HONOLULU Book Awards Author of the Year

HONOLULU Book Awards Author of the Year

Bytrevor

Not many first novelists have the chutzpah and chops to rewrite the rules, but Zoë Eisenberg does just that in her acclaimed novel, which she says “came to me as a breakup story about friends.” Free spirit waiter Ren and hyperefficient real estate agent Jess, former college roommates, share a house and a platonic bed in backwater Hilo. The shock that divides is Ren’s unplanned pregnancy, laying bare their unequal power relations when Jess embraces her inner Mommyboss.

Meet Hawai‘i’s Newest Literary and Film Star, Zoë Eisenberg

Meet Hawai‘i’s Newest Literary and Film Star, Zoë Eisenberg

ByHonolulu Magazine

Zoë Eisenberg is winning praise for two works released early this year. In her debut novel, Significant Others, Hawai‘i Island writer Zoë Eisenberg explores the complexities of female friendship and how it shifts over time and circumstances. The book, published in early February by HarperCollins, has generated early buzz, with Kirkus Reviews describing it as an “accomplished first novel [that] artfully limns romantic crosscurrents in a thoroughly contemporary setting.” A month earlier, the 35-year-old made her solo directorial and screenwriting debut with the release of Chaperone, which won the Grand Jury Prize for Breakouts Feature at this year’s Slamdance Film Festival, known for launching breakthrough projects. The film tells the story of an unambitious 29-year-old connected to an 18-year-old who mistakes her for a high school student. Chaperone was shot in Hilo and features a predominantly Asian American and Pacific Islander cast.