When Tami Sussman published So That Happened… But Maybe You Already Knew That in March 2023, readers met Natalie, a girl knee-deep in bat mitzvah planning at her Jewish primary school. The story was drawn from Sussman’s own childhood, and it was steeped in Jewish life from the first page.
Her follow-up takes readers somewhere quite different.
One Summer follows Sibel and Ardy, a Turkish girl and an Australian boy whose carefully planned summers go off script. It is told from both of their perspectives, and religion doesn’t feature in it at all.
Sussman’s path to the page wasn’t a straight line.
She studied performing arts and acting, and spent years leaning on her skills as a performer, including in performance poetry, before she trusted herself as a writer. It was during COVID-19, when the weddings she works on as a celebrant were cancelled, that she found the courage and the time to finally write a novel.
For readers who first met Natalie, One Summer is a change of direction. So why the change? Sussman began by explaining how closely her debut sat to home.
“My first novel So That Happened … was autofiction, so it was always going to be very Jewish,” she told The AJN. “The protagonist, her family and her friends at her Jewish primary school were all inspired by my own childhood and that was the story I needed to tell first.”
Much has happened since the book hit shelves, and Sussman said that shaped her thinking when she began work on the new one.
“So That Happened … came out in March 2023 and the world has changed a lot since then, especially for Jewish writers,” she explained. “When I started writing One Summer, I didn’t want it to become a talking point for the wrong reasons and I didn’t want to put anyone in an awkward position.”
Her focus this time, she said, was squarely on the reader, and on bringing more of them in.
“My main goal with this book was to write a good story that gets young people (aged 10-14) reading,” she said, which is why writing it from two perspectives works – a boy and a girl. It means more readers are able to see themselves reflected in the words.
The setting came from a trip Sussman took to Türkiye in 2015 with her then husband. She had travelled to Istanbul for a family wedding, and afterwards caught a ferry to the island of Büyükada, where relatives had a summer home. She remembers the place vividly.
“Büyükada is bursting with bougainvillea, old mansions and at that time, it was still car-free,” she recalled. “The only transport around the island was by horse and cart and it’s surrounded by the Marmara sea.
“I thought it was a wonderful setting for a romance novel.”
It was also the island’s makeup that stayed with her, and the way different communities have lived side by side.
“What struck me most was that this one small island has mosques, churches, a monastery and a synagogue,” she explained. “I learned that many Turkish Jews used to call Büyükada ‘the Jewish island’. Different faiths and cultures sharing the same streets, restaurants, markets. These days, that kind of social cohesion feels impossible.”
That, she said, is the backdrop to the novel, where an Australian boy meets a Turkish girl.
Sussman knows first-hand what it is like to put a Jewish story out into the world, so when asked for some advice for budding authors who feel nervous about approaching publishers, Sussman spoke with empathy for those feeling the strain.
“I completely understand why you might feel nervous, especially if you spend time on social media. Some of what’s out there right now is genuinely upsetting,” she said, although she pointed out that the loudest voices are often the most extreme.
“They don’t represent everyone,” she said, with a few words of encouragement as well. “There are publishers, editors, booksellers and librarians in Australia who want to champion Jewish writers and Jewish stories. They might be quieter online, but they’re there.”
As for what she hopes young readers take from One Summer, Sussman said it starts with the plans Sibel and Ardy make for their summer, and what happens to them.
“Both protagonists, Sibel and Ardy, have their summer all planned out. But life doesn’t care much for their plans, and they soon discover that the best parts of their summer are the things they never saw coming,” Sussman explained. “I hope young readers take away that it’s okay when things don’t go to plan. Sometimes that’s where the good stuff is.”
There is a second message too, about the people we assume we have little in common with.
“I also hope they see that people who seem very different from you often want the same things. To be understood, to feel free, to hold on to the memories and the people they love.”
And she has a simple measure of success.
“Honestly, I hope they just enjoy it. If a young reader finishes the book and wants to pick up another one, that’s the biggest win for me.”
One Summer is available in all good bookshops.
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