Critical Praise

"Jean Naggar's memoir Sipping from the Nile brings the world of Egypt's privileged class to us like a "Downton Abbey" set in Cairo. This is history told with the fluidity of poetry, the sensuality of life, and with empathy that resonates from an extended family determined to survive upheaval."

—Emily Rubin, author of Stalina

"Readers will rejoice in this memoir of a Jewish life and culture that, sadly, no longer exists. But even more, this exodus from Egypt is the great American success story, filled with fine vignettes and character studies. Sipping from the Nile is a moving and beautifully written account about how one smart, resilient outsider made her own way."

—Susan Isaacs, author of Past Perfect, Any Place to Hang My Hat, and Compromising Positions

"A beautifully written book that reads more like a novel, Jean Naggar’s memoir of her Egyptian Jewish family brings to life the unique community brutally destroyed in 1956 with the Suez crisis."

—Naomi Ragen, author of The Saturday Wife and The Ghost of Hannah Mendes

"In elegant prose and loving details, Jean Naggar has written a poignant memoir of an idyllic childhood in Egypt, her family’s politically fueled exodus from that paradise, and the forging of a new life in America."

—Hilma Wolitzer, author of Summer Reading, The Doctor’s Daughter and Tunnel of Love