Sipping From the Nile

By: Jean Naggar

Narrated by: Jean Naggar

Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's Summary

In this coming-of-age memoir about a privileged, protected childhood in the exotic milieu of 1950’s Egypt, author Jean Naggar describes a magical time that seemed as if it would never end. But Egypt’s nationalizing of the Suez Canal would set in motion events that would change her life forever. An enchanted existence suddenly ended by international hostilities, her family is quickly scattered far and wide, and Naggar is eventually swept into adulthood and the challenge of new horizons in America. Speaking for a different wave of immigrants whose Sephardic origins explore the American Jewish story through an unfamiliar lens, Naggar traces her personal journey through lost worlds and difficult transitions, exotic locales and strong family values. The story resonates for all in this poignant exploration of the innocence of childhood in a world breaking apart.

©2012 Jean Naggar (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

“An intriguing way of life that no longer exists. Glamorous, exciting, filled with the sophisticated life of a Jewish family living in Europe and the Middle East, Naggar documents times of elegant lifestyles, to the tumultuous struggles of war…. And like every family, there is passionate love and loss, but always there is the undercurrent of delight and an indomitable will to do more than just survive.” ( US Review of Books)

Traveling back in

Would you consider the audio edition of Sipping From the Nile to be better than the print version?

The print version contains the pictures while the audio version allows me to listen during my commute.

What did you like best about this story?

Time travel is real! I felt like I had actually traveled back in time to be a friend of an Egyptian family. The descriptions were so vivid describing sights, sounds, aromas, tastes and touch. I felt as if I was transported to another time. I listened to the audio version while commuting and looked at the photos in the book at home. Reading the book I lost the intonation, excitement and the presence of someone who was there. Jean Nagar is a master at taking all the senses on a trip back in time to her childhood. I pulled up Google Earth to look at the streets and imagined walking down the streets and into the houses and shops as she described them. I looked up the girls school in England where she spent some of her school years and used Google Earth to walk around the school and the local town. One day I will travel to Egypt to see the places she has described to fulfill my adventure back in time.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Many times Jean describes a scene with all the senses, taste, touch, smell, sounds and sight. I loved them all. I have never read any novel, non-fiction or fiction that included all the senses in describing a scene. One of my favorite scenes was the description of making a holiday food. I hope to make that dish.

Any additional comments?

I read some comments that criticized the book because it didn't talk about the tragedies of the time....but I guess the reader didn't read the description saying the book was a personal view of Jean Nagar's life...not another rendition of the tragedies going on at the time of which there are many many books. I wanted to read about a personal experience not a historical repetition.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great Boom

Jean Nagger gives us a bdsautiful history of her privileged life growing up in a wealthy Jewish family in Egypt. Her physical descriptions of her home, her beloved Cairo and Alexandria set the scenes of the narrative of her mosft I teresti g life, for much of the book through the eyes of a precocious and sheltered child.

As she grows and political climates change we glimpse life of her large extended family who live in various places, yet have a familial tie that binds.

As the author performs her own narration, I found her voice and melodious accent to add to the enjoyment of the listening experience
I wanted to know her and be her friend.

While she tackled this work primarily for her family, we are richer that she followed her publisher's urging to market to the public at large.

Some of her timelines could have flowed more smoothly, nevertheless, this is worth your time whether listening or reading.

Just couldn't get into this one.

It could have been the timing and what I was interested in listening to, but I just had to put this one down.