The Light of the Midnight Stars
(Redhook/Orbit, April 13, 2021)
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An evocative combination of fantasy, history, and Jewish folklore, The Light of the Midnight Stars is a fairytale-inspired novel from the author of The Sisters of the Winter Wood.
 
Deep in the Hungarian woods, the sacred magic of King Solomon lives on in his descendants. Gathering under the midnight stars, they perform small miracles and none are more gifted than the great Rabbi Isaac and his three daughters. 

Hannah, bookish and calm, can coax plants to grow even when the weather is bitterly cold. Sarah, defiant and strong, can control the impulsive nature of fire. And Levana, the fey one, can read the path of the stars to decipher their secrets. 

But darkness is creeping across Europe, threatening the lives of every Jewish person in every village. Each sister will have to make an impossible choice in an effort to survive - and change the fate of their family forever.

"The Light of the Midnight Stars is storytelling as spellcasting. Rossner has conjured something vivid and wild and true.” —Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies

The Sisters of the Winter Wood
(Redhook/Orbit, Sept. 25, 2018)

Captivating and boldly imaginative, with a tale of sisterhood at its heart, Rena Rossner's debut fantasy invites you to enter a world filled with magic, folklore, and the dangers of the woods.

Raised in a remote village surrounded by vast forests on the border of Moldova and Ukraine, sisters Liba and Laya live a peaceful, sheltered life.

But when a troupe of mysterious men arrives, Laya falls under their spell-despite their mother's warning to be wary of strangers. And this is not the only danger lurking in the woods....

As dark forces close in on their small village, Liba and Laya discover a family secret passed down through generations. Faced with a magical heritage they never knew existed, the sisters realize the old fairy tales are true...and could save them all.

"Rossner’s fairy tale is creepy and moving by turn, full of heart, history, and enchantment."​ ―Publisher's Weekly *Starred Review*
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"Rossner's debut weaves a richly detailed story of Jewish identity and sisterhood... emotionally charged, full of sharp historical detail and well-deployed Yiddish phrases...Ambitious and surprising."―Kirkus 

"The kind of book that Neil Gaiman and Naomi Novik might have together cooked up." ― Robert Dinsdale, author of The Toymakers

"The Sisters of the Winter Wood mixes fairy tale, poetry, history, and heart to create an enchanting and mesmerizing tale of sisterly love. I adored this book!"―Sarah Beth Durst, award-winning author of The Queens of Renthia series

"The Sisters of the Winter Wood is a graceful, poetic, deeply moving novel. Simply gorgeous book in every sense."―Louisa Morgan, author of A Secret History of Witches

"An enthralling debut."―Lavie Tidhar, author of World Fantasy Award winner Osama

"Fairy tales, folklore, and poetry make an intoxicating brew in The Sisters of the Winter Wood, a luminous debut by an exciting new talent."―Ilana C. Meyer, author ofLast Song Before Night

"This dark fairy tale about sisterly love and Jewish strength and courage, set against the backdrop of a deep and deadly winter forest, will haunt me for a long time. A powerful, emotional debut."―Julie C. Dao, author of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

"The Sisters of the Winter Wood is a vivid, fascinating, excellently drawn story of the fragility of peace and the resilience of love that reaches back into history, out into folklore, and forward into the present."―Pamela Dean, author of Tam Lin

"Rossner weaves an elegant tapestry of the love between sisters, the value of faith and family, and knowing one's true friends in times of peril."―J. Kathleen Cheney, author of The Golden City

Eating the Bible - (Skyhorse, Nov. 25, 2013) 

If the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, perhaps the palette can light the way to the soul.

One weekend, almost ten years ago, I was served a bowl of lentil soup at a Friday night dinner. The weekly portion of the Bible that had been read that week in synagogue was the chapter in which Esau sells his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowl of red lentil soup. The ability to bring the Bible alive each week in such a tactile way motivated me to begin work on a weekly column which was published in The Jerusalem Post as “The Weekly Portion.” These recipes eventually evolved into a cookbook entitled “Eating the Bible,” which bridges the gap between modern and biblical cuisine by giving simple recipes and everyday ingredients a biblical twist. I hope to help you bring the Bible to your table as a central part of the table discussion, to transform your table conversations and make your meals more meaningful, to enrich not just what you eat, but how you eat.