The Red Velvet Diary

by Joan Isaacson

Three women tell the story. Maria, the daughter of a rabbi, begins her journey in Turkey and travels to Greece as a young girl, where she meets the Greek Orthodox priest who asks for her hand in marriage. Lula is Maria's daughter. She lives in Athens, Greece, during the Axis occupation of World War 2 and falls in love with her country's enemy, an Italian sailor. Joan is Lula's daughter, whose journey begins in the tiny hamlet of Chianchetelle, Italy, then to West New York, New Jersey, where she meets the love of her life. The stories are to honor a life well-lived, and most are based on the memories told and re-told around the kitchen table.

263 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 26, 2021

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you have a big family? A story comes together so seamlessly from talks around the kitchen table and entries into a diary. This is the story of three women, years apart that navigate their lives very differently but with the same values.
The book starts with Joan. She is in the present day. Joan is about to embark on a journey with her husband. She must keep her faith but she finds it slipping away.
Joan's mom Lulu is in the middle of Greece during the war. She struggles with many great things but her most important one is her love for an Italian solider. By the way, he is spectacularly hot. Fanning myself, even now. Okay I digress. Lulu is caught between her love and protecting herself from the Germans and Russian armies.
Lastly, there is Maria who grew up in Turkey with both her parents. Suddenly Maria is told by her father, the rabbi that they will be leaving and going to settle in Athens where it is safer for people like them. She feels sad but gets on board because she knows her parents are doing what's best. When it is time to go, she is told she will be going on her own and they will follow soon. Maria will stay with the nuns at a church in Athens and she must not tell a soul who she really is. She ends up growing up there and has two close friends.
This novel was much more than I expected going in. It was a sweeping story of three women determined in their own time to do their duty and be happy. They were all tormented for different reasons but they were not so different in their determination. The author does a tremendous job making you feel for each woman and her story. It was a novel I wont ever forget.

[Deborah Kasdan · Rating 5 out of 5]

After hearing a local author interview I expected to like this novel. As it turned out, I loved it. This fascinating family history takes the reader from Turkey to Greece to Italy to the US in thematic not chronological order. I loved learning about the mixture of cultures during war and peace in the Mediterranean countries--Greek Orthodox, Jewish, Russian Orthodox-- through stories of mothers and grandmothers. I usually don't like first-person, present-tense storytelling but here it works beautifully to immerse the reader in treasured love stories of each generation. I wished the ending didn't come so quickly--would have liked another chapter to tie the stories together.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Joan, her mother Lula & grandmother Maria, however there where two things I didn't care for: One was the abrupt ending that another reviewer mentioned, and the second thing was the skipping around between the different women/time periods. It was confusing to remember the story lines at times because of that. Otherwise, a fascinating, real life account of three women & their joys, strength and struggles.

[Rose Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maria, Lula, and Joan

A wonderful read of a family through generations. It is written by Joan about her roots with heartfelt love and joy.