Lisa Barr with Erik Neil, Chrysler Museum Director
United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival hosted a successful event with New York Times bestselling author Lisa Barr, who discussed her latest book Woman on Fire at the Chrysler Museum of Art. The event was in partnership with the museum’s book club and UJFT’s Holocaust Commission.
A large and enthusiastic audience of readers and art lovers, including a book club that came from Hertford, N. C., attended. Barr spoke with museum director and CEO Erik Neil about a wide array of topics, including the process of researching Nazi-looted art for the book and how pres-tigious art museums such as the Chrysler can verify the authenticity of pieces in their collections. Barr noted that this was the first time during her book tour she had spoken with a museum professional.
Woman on Fire is a gripping tale of a young, ambitious journalist (Barr herself is a suc-cessful journalist) embroiled in an international art scandal centered around a Nazi-looted masterpiece, forcing the ultimate showdown between passion and possession, lovers and liars, and history and truth.
Speaking about personal experiences and how they inspired her to write Woman on Fire, Barr shared how she drew inspiration from the stories of strong women in her life who had faced adversity and came out stronger.
During a lively discussion and Q&A session, Barr answered questions about the book and her writing process. The event concluded with a book signing.
For information about other upcoming events, visit JewishVA.org/BookFest, or contact Hunter Thomas, director of Arts + Ideas at UJFT, at HThomas@UJFT.org.
-Hunter Thomas