UNC Asheville to Host Reading by Valerie Leff;
Novelist to Read from New Book, "Better Homes and Husbands"

Valerie Leff

UNC Asheville’s Center for Jewish Studies will host a reading by Valerie Leff, author of the novel “Better Homes and Husbands” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, in UNC Asheville’s Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

“Better Homes and Husbands” was published by St. Martin’s Press last year. The book follows the lives of the residents of an exclusive prewar co-op building in New York City from the 1970s to the present. Those that live at 980 Park Avenue have little in common except for their prestigious address. From the building’s first Jewish resident to the granddaughter of a Latin dictator, the building’s residents and service people face battles of race, religion and ideology through the years.

Publisher’s Weekly calls the book a “cozy chronicle” and a “warmhearted, generously imagined New York story.” National Public Radio heralded the book, saying, “Novels that center on the lifestyles of the rich and fabulous, if not famous, have received renewed appreciation lately… In the middle of all this, there’s a serious contender…’Better Homes and Husbands.’ ”

Born in Los Angeles, Leff moved to Manhattan when she was a young girl and grew up at the glamorous Fifth Avenue. She shared her address with Jackie Onassis, the Rothschilds, and other members of the City’s elite, gaining an intimate knowledge of the kind of Upper East Side building that appears as the setting for “Better Homes and Gardens.” Leff studied the Italian Renaissance at Sarah Lawrence College, which lead to a career in fashion public relations in Milan. Having a change of heart, Leff abandoned her public relations career to work on a graduate degree in environmental science at UCLA. Upon joining a women writers’ group, however, she discovered a new passion and chose fiction writing over finishing her doctorate degree. In 1996, Leff moved to Asheville and later co-founded UNC Asheville’s Great Smokies Writing Program. She continues to serve as co-director and teacher for the program. She has published stories and essays in many journals, including “The Antioch Review,” “Carolina Quarterly” and “Chelsea.” “Better Homes and Husbands” is her first novel.

For more information, call UNC Asheville’s Center for Jewish Studies at 828/251-6411.

Media Contacts:

• Dr. Richard Chess, UNC Asheville literature and language professor, 828/251-6576
• Jill Yarnall, UNC Asheville Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526