Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World
May 30, 2022
Frank (The Mighty Franks) revisits the life of nonagenarian and Holocaust survivor Stella Levi in his incandescent latest. The two struck up a friendship after meeting in New York City in 2015, and, over six years, Frank writes that Levi became to him “a time traveler who would invite me to travel with her.” Born in 1923, Levi grew up on the Grecian island of Rhodes, in an enclave of “Judeo-Spanish-speaking Sephardic Italian Jews,” who, in 1944, were rounded up by German soldiers and sent to Auschwitz. Distilled through Frank’s intelligent prose and enlivened with eye-catching illustrations from Kalman, Levi’s recollections bring to vivid life the unique culture of the Juderia, its complicated colonial history, and her colorful, multilingual family as she describes how, under Italian Fascist rule in the 1920s and ’30s, all traces of Judaism vanished from the public eye. One of few Rhodeslis to survive the horrors of Auschwitz, Levi fashioned a new life in America but would eventually return to Rhodes to find its once vibrant Jewish culture decimated by years of war. Even with its sobering revelations, Frank’s narrative shines with an ebullience, thanks to the “unusually rich, textured, and evolving” life of his utterly enchanting muse. The result provides an essential, humanist look into a dark chapter of 20th-century history.
December 1, 2022
Stella Levi and author Frank (What Is Missing) collaborated on this book via a series of Saturday conversations that took place over six years. Levi grew up on Rhodes, a Greek island in the eastern Aegean that was taken over by Italian troops in 1912. The neighborhood where she lived--the Juderia--had been home to Jews from the 1600s until July 1944, when the Nazis deported 1,700 Jewish residents, murdering 1,200 at Auschwitz. Levi was liberated in 1945 and spent years trying to find her place in the world, before finally ending up in New York City, where she still lives. Frank's narration creates a sense of intimacy, where listeners can be part of the discussion and hear about Levi's childhood, deportation, life in the concentration camps, and beyond that. How does a person start again after barely escaping the horror of so much death? Levi's life as a survivor, wanderer, wife, and mother proves her toughness and determination. She's a woman who refuses to be defined by the events of her life and instead lives life as she sees fit. VERDICT Marvelous narration by the author and interludes of Stella Levi singing make this an excellent addition to public library collections.--Christa Van Herreweghe
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