In September, 2011, she published a companion volume to "Sharkskin" which tells the story of Lagnado's mother, Edith. "The Arrogant Years: One Girl's Search for Her Lost Youth, from Cairo to Brooklyn" (Ecco/HarperCollins) juxtaposes the author's own coming of age in New York with that of her mother in Cairo, revealing how the choices she made meant both a liberation from Old World traditions and the loss of a comforting and familiar community. The book was described by the publisher as an epic family saga of faith and fragility.[4]