Nine-year-old Lottie feels trapped. Her divorced mother has brought her three children from the U.S. to England, en route to what she believes is their religious destiny in the Holy Land. Her schoolmates think she’s odd. Her twenty-four-year old piano tutor, Rory, says he’s in love with Lottie – but she is as frightened by his insistence on keeping their relationship secret as she is confused by his touches. "A historical novel in which an abused young girl finds the strength to stand up for herself. Gates...skillfully shows how abuse can go unnoticed, even by those closest to the victim... Midcentury London comes to life ...Even characters who behave badly are sympathetic at times, including Althea and even Rory, particularly when his own history of abuse is revealed. But the smart, funny and wounded Lottie remains the story's heart and soul. A troubling but perhaps necessary portrait of abuse handled with grace and sensitivity." -- Kirkus Reviews (top Indie novels 2014) Finalist, General Fiction, 10th Annual Indie Excellence Awards (2016) "Through intense dialogue and vivid characterization, Gates creates a somber and powerful portrayal of a preteen girl suffering sexual abuse amid a mentally-ill American mother's struggles to raise her children in England. The victimization of Lottie Arkwright by her piano tutor Master Rory is presented in convincing psychological complexity and rings true to life ... Gates shuns simplistic moral imperatives, delivering a chilling mingling of the monstrous and human." -- BookLife Prize for Fiction, 2016 "WALKING TO ISRAEL is a beautifully written, moving and fast-paced novel about an American girl in London during the 1960s. The title describes a plan by her delusional mother, who has taken the family to England as a prelude to moving to the Holy Land. Lottie's voice and character grip you from the very first page and won't let you go in this suspenseful yet often humorous novel. Lottie's siblings and music tutor are also powerfully drawn, nuanced characters. The mother's untreated bipolar disorder is not the only thing wrong in this wacky fictive universe. Adult readers will understand what Lottie cannot fully understand, will recognize the neglect that characterizes her daily life and the dangers she faces in this surrealistic version of a family." -- Karen Lee Osborne, author of CARLYLE SIMPSON and HAWKWINGS "A heart-wrenching and spellbinding tale, WALKING TO ISRAEL is lyrically crafted with an incredibly frank and evocative voice - that one nine-year-old Lottie, a girl loved in all the wrong ways/ Living in a foreign country with a mother who is trapped in mental illness, and siblings who are busy finding their own way, Lottie's only care comes from her private tutor who longs to nurture her musical talent. But his care is suffocating, inappropriate, and confusing." -- E.C. Diskin, author of THE GREEN LINE. "Lottie is a courageous and delightful heroine and Gates writes her story with confidence and grace." -- Kathi Baron, author of SHATTERED. Award-winning writer Emma Gates was born in New York and spent her childhood in England. She earned a BA in Spanish/Latin American Studies from Indiana University Bloomington, and an MBA with concentration in Arabic/Middle Eastern Studies from Thunderbird. She worked for three years in Mexico and five in Saudi Arabia. She is an international business and telecoms specialist currently living near Chicago with her family and a pair of inscrutable cats.