Dara Levan’s new novel turns inward, exploring grief, memory, and the quiet moments that shape a life.
Dara Levan has been collecting stories for as long as she can remember. Not in the abstract, but in the most literal sense, visiting her grandmother in a North Miami Beach nursing home at age 12, asking questions, listening carefully, and writing down what she heard. Early on, it became second nature to translate emotion into language.
Years later, after earning degrees in English and journalism from Indiana University, Levan found herself immersed in formative experiences that shape a writer’s voice. A reporting stint at a daily newspaper pushed her beyond the expected. Assigned to cover an attempted murder, she confronted a level of gravity that lingers long after the byline fades. It was a lesson in narrative, but also in proximity to real lives at their most fragile.
Her path, however, was anything but linear. Levan returned to South Florida and pivoted toward a career in communication sciences and disorders, earning her master’s degree at Nova Southeastern University. As a pediatric speech-language pathologist, her work centered on helping others find their voice, a natural extension of what had long guided her. Alongside that, she edited nonfiction books while her own remained, for the moment, unwritten.
By 2017, the shift became more intentional. What began as a blog,?Every Soul Has a Story®, expanded into something broader. A platform, then a podcast, and eventually a guiding philosophy rooted in one central belief: everyone has a story worth telling. The challenge lies in how we choose to tell it and whether we are willing to share the ways it shapes us.
Her first two books, It Could Be Worse and Being Jewish Now (Zibby Publishing), reflect that ethos. The latter, a collaborative work to which Levan contributed, has remained a fixture on the USA Today Best Sellers list, marking 28 weeks on the list at press time. Levan is among a group of voices shaping contemporary conversations around identity, resilience, and cultural experience, which underscores her status as a USA Today bestselling author.
In Shaken to the Core, out June 23 from Regalo Press (distributed by Simon & Schuster), that focus deepens. The novel follows a woman navigating loss, marriage, and the terrain of reinvention. Early praise for the novel from?New York Times bestselling author Jill Santopolo: “Dara Levan’s exploration of grief and the small moments that can change our world is heartfelt and lovingly celebrates the power and beauty of summer camp.”
Though it stands on its own, the story quietly connects to a familiar character from her first novel, extending a narrative thread without requiring the reader to retrace it. There are no sweeping declarations or easy resolutions. Instead, the story unfolds in quiet, recognizably human moments. A rediscovered diary that collapses time. A marriage sustained by love but marked by devastating news. It’s ultimately an uplifting story about chosen family that explores how motherhood and mothering transcend biology.
A central question lingers throughout. What do we do with the time we have left?
Levan resists offering a definitive answer. The narrative settles instead into the in-between, where memory comforts as much as it unsettles, and where the future reveals itself in steps rather than clear direction. It is a space she navigates with precision, attuned to the tension between joy and sorrow.
Her work is anchored in a broader philosophy. Authenticity, in her view, is a practice. Living truthfully requires a willingness to confront discomfort, to sit with uncertainty, and to trust that meaning can emerge from both.
For all its introspection, her writing remains grounded in the everyday. Family, nature, fleeting conversations with strangers. These are the details that animate her work, small but never insignificant.
“I believe that radiance emerges from our breaking points. None of us are immune to loss. I learned that just six months before my wedding, when my husband’s mother died suddenly,” Levan said.
She does not position herself as having all the answers. Levan’s stories are layered with empathy, curiosity, and hope.
Shaken to the Core is available for pre-order now through major online retailers and local bookstores ahead of its June 23 release. For more, visit DaraLevan.com.
