Jacqueline Friedland, COUNTING BACKWARDS

Totally Booked with Zibby

Zibby Owens

Connection, Inspiration, Moms, Entertainment, Arts, Reading, Books, Parenting, Literary

4.4 • 602 Ratings

🗓️ 4 April 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

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Summary

Zibby welcomes back author Jacqueline Friedland to discuss COUNTING BACKWARDS, a bold, gripping, and timely dual-timeline novel about how women’s bodies have been used against them in American society, both past and present. The book follows a young attorney who takes on a pro bono immigration case, only to uncover a shocking pattern of medical abuse at a detention center. Jaqueline shares the real-life inspirations behind the story, including her background as a lawyer and her deep fascination with the history of eugenics. The conversation also dives into the novel’s exploration of marriage, infertility, trauma, and personal resilience.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Zibi Owens, and you're listening to Totally Booked with Zibby. Formerly, moms don't have time to read books. In my daily show, I interview today's latest, best-selling, buzziest, or underrated authors and story creators, whose work I think is worth your time. As a bookstore owner, publisher, author, and obviously podcaster, I get a comprehensive
0:24.0	look at everything that's coming out and spend my time curating the best books so you don't
0:29.3	have to.
0:30.3	Stay in the know, get insider insights, and connect with guests like I do every single day.
0:36.2	For more information, go to zibbimedia.com and follow me on Instagram
0:40.2	at Zibby Owens.
0:44.5	Jacqueline Friedland, who goes by Jackie, is the author of Counting Backwards, a novel.
0:49.9	Jackie is the USA Today and Amazon bestselling author of both historical and contemporary women's fiction.
0:55.8	She is also, by the way, a contributor to On Being Jewish Now, and we have done many events together and have more coming.
1:02.5	A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and NYU Law School, she practiced as a commercial litigator for as long as she could stand it.
1:09.9	After determining that office life
1:11.5	did not suit her, she began teaching at the Benjamin Cardoza School of Law in Manhattan and working
1:16.1	on her first book. She soon returned to school to earn her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College,
1:21.3	graduating from the program in 2016 and publishing her first novel shortly thereafter. Her books
1:26.2	have been awarded the 2020 and
1:27.7	2020 and 2020 gold medals in fiction from Reader's favorite and have been named a Best Indy
1:32.4	Indy Book of 2021 by Kirkus Reviews, The She Reads Best Book Club Pick of 2021, and a women's
1:39.0	fiction writers association star finalist for 2022. Jackie regularly reviews fiction for trade publications and appears at schools and other
1:47.9	locations as a guest lecture.
1:50.0	This is her fifth novel.
1:51.9	Jackie lives in Westchester, New York, with her husband, four children, and two very
1:55.3	bossy dogs.
	...

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