New Travel Book: ‘The Girl from Foreign’

Travel Blog  •  Frank Bures  •  08.05.08 | 6:25 PM ET

imageFull title:“The Girl from Foreign: A Search for Shipwrecked Ancestors, Forgotten Histories, and a Sense of Home”

Author: Sadia Shepard

Released: July 31, 2008

Travel genre: Roots travel, memoir travel, clash-of-civilizations travel

Territory covered: India

Promo copy: “Sadia beautifully weaves together the story of her grandparents’ secret marriage and the haunting legacy of Partition with an evocative account of a little-known Jewish community and a young woman’s search for self. The Girl from Foreign is her poetic and touching attempt to reconcile with her family’s past and help determine her future. When offered the choice, will she be able to choose among the religious and cultural identities that have shaped her? It is an unforgettable story of family secrets, buried identities, lost histories, forbidden love, and, above all, eye-opening self-discovery.”

Critical verdict: “A filmmaker, Shepard writes with a lively sense of pacing (her year proceeds chronologically, interspersed with well-placed flashbacks) and a keen sense of character (getting to know her friend, escort and fellow filmmaker Rekhev as gradually as she does, or capturing the Muslim baker who makes the ‘only authentic challah in Bombay’ in a few strokes). Shepard’s story is entertaining and instructive, inquiring and visionary.” (Publisher’s Weekly)

Interviews with the author: South Coast Today, Nextbook

Find it: Amazon, Powell’s, publisher

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1 Comment for New Travel Book: ‘The Girl from Foreign’

Soller 08.06.08 | 12:50 PM ET

looks like an interesting read - I’d like to learn more about the idian culture so maybe a book to try

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