Bergstein’s debut book, Women from the Ankle Down: The Story of Shoes and How They Define Us, explores the ways women’s lives have evolved during the last century by casting a downward gaze on that most essential and obsessively adored of all fashion accessories—footwear.

From Dorothy’s ruby slippers to Carrie Bradshaw’s stiletto-filled Upper East Side closet, Bergstein takes readers on an informative tour of shifting shoe trends that have both expressed and defined the identities of women.

Bergstein’s work has appeared in Flashquake, Fresh Yarn, Running with Heels, The Awl, Slice, Bloomberg View, WSJ Speakeasy, SlateDoubleX and The Dirty Durty Diary. She lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with her husband and her growing shoe collection.

Presented with the DCJCC’s Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festivaland Not Your Bubbe’s Sisterhood, Sixth & I’s series for women in their 20s and 30s – Made possible by the generosity of The Lerner Family Foundation, Lerner Cohen Tanenbaum families