Susan Isaacs Books In Order

Publication Order of Corie Geller Books

Publication Order of Judith Singer Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

A screenwriter and essayist, Susan Isaacs is the daughter of Helen Asher Isaacs and Morton Isaacs. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Isaacs attended Queens College where she majored in English.

After leaving Queens College, Isaacs spent some time working at Seventeen Magazine, balancing her duties as senior editor at the magazine with her work as a freelance political speechwriter.

In 1968, Susan Isaacs married a lawyer named Elkan Abramowitz, eventually leaving her job and choosing to stay at home in order to raise Andrew, their newborn child. The couple, later on, added a daughter to their family.

In the years she spent caring for her children, Susan found the time to freelance, writing numerous speeches and magazine articles.

Susan’s first novel was Compromising Positions’. Published in 1978, the novel marked Susan’s first foray into the world of fiction. A New York Times Bestseller, the novel was the main selection of the Book of the Month’ Club. Over the years, the author has written numerous novels that have translated into several dozen languages from across the world.

Some readers might know her for Brave Dames and Wimpettes: What Women are Really Doing on Page and Screen’, a cultural criticism that received notable interest for its exploration of the role of women in entertainment.

Beyond her efforts as a novelist and screenwriter, Susan Isaacs has also made a name for herself as a critic, reviewing fiction and nonfiction for giants like The Washington Post and The New York Times.

A member of the National Book Critics circle, Susan Isaacs has been known to dabble in politics, writing various essays on feminism and First Amendment issues.

Susan Isaac’s novel, Compromising Positions, was adapted into a movie by Paramount pictures in 1985. Isaacs played a pivotal role in the adaptation of her own novel into a screenplay, the movie starring Susan Sarandon and Raul Julia.

Susan Isaacs continued to pursue active writing roles in the movie industry following the relative success of compromising positions, writing (and co-producing) Hello Again’, a comedy from Touchstone Pictures that starred Shelley Long and Judith Ivey.

Shining Through, another novel from Susan Isaacs was also adapted into a movie by 20th Century Fox in 1992, starring Michael Douglas and Melanie Griffith. After All These Years’ also made it to the silver screen, receiving a film treatment from the Hallmark Channel in 2013.

Susan Isaacs has maintained a relatively active role in the literary community, serving as chairman of the Poets & Writers Board. She was also once president of the Mystery Writers of America.

A member of The Creative Coalition, the International Association of Crime Writers, the Adams Round Table and PEN, Isaacs is also a trustee of the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Over the years, the novelist has worked for organizations like the Nassau County Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association.

+Shining Through

It is 1940 and John Berringer, the pride of the Ivy league doesn’t know that Linda Voss, legal secretary extraordinaire, has a secret. She is deeply in love with him, though, not that the German-Jewish girl from queens has any real chance of attracting the eye of her boss.

Voss spends most of her time taking care of her mother, a jaded beauty, and keeping track of the war in Europe.

Unbeknownst to Linda, the war she has been following through the bulletins is about to become all too real, engulfing her life and nation even while giving her the chance to win the heart of the man she loves.

This is a favorite book for many female readers, many of them admitting to having consumed it during their earliest years and enjoying the comfort it brought them. A little dated, primarily because of the time period within which it was written and the attitudes that were rife at that particular point in time, Susan Isaacs, none the less, brings forth a compelling story with intriguing voices.

The characters are well shaped and quite distinct. And, as far as first novels go, this is one is something special.

The book is set in the 1940s and follows Linda, a Jewish-German secretary that falls for a Wall Street Lawyer. She spends her days fantasizing about John even as the war against Hitler rages in Europe.

The resulting love affair doesn’t bring the fairy tale ending sought by Linda, not when the war becomes a present threat to Linda’s future.

Some readers found fault with Shining Through’ because of the prominent identity crisis it was struggling with, initially playing as a romance before taking on more dramatic tones surrounding familial matters and going so far as to play with ideas of adventure and the spy genre.

While the novel doesn’t balance these aspects of its tale as perfectly as some might have hoped, it none the less manages to entertain.

+After All These Years

A big surprise is awaiting Rosie Meyers the day after her lavish wedding anniversary party. Her husband, Richie, is throwing her aside in favor of a sultry, more sophisticated option. When Richie is found dead in his kitchen, the suspicion naturally turns to Rosie, whose prints are found on the murder weapon.

A suburban English teacher, Rosie is looking at a lifelong prison sentence. Escaping to Manhattan, Rosie has but one choice, to unmask the true killer and prove her innocence. To achieve this task, Rosie begins digging into Richie, learning more about her estranged husband that she might have wanted to know.

After All These Years is a very witty, very entertaining murder mystery. Rosie’s attempts to get through her messy divorce take a turn for the worse. Her husband is stabbed to death and everyone suspects her.

As far as mysteries go, this one wasn’t that hard to figure out. But the shortcomings of the mystery do not make this novel any less entertaining. Rosie is a feisty and wonderful heroine.

Susan Isaacs’s narrative keeps readers hooked to the pages of her book, and her dialogue is unexpectedly humorous and highly engaging. While the plotting could have been better (the mystery should have been a little tougher), the colorful characters make this novel so much more entertaining than one might assume.

2 Responses to “Susan Isaacs”

1. Jackie Hilles: 1 week ago

   I remember devouring Shining Through and Magic Hour when they came out. The books enthralled me and happily took me out of my day-to-day life.

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2. M Smith: 7 years ago

   Far a away, my favorite Susan Isaacs’ book is “Magic Hour”. I keep waiting for her to write another book in this vein. Other than “Shining Through”, it is the most unique story in her repertoire. I find it interesting these two gems were written back to back. What was in the water during those two years?

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