Testimonials

Your book is amazing! I am in awe of your writing skills and your ability to tell a story.  As I read, there were so many things I wanted to talk to you about that I was forced to take notes! I suspect, however, that it is not only I who relate to your story because you have a skillful way of making the personal universal.  I also learned a lot about the Jewish history of Italy – and I thought I knew it.

In this well-written and moving memoir about her Italian Jewish family, Eleanor Foa combines archival research with a personal quest and creates a memorable portrait of a distinguished clan coping with 20th Century history, especially Fascism. It touches on the divisions between those able to flee the Holocaust for the U.S., and those who lived through it. It’s a fascinating glimpse of one family’s history that inspired me to ask more detailed questions about my family’s history and their lives.

I took today to curl up and to finish your memoir. What a glorious experience to read and ponder this book of yours. The magnitude of taking this whole effort on, organizing the book so as to have it be clear, writing it so beautifully…and of course, all the layers of substance. from history, religion, relationships, family, geography…and concepts and your pursuits…so so much to ponder.

I just finished your memoir and enjoyed it immensely. I enjoyed that the book was about your personal journey, your father’s journey and the Foa family journey And that, truly, they are all one in the same.

I just finished reading your book, and I loved it!  I knew it would be beautifully written because you are such a fine writer, and it certainly lived up to all my expectations. I especially loved the epilogue: what a perfect ending.

We’ve’ve adopted Foa’s Mixed Messages for my Modern Jewish Italian Literature course.

I have just finished reading your work and am struck by the strength and empathy of your voice throughout, and your observations and your honest appraisal of people, places and events.  Weaving so many interconnected and yet disparate stories is a challenge and you managed it with grace and honor.  I will order some copies of Mixed Messages. My copy is all dog eared and a bit bedraggled from being read in the bathtub in the evening.

I just wanted to let you know that I ordered your book and finished reading it this week. I enjoyed it so much. The history of your family, your complex relationship with your parents, your sister and your history were all told so well and written with compassion and detachment and was very moving to me.  I knew so little about the Jews of Italy and it was enriching for me to have you as a “tour guide.” I’m very glad I that I read Mixed Messages. (Also, by the way, I love the way book looked.)