Sipping from the Nile: My Exodus from Egypt, by Jean Naggar (2008)
Sipping from the Nile is a memoir of a young women who grew up in a wealthy and privileged Jewish family in Egypt. The author was born in December 1937, on the cusp of World War II. She grew up in a pampered and sheltered environment, so the horrors of the War largely escaped her.
Although her family had Italian passports, they had roots in Egypt going back centuries. Over the years, the family had amassed an enormous fortune through banking and lived in a large mansion with many servants. They were integral members of high Egyptian society and rubbed shoulders with high level diplomats and kings.
As a young girl growing up, she and her family traveled extensively throughout Europe and she (as well as other members of the family) was fluent in many languages, including English, Italian, French and Arabic. When she entered high school, she was sent to a boarding school in England. It was her first time being separated from her family and, although it gave her some freedom, she was also very along among her British classmates.
It wasn’t until the Suez crisis in 1956 that the author began to realized that being Jewish in Egypt had consequences. Although she describes the losses of their home and property, as she recounts the family’s life in exile, they seemed not to have suffered too badly financially. She is still able to maintain a high-society lifestyle.
I found the first part of the memoir more interesting that the latter part. I tired of reading of all the “fabulous” connections her family made: winning Olympic medals, meeting all the rich and famous, all the designer clothing her mother had commissioned, etc.
Interestingly, it wasn’t until after she moved to the United States that she began to realized that her Jewishness was and identifying factor. While growing up in Egypt, although her family was Jewish and observed all the rituals and holidays, being Jewish was just a fact of life (until after WWII and the country itself had a massive political turnabout).
Scattered throughout the book are numerous family photos and scene of Egypt. They added to the book, and I enjoyed perusing them.
Read: October 4, 2021
3.5 Stars
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