A retired Bronx performer has found a new stage to express her creativity.
Deborah Eiseman has released her second novel, ‘Portrait in Desperation,’ a chilling tale combining romance with suspense.
The longtime Riverdale resident said she became inspired to create this specific novel after envisioning a young woman sitting on top of a staircase feeling lost.
Portrait in Desperation opens with this exact scene of the main protagonist Kaitrina Bogdani after making a life and death decision.
The novel proceeds to recount the events leading up to Kaitrina’s choice for survival.
When she was only 12-years-old, Kaitrina was forced into a marriage with Isuf Januzaj, a powerful Albanian crime lord.
After witnessing a heinous act of violence, Kaitrina flees to Philadelphia where she adopts a new identity.
She soon falls in love with a local artist named Mark D’Angelo who is unaware of her deep dark secret.
Kaitrina’s past refuses to stay buried forcing her to return to her former life with Isuf in order to protect Mark.
Eiseman’s life has always been a creative adventure.
The High School of Music & Art alumna performed community theater at the Amalgamated Co-op as a singer and dancer for a decade.
She also sang and performed for veterans residing at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center until she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Although Eiseman’s condition prevented her from expressing herself through song and dance, she soon found a new outlet for her creativity.
“Writing came naturally for me because it’s another form of performing,” she expressed.
She cites James Michener, Sandra Brown, Eugene O’Neill, William Shakespeare, James McBride and Tennessee Williams as her literary inspirations.
Eiseman worked for 25 years as a teacher at DeWitt Clinton High School where she taught several subjects. Her favorite was playwriting through improv.
During her time teaching and raising her family, Eiseman began writing novels which she now does full-time following her retirement.
Her anticipated third novel, ‘What Winter Has Stolen,’ slated for release in 2020, is actually the first novel she wrote 40 years ago.
She is currently hard at work adapting it into a contemporary tale.
‘In A Mother’s Arms,’ chronicles the lives of three women during the first half of the tumultuous 20th century.
In A Mother’s Arms and Portrait in Desperation can be purchased via Amazon and Barnes & Noble in hardcover, paperback and Kindle editions.
The covers for both novels were created in collaboration with Eiseman’s cousin Amanda Weiner, a graphic designer.
Eiseman confirmed she will participate in BookExpo America 2020 at the Jacob Javits Center from Wednesday, May 27 to Friday, May 29 and looks forward to meeting her fans.
Fans can follow Eiseman on her official Facebook and Twitter pages.
For additional information, visit www.debor
