TORONTO — Gabriella Goliger’s Girl Unwrapped is a novel about “Toni Goldblatt’s taboo desires conflicting with the expectations of her Holocaust-scarred parents,” her website says, “and the conservative mores of her time.”
Gabriella Goliger
Goliger, along with musician Justine Appel and filmmaker Barbara Center, will speak at an event called Proud, Jewish and Lesbian: Expressions Through Art, on June 12 at 7:30 p.m., at Congregation Darchei Noam in Toronto.
Girl Unwrapped is set in Montreal in the 1960s, when Goliger grew up, but that isn’t the only reason she chose to set the book in that time period. She said she wanted to show the difference between the conservative early 1960s and the liberation that happened later in the decade.
“I wanted to revisit that time, re-examine it and bring it alive,” Goliger said. “A lot changed in such a short time.”
Although Goliger has much more in common with her main character, Toni, than being a Jewish lesbian, she worked hard to make sure Toni was different than her. She said that Toni has a lot more difficulty keeping herself hidden, which, for artistic purposes, makes her a better character.
“In terms of the agony in feeling almost like you’re born absolutely wrong, I can say I went through that,” Goliger said.
The response to Girl Unwrapped has been positive so far, with favourable reviews and good feedback from readers she’s met. She attributes that to everyone being able to find something to relate to in her novel about the struggles of growing up.
“I’ve had people who are neither Jewish nor lesbian tell me they can relate to this book,” Goliger said.
When she spoke about her book to a group of elderly Jewish women, she wasn’t sure how they might respond. They ended up being very interested and gave her a very warm welcome.
“I took it as a sign of how much the world has changed on the topic of gay identity,” she said.
Goliger is working on a new book set in Palestine in the 1930s and ’40s, about a young Jew who falls in love with a British policeman. She said in some ways it’s more difficult to write than Girl Unwrapped was, because she never lived during that time, but in other ways, it’s a lot easier to write, because the subject matter isn’t as personal.
“I struggled with writing Girl Unwrapped,” she said. “The subject matter was very close to home so I had to work to find a certain distance.”
Goliger said she gained confidence after finishing Girl Unwrapped, her first novel, because she no longer had to figure out how to write a novel.
Even if her first novel hadn’t been as successful, Goliger said she doesn’t write for money or success. “I do it because I feel like my life won’t have meaning unless I keep doing the things I have passion for,” Goliger said.
She didn’t intend to write Girl Unwrapped with a particular message, but she said that the book’s message is positive. She said it shows how the “other” is also “us,” and by doing that, it breaks down barriers within communities.
“It heartens me to see that Jewish communities and other communities are opening up to embrace those who once felt excluded, and I want to be part of that process,” she said.
Proud, Jewish and Lesbian: Expressions Through Art is sponsored by the Jewish Diversity Committee of Darchei Noam, in co-operation with Kulanu Toronto. For more information, go to www.darcheinoam.on.ca. To learn more about Gabriella Goliger, visit www.gabriellagoliger.com.