Zelda Popkin (née Feinberg; 5 July 1898 – 25 May 1983) was an American writer of novels and
mystery
Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
*Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange''
Films
* ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film
* ''Mystery'' ( ...
stories. She created Mary Carner, one of the first professional female private detectives in fiction. Carner was a store detective who appeared in five novels.
Life
Zelda Popkin was married to Louis Popkin, and together they ran a small
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...
firm until his death. They had two children, Roy and
Richard
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...
.
Work
Popkin's most successful book was ''The Journey Home'', published in 1945, which sold nearly a million copies. ''Small Victory'', published in 1947, was one of the first American novels with a
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
theme, and ''Quiet Street'' (1951) was the first American novel about the creation of the state of
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
.
She also wrote an autobiography, ''Open Every Door'' (1956), chronicling her childhood, life with her husband Louis Popkins, and life after his death. ''Herman Had Two Daughters'' (1968), a novel about two young Jewish women growing up in a small Pennsylvania town, is also largely autobiographical.