Cherise Wolas Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Cherise Wolas is an American author, film producer, lawyer, and editor. The Los Angeles native went to Loyola Law School from where she got a JD, and then to Tisch School of the Arts of New York University for her BFA in film. As a film producer she is credited with the production of “Darkon”, the winner of the SXSW Audience Award. She also worked as a script development executive and television and feature film editor for several years. In the latter stages of her film career, she was founder of a film company and produced, and developed movies, scripts, novels, and stories. Following her graduation from Loyola, Wolas practiced as an attorney in New York and Los Angeles. Wolas’s debut as a novelist came with the publication of the critically acclaimed and award-winning novel “The Resurrection of Joan Ashby” published in 2017. “The Resurrection of Joan Ashby” has won several awards including Kirkus Reviews’s Best Debut Novel and Best Novel, an Editor’s Choice from the New York Times Book Review, and a Robert W. Bingham/Pen Debut Fiction Prize.

Cherise Wolas has always loved writing ever since she was a child. However, it was not until she was a practicing lawyer that she wrote her debut novel. The urge to become an author became so strong that she had to quit to revise the novel. Nonetheless, her path took a different turn as she ended up setting up a film company where she was for the most part involved in developing other people’s stories. It was not long before she was asking herself why she was working on other people’s works when she could be working on her own. She had long been fascinated by the nature of childhood traumas, the relationship between children and parents, how fault lines and hurts are evident in adult life, how people incorporate these experiences of emotion including perceptions of betrayal, hurt, destruction, despair and the good emotions such as love and belonging. Wolas was intrigued by these aspects and wanted to explore the psychological underpinning and discordant truths that inform the relationships among family. She set out to write a short story about a young man that was obsessed with outshining his writer mother. Cherise wrote about Daniel ,with his jealousy and anger from not achieving his goals of outdoing his mother. Over a few short weeks the short story became a long one and morphed and branched into some unrelated tangents. She was soon writing about two young women that happened to be aspiring authors, roommates and best friends that she turned into a short story titled Killing Close Friends. The story was soon merged with the story about Daniel Manning and his relationship with his writer mother. It was not long before she realized that she needed to tell the story of Joan Ashby in novel rather than short story format. She felt the urge to explore the writer Joan Ashby, a woman who surmounted all odds to become a supremely focused and formidable author determined to avoid motherhood, marriage and love who ends up married and a mother.

“The Resurrection of Joan Ashby” by Cherise Wolas is a story of a woman determined to make a success of herself as an author. In her quest to achieve her dream she had promised herself as a thirteen year old to never have children, never entertain marriage offers, avoid love and crushes, and write and rewrite every day, and to never allow anything or anyone to step in her way. But she is soon overwhelmed by love when she meets a surgeon gets married and is pregnant in a matter of weeks. She has to deal with a series of injustices from her two sons and her husband which end up reducing her choices and compounding the negative ones. The novel is about the way mothers are forced to choose between taking care of their children and pursuing their dreams. “The Family Tabor” the second novel by Cherise is about the worldly, intelligent, and accomplished family of the Tabors. Even as they have all these excellent attributes they are not immune from struggle and confusion. Harry Tabor is delighted with what he has built until his world is turned upside down. Simon, Camille, and Phoebe are seeking connection and love or simply an affirmation that they are living a life they were destined for. In their search for understanding the Tabors are on a quest to find paths of light and hope.

“The Resurrection of Joan Ashby” is a novel that explores the serious threat to women’s achievement that the consumptive nature of love can turn out to be. Joan Ashby just got married to a wonderful man, a surgeon that lives for work and does not want children just like her, making love such a marvelous thing. Ashby is an intense and brilliant literary sensation who has made a name for herself writing singular and explosively dark stories. But then she unexpectedly falls pregnant and finds Martin’s delight a stark betrayal of their pact not to have children. But despite the betrayal, she embraces her circumstances and decides to selflessly love her unintentional family. Taking care of her two sons now complicates her life and completing her masterpiece novel now takes nearly three decades. But just as she is poised to make her comeback, an unspeakable betrayal forces her to regret every fateful choice for family she ever made. It is a dazzlingly written novel about a candid heroine who is unapologetic of her ambition even in the face of the burden of genius and expectation, and the sacrifices brought about by starting a family.

“The Family Tabor” opens to Harry Tabor giddy with excitement as he is about to be crowned Man of the Decade which will be the culmination of all his achievements. His family composed of distinguished child psychologist and wife Roma and their children are gathered in Palm Springs for the all-important occasion. Simon is a big firm attorney, Camille is a notable social anthropologist, and Phoebe is a very successful lawyer. However, cracks start appearing in the smooth façade of the family. Simon is afflicted with insomnia, Camille is at a crossroads in her life, and Phoebe does not want to talk about her new boyfriend. Their mother knows that they have been hiding things from the family. But what they do not know is that Harry the patriarch also has a long buried secret that had many years ago led to him moving his family to California.