BOOKS

Spanning fifteen years in the lives of a multi-generational family and their neighbours, this remarkable collection draws an intimate portrait of a suburban Jewish community and illuminates the unexpected ways we remain connected during times of change.
When Uncle Isaac moves back from L.A. to the quiet suburb of Thornhill, Ontario, to help his sister, Elaine Levine, care for her suddenly motherless grandchildren, he finds himself embroiled in even more neighbourhood drama than he would like. Meanwhile, a nanny miles from her own family in the Philippines, cares for a young boy who doesn’t fit in at school. A woman in mid-life contends with the task of cleaning out the house in which she grew up, while her teenage son struggles with why his dad moved out. And down the street, a mother and her two daughters prepare for a wedding and transitions they didn’t see coming. This stunningly intimate collection of stories, which spans fifteen years in the lives of the Levine family, is an exquisite portrait of a Jewish community, the secular and religious families who inhabit it, and the tensions that exist there.
You can find You Are Not What We Expected at your favourite bookstore, or please click on one of the links below to purchase your copy:
ADVANCED PRAISE FOR
YOU ARE NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED
“Every single character is deeply rendered, every experience detailed beautifully, every story crafted with lucidity and poise. With tenderness, humour, sharp intelligence, and a vibrant grasp of family and community, Ludwig peels back the tensions of the Jewish experience. The Levine family and Ludwig’s incandescent writing will stay with readers for a very long time.”
“A gorgeous, highly visceral, deeply felt collection of linked stories about how families work — and don’t work — together. The Levine family is unforgettable.”
“I fell more and more in love with the people in these linked stories as I read. Each story reveals a striking new facet of experience, a shift in perspective, an unexpected complication. Layers of assumption lift away as you turn the pages. Written with warmth, clarity, and compassion, You Are Not What We Expected is surprising, engrossing, and heartbreaking.”

HOLDING MY BREATH
Spanning three decades against the backdrop of the Jewish community in Winnipeg, Holding My Breath is a poignant coming-of-age tale told from the point of view of Beth Levy, the youngest in a household of two generations of strong Jewish women.
There’s her mother, Goldie, who upholds the middle-class values and traditions at home and in the community; her aunt Carrie, who never married and carries a secret, tragic past; and her youngest aunt, Sarah, the most beautiful, wild and rebellious of the three sisters. Noticeably absent is her uncle, Phil, who died tragically during the Second World War.
As Beth grows up, she finds herself navigating between the old world and the new, and the mounting pressure to conform feeds her longing to escape.
A bold and tender debut novel from a fresh and exciting new voice.
HOLDING MY BREATH