Seekers of Meaning 11/1/2024: Norman Shabel, attorney and author of “Four Women,” a crime mystery.

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On this week’s episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, attorney and author Norman Shabel discusses his latest book, Four Women.

The conversation delves into the motivations behind the book, the strength and resilience of its characters, and the historical context of the story set in 1968 Miami. Themes of survival, moral questions surrounding justice, and the complexity of heroism are explored, highlighting the personal connections Shabel has with the characters and the broader implications of their struggles.

Four Women tells the saga of four brave and very different women who battle real estate developers and the city of Miami Beach while trying to save their home during the unscrupulous heyday of real estate development in South Beach in 1968.

Helen, a survivor of Auschwitz and Rachel, who led 2,500 Jewish children out of Germany during World War II, along with their defender, a 36-year-old alcoholic lawyer, do battle against a prejudicial judge and a defense lawyer who politically controls the judicial system of Miami.

It is a novel about people who have seen the dark side of the world and now strive for a life of hope and redemption.

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About the Guest

Norman Shabel

Brooklyn-born, successful New Jersey class-action attorney turned author Norman Shabel has been driven to write ever since he can remember. By the time he was in his twenties he had written several novels that ended up stuffed in drawers as he launched his legal career, married and had a family. To date Norman has written 7 plays and 8 novels, some written in long-hand, hunched over his desk while waiting for a jury verdict to come in and all dealing with either crime, relatable family dynamics or both.

“Courts are inherently dramatic places, and I guess I saw that connection between law and theater before I even realized it,” Norman said recently. His earnest belief is that lawyers need to be good storytellers to engage juries in the “plot” of a case. “You need to hold the interest of a jury if you’re going to win them over, much like the arc of a play or the plot of a novel. If the juror or the reader or audience member gets bored you lose them very quickly. If you don’t capture them in the first 20 minutes you may as well go home – and I never like to lose a case or an audience. ”

To date, three of Norman’s plays have been produced off Broadway in NYC, Philadelphia and multiple theaters in South Florida, where he now resides for part of the year. The productions have received wonderful reviews and there are plans underway for the remainder of the plays to be produced within the next two years. Manuscripts of the plays are available by request.

Norman’s novels are mostly “terrific, fast-paced reads about the dark side of law enforcement and the judiciary” according to Judge Andrew P. Napolitano. He writes, as only an experienced trial lawyer can, about the ups and downs of the legal system, maintaining the drama of the story without sacrificing the realities of the of the structure. All of his books can be purchased on Amazon and other digital booksellers.

According to Norman, “I’m doing two things that both give my life meaning, I’m a very fortunate man.”

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