The Austro-American novelist has died aged 96

Lore Segal (née Groszmann) was born in Vienna in 1928, but grew up in England from the age of 10 after travelling on the first wave of Kindertransport trains to escape Nazi-annexed Austria. Her parents followed a few months later, but her father was interned on the Isle of Man, where he died following a series of strokes. Lore and her mother moved to the capital together, where Lore eventually studied English literature at the University of London. The pair later emigrated to New York City and Lore taught at various universities, including Ivy Leagues Columbia and Princeton.

While living with various foster families as a child in rural England, Lore filled a notebook with tales of her experiences – writings that were to form the basis of her debut novel, Other People's Houses (1964). Her fourth novel, Shakespeare's Kitchen (2007), was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

In 1961, Lore married David Segal, an editor at Knopf publishers, with whom she had two children before his early death in 1970, aged 42, due to a heart attack. She continued to write, releasing a fifth novel and numerous short stories for The New Yorker, until her death on 7 October 2024. She passed away from heart failure at her Manhattan home. In rememberance, we take a look back at our interview with the author, which appeared in our Summer 2023 issue. Click the image above to read.

By Danielle Goldstein

Photos by Ellen Dubin Photography