I agree with all of the comment and praise from Ellen Schecter, and want to add that I found the book to be magical for me--an immersion in a way of life so exotic and unexpected (for me). This is not to trivialize or do anything negative about it--but it was as luxurious a trip for me as, say, Downton Abbey in that it's a well-told visit into another era, another culture, another wealthy, powerful, glamorous and gracious society. This is one "Jewess" (who would never identify herself that way) who thought she knew Jewish history, but only knew about the Shtetls of Russia and the assimilated German Jews, and thought that even the dispersed Sephardim probably had come to fit into one or the other of those categories. That made this thoroughly enjoyable memoir also a learning experience. A terrific book.
I agree with all of the comment and praise from Ellen Schecter, and want to add that I found the book to be magical for me--an immersion in a way of life so exotic and unexpected (for me). This is not to trivialize or do anything negative about it--but it was as luxurious a trip for me as, say, Downton Abbey in that it's a well-told visit into another era, another culture, another wealthy, powerful, glamorous and gracious society. This is one "Jewess" (who would never identify herself that way) who thought she knew Jewish history, but only knew about the Shtetls of Russia and the assimilated German Jews, and thought that even the dispersed Sephardim probably had come to fit into one or the other of those categories. That made this thoroughly enjoyable memoir also a learning experience. A terrific book.