Totally Booked with Zibby

Guest: Kitty Zeldis
Episode: “ONE OF THEM: A Novel”
Date: September 9, 2025
Host: Zibby Owens

Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth conversation between host Zibby Owens and author Kitty Zeldis about Zeldis’s new novel, One of Them. The discussion centers around themes of identity, assimilation, prejudice, and female friendship, all set within the historical context of 1940s America. Zibby and Kitty also explore Zeldis’s writing process, her personal connections to her work, and advice for aspiring writers. The tone is candid, thoughtful, and gently humorous.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Origin of Kitty Zeldis’s Pseudonym

• [03:44] Zibby opens by asking about the author's pseudonym.
  • Kitty explains that her earlier novels were contemporary, but with Not Our Kind (2018) set in the 1940s, HarperCollins suggested a "relaunch". “Zeldis” is her maiden name, and “Kitty” was a college nickname, “so it felt...natural.”
  • Quote: “Kitty is a college nickname. I have a whole host of people who've called me Kitty for many years. And so it felt quite natural.” (Kitty, 03:49)

About One of Them

• [04:25] Kitty describes the book as “a friendship novel, not a romance,” focusing on two Jewish women at Vassar in the late 1940s.
• One protagonist is assimilated, passes as non-Jewish by using a changed surname, but learns this only creates new challenges.
• The story is about how these women’s friendship evolves amidst the pressure of social prejudices.
  • Quote: “She thinks this is going to solve all her problems, but it only creates new problems that she couldn't possibly anticipate.” (Kitty, 04:25)

Literary Excerpt & Discussion of Prejudice

• [05:21] Zibby reads a passage from the opening chapter, spotlighting coded antisemitism among college peers.
• Zibby asks Kitty if this stemmed from personal experience and how prejudice has changed or persisted.
• [07:01] Kitty recounts growing up in Brooklyn in a “comfortably segregated” but nondiscriminatory environment, but upon attending Vassar, encountered WASP culture, feeling both “excited” and “frightened” by it.
  • Quote: “It was like a tsunami of them. And they excited me, they frightened me. I was disdainful, I was admiring…they were just so different.” (Kitty, 07:39)

Historical Context & Present Parallels

• [09:44] Zibby draws a connection to current tensions on college campuses. Kitty expresses her concern and confusion about shifting perceptions of Jews from “undesirables” to “white oppressors.”
  • Quote: “Now we are undesirable in a different way. Now we’re the white oppressors. We’ve turned into that. And I still don’t understand how that happened...” (Kitty, 10:08)

Writing Israel & Palestine; Balanced Perspective

• [11:35] Kitty reveals she initially hadn't planned to include the Palestine/Israel element. She faced mild pushback, but felt compelled by the story.
  • She strove to offer a balanced portrayal: “I really tried to offer a balanced view that everybody has a point of view here, and both points of view are valid.” (Kitty, 11:35)
  • She emphasizes the impossibility of peace without listening: “If you don’t want to hear the other side, there will never be peace.” (Kitty, 12:46)

The Creative Process

• [18:31] Kitty writes character-driven novels without an outline: “If I know who these people are and what they want and what they don’t want…they kind of take me along.”
• Paris is a favored setting: “Paris was fun because he’s in Paris. Always fun. Love that.” (Kitty, 18:31)

Journey to Authorship

• [19:28] Kitty pivoted from art history in graduate school to writing after taking a fiction class: "I had, you know, Oprah’s aha moment. I thought, you mean you could do this with your life? I'm gonna do this with my life."
• Her first novel came at age 45, after unpublished attempts.

Ballet, Body Image, and Previous Work

• [22:01] Kitty is partial to her first novel, The Four Temperaments, a way to process her history as a teenage ballet dancer.
  • On ballet and body image: “I don’t think it’s possible to be a woman in this culture and not feel insufficient in some way...And ballet does exacerbate that, unfortunately.” (Kitty, 23:26)

What’s Next & Reading Habits

• [24:17] Kitty plans another historical novel, potentially set in 1950s and 18th-century Amsterdam, inspired by a woman painter, Rachel Royce.
• [25:21] While writing a novel, she avoids reading other novels to keep her voice clear, opting instead for poetry or nonfiction.

Advice for Aspiring Writers

• [26:19] “Persistence is as important as talent. You cannot be daunted by rejection. It’s just one person’s opinion.”
• Shares her "48-hour rule" for sending submissions back out after rejection.
  • As fiction editor for Lilith magazine: “It’s just my opinion...what doesn’t work for me might be perfect for someone else.”

Submitting to Lilith Magazine

• [28:19] Open submissions, but requires “some feminist or feminine content” and “some Jewish content.” Short stories (<3,000 words) preferred.

Notable Quotes

• “She thinks this is going to solve all her problems, but it only creates new problems...” (Kitty Zeldis, 04:25)
• “It was like a tsunami of them. And they excited me, they frightened me. I was disdainful, I was admiring.” (Kitty, 07:39)
• “Now we are undesirable in a different way. Now we’re the white oppressors. We’ve turned into that. And I still don’t understand how that happened...” (Kitty, 10:08)
• “I really tried to offer a balanced view that everybody has a point of view here, and both points of view are valid.” (Kitty, 11:35)
• “Persistence is as important as talent. You cannot be daunted by rejection. It’s just one person’s opinion.” (Kitty, 26:19)
• “In what we publish [at Lilith], [women] are the subjects. And it has to have some Jewish content...I have been good at teasing out latent Jewish content.” (Kitty, 28:19)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:44 – Discussion of Kitty’s pseudonym origins
• 04:25 – Plot summary: identity, passing, and friendship in the late 1940s
• 05:21–07:01 – Literary excerpt on prejudice and its roots
• 07:01–07:39 – Personal experiences at Vassar and inspiration for the novel
• 09:44–12:46 – Antisemitism: past, present, and reflections on Israel/Palestine
• 18:31 – Kitty’s writing process and using character as her guide
• 19:28–21:55 – Path from art history to writing, early obstacles
• 22:01–23:26 – Ballet, body image, and The Four Temperaments
• 24:17 – Current writing projects based on historical women
• 25:21 – Reading habits when writing
• 26:19–28:19 – Practical writing advice and tips on submitting to Lilith magazine

Tone & Atmosphere

• Both Zibby and Kitty speak with warmth, candor, and a shared literary enthusiasm.
• The conversation blends personal narrative with larger sociocultural issues, maintaining a tone that is reflective, supportive, and at times wryly humorous.

For More

• Visit zibbymedia.com
• Follow Zibby on Instagram: @zibbyowens

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