Michelle Braf­man is the author of Bertrand Court and Swim­ming with Ghosts, the com­pan­ion to Draw Near to Me. Her debut nov­el Wash­ing the Dead was includ­ed in Book Riot’s list of 100 must-read books about women and reli­gion. Michelle has won numer­ous awards for her fic­tion, and her essays have appeared in O Quar­ter­ly, Tablet, The For­ward, and elsewhere.