One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World

This book has moved me more deeply than anything I've read in a very long time. Michael Frank has woven together Stella Levi's story in the most beautifully reverent way. This book, while about Stella's survival of the holocaust and the lost world of Rhodes, is also an exploration of memories, friendships and the search for belonging. The artwork by Maira Kalman adds yet another beautiful layer to this brilliant new book. Buy a copy for yourself and every friend you have! It's a treasure.

Excellent description of life in Rhodes during pre war period and her experiences during war and after . One can not leave this book without a feeling of loss and sadness as a culture destroyed and lives changed .

This tale of a woman’s long life is complex and simple, funny and sad, evocative above all. Maira Kalman’s illustrations are spot on. A rich tale of a life lived to the lees, in Tennyson’s words. Leaves a sweet taste in the memory.

In her nineties, Stella Levi shares her story and that of her family and community, over a time span of six years. I've seen a video of her speaking and even in her late 90s, she is a vibrate, fascinating woman. As a young girl, she learned about her family and the history of her people, through the story telling of her elders. Stella learned well and she has the knack of passing on the stories told to her and the stories of what she has experienced. When Stella and Michael Frank met, they developed a friendship and came together over the next six years so Stella could tell her stories and Michael could record those stories. Included in the book, One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World, are colorful illustrations that meant more to me as I followed Stella through time and came to know her family and all that they endured, the good and the bad.We get to know her community, on the Island of Rhodes, and then, in September 1943, the Germans seize control of the island. All 1700 Jewish residents of the island are rounded up the next July and sent to Auschwitz, Ninety percent of those 1700 people were executed on arrival at the camp. We learn of Stella's time in that camp and other camps, until she is liberated and then has to navigate a world that is missing so much of her former life, people, home, all that had been so familiar to her in her first two decades of life.I'm touched by Stella, her memories, her extreme hardships, and her determination to make a meaningful and remarkable life that isn't defined by the horrors of her past. I'm amazed by this intelligent young lady who wanted to learn so much, to study and travel, only be one of the few to survive concentration camps. And then to come out of that time and to go on to find her place in her new world, a different person from the Stella of the Island of Rhodes or the Stella of the concentration camps. Stella had the strength to change, to adapt, to see herself as a different person, so she could go on and search for her place as a changed person in a changed world.Thank you to Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for the print version of this ARC.

Note: This is a review of the audiobook, narrated by the authorThis book was not what I expected, but it was fascinating in many respects. First, it brought to life a community - the Jewish community on the island of Rhodes, to be precise - that no longer exists. Second, it told much of the life story of Stella Levi, who was born and raised there and then deported to Auschwitz (among other concentration camps) during WWII, and it tells it from her perspective; even though Mr. Frank relates her life story, the story comes from his meeting with and interviews of her. It's also fascinating because while her experience in the camps was surely central to her life, it did not encompass all of her life; she had a full, rich life in addition to her experience during the war, which is evident throughout the book.So why only four stars? It sounds peevish to say it, but there were many details of Ms. Levi's life in Rhodes that were repetitive and that might have been condensed. And, while Mr. Frank's narration is crisp and clear, there were times that I thought he spoke too slowly; in fact, I always listen to audiobooks at natural speed, but in this case I seriously considered doing it at 1½ or even 2X.Still, a fascinating and, in its own way, a charming book about a very interesting woman.