the push that I needed, but I enrolled in a writing class, and after six years, I finished my novel. Now, writing is my medicine. The process, and all that comes with it, is as important for my personal health as any diet or exercise.

We all have things we need to do to stay healthy. Maybe your doctor has told you to stay out of the sun. Maybe you’re on Prilosec or Lipitor or Ambien. No one is going to give you a prescription for creative fulfillment, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need one. If you need a strong dose of it, chances are you already know. Hopefully you won’t wait as long as I did before you add it to your life.

Lynda Cohen Loigman, whose Chappaqua Library’s presentation is featured on the opposite page, grew up in Longmeadow, MA. She received a B.A. in English and American Literature from Harvard College and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. She is now a student of the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, and lives with her husband and two children in Chappaqua. She is a failure at enforcing reasonable bedtimes. Her first novel, The Two-Family House, was published recently by St. Martin’s Press.