About this Event
Join us for the launch of Living with Strangers, debut memoirist Robin Rosenbluth's hopeful and brave coming-of-age story of surviving a turbulent youth—neglected first by her father, then as a teen in foster care—and going on to find a sense of belonging and a new lease on life in a semi-nomadic Kenyan community.
Robin Rosenbluth will read from Living with Strangers, followed by a conversation with writer Susan Ritz, audience Q&A, signing and reception.
Can't make it to the event? Preorder at the link above to receive a signed copy for store pickup or shipping. Indicate any personalization requests in the "Instructions and comments" field during checkout.
About the book
Eager to leave her life as a foster child behind, Robin Rosenbluth travels to a remote village in northern Kenya called Songa in 1973. As a white college student, she arrives in a desert-like environment to teach elementary school to Samburu and Rendille children. While befriending the residents, she learns to live in a mud hut, survive without modern conveniences, skin a cow, and K*ll a chicken for dinner.
Robin weaves stories about the challenges she faced growing up—her mother’s early death, her father’s abandonment, and her years in foster care—with her account of her time in Songa. As the only Jewish resident in a village influenced by Christian missionaries, she strives to fit in: adapting to the intense heat, endless insects, and close encounters with wild animals. Over time, she develops close friendships with a local teacher and a woman who becomes her surrogate mother, participates in local customs, and makes a place for herself in Songa.
Offering vivid insight into why a love-starved nineteen-year-old from New York City would choose to relocate to the other side of the world, Living with Strangers is a poignant chronicle of one young woman’s search for a place to belong.
Advance Praise for Living with Strangers
“[Robin] deftly merges the two parts of her life story—her early life and her Kenyan travels—with maturity and levelheaded reflection and urges readers to both sympathize with others and to pay attention to their own emotional needs.”—Kirkus Reviews
“. . . a thoughtful memoir about chosen belonging formed through village work in Africa after a childhood of uncertain homes in America.”—Readers’ Favorite, 5-star review
“A beautifully written exploration of connection and belonging. This book is a must-read for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider or has experienced the American foster care system.”—Angela Quijada-Banks, author of The Black Foster Youth Handbook
“What truly sets Rosenbluth’s story apart is her year in Kenya at nineteen, living with semi-nomadic tribes and teaching school. Her courage to embrace a new culture while searching for belonging is both surprising and inspiring.”—David Ambroz, author of A Place Called Home
About the author
Robin Rosenbluth, a former foster teen, advocates for finding permanent homes for older foster youth. Her debut memoir, Living with Strangers: Healing a Wounded Heart in a Distant Land, is a coming-of-age story about a white college student teaching in a remote, semi-nomadic Kenyan village in 1973. It weaves together stories from her childhood in the U.S. foster care system and her journey to find belonging in a new culture. She writes a Substack titled My Jagged Journey as a Debut Writer. Robin and her wife have raised two children, who now have families of their own. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
About Susan Ritz
Susan Ritz grew up in Minnesota, but she left home to become a wandering scholar; she lived, studied, and worked as a social worker in Kenya, Japan, Singapore, and Indonesia in the 1970s. She worked as a human rights lobbyist in Washington, DC, during the Carter Administration before moving to Dachau, Germany, the setting for her memoir in progress, On the Edge of Dachau. For the past forty years, she has lived with her husband and three children in Montpelier, Vermont, where she has worked as a fundraiser, events coordinator, and philanthropic advisor for a wide range of nonprofit organizations, especially those promoting economic equality for women. Writing, however, has always been her passion, and after receiving an MFA in creative nonfiction from Goucher College, she began writing for local publications, teaching creative writing to adults and high school students, and working on her first novel, A Dream to Die For, which was published on July 16, 2019.
Event venue & nearby stays
Lofty Pigeon Books, 743 Church Avenue, Brooklyn, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.