Kantika

Details:

• author: Elizabeth Graver
• full title: Kantika
• narrator: Gail Shalan
  
• genre: general fiction
  
• topics: #familysaga, #sephardic, #turkey, #spain, #cuba, #america
  
• publisher: Dreamscape Media
• publish date: 18 Apr 2023
  
• timing: 10:21:00
  
  

My Rating of the Audiobook:

• content: 💙💙💙.5
• narration: 💙💙💙💙.5

Goodreads

Excerpt from the Book: 

Sultana might, with her fresh face and bare arms piled high with laundry, have been a hired maid, but something stopped him—her goodness, maybe, or her sturdiness (unlike Djentil Nahon, she had some flesh on her bones), and the sea breeze ruffling her skirt and hair. He spoke to her and she answered that yes, it was a beautiful day, and he detected a slight lilt to her voice inside her Spanyol, a twang almost, a different kind of up-and-down. It turned out that she was no maid but a girl from a prosperous family who had spent much of her childhood in Ireland. Her father, Behor Camayor, was a successful tobacco merchant (upon his death, the Irish Embassy would bring in six white horses dressed in gold to pull the carriage that held his casket), and the family had gone back and forth among Ireland, Turkey and Malta until finally her father retired and came home. Might she like to go for ice cream later? She looked so young, he was afraid she would say no, but she said yes.

My Thoughts:

Kantika is a multigenerational saga about the Cohen family that starts in Istanbul in the early 20th century. Their family, with many other Sephardic Jews, ran from their hometown in Spain a few generations ago. Now the Cohen family is wealthy and lives in Istanbul. But life soon is not as it used to be - they lose their wealth and decide to migrate to Spain again. The daughter, Rebbeca Cohen, is still an unmarried young woman when they move, so she goes with them.

Further on, we track Rebecca’s journey from Spain to Cuba and later to New York. Also, we learn about her struggles and desires. We get to know her children and some of their journeys.

The story of Kantika is inspired by the life story of Elizabeth Graver's grandmother Rebecca and her journey that brought her to America.

This was my first encounter with the story of Sephardic Jews. For me, the story was educational because I didn’t know anything about their past. But I constantly felt like something was missing in this story. I think some more depth would be better. This way, the reader could get attached to the characters more. It would be a very long historical fiction, but family sagas often are.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the story of Kantika, and I would recommend this (audio)book to those interested in the history of Sephardic Jews.

About the Author: 

Elizabeth Graver’s fifth novel, Kantika (Metropolitan Books/Holt, 2023),  was inspired by her grandmother, Rebecca née Cohen Baruch Levy, who was born into a Sephardic Jewish family in Istanbul, and whose tumultuous and shape-shifting life journey took her to Spain, Cuba and New York.  German and Turkish editions are forthcoming.

Elizabeth’s fourth novel, The End of the Point, was long-listed for the 2013 National Book Award in Fiction and selected as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her other novels are Awake, The Honey Thief, and Unravelling. Her story collection, Have You Seen Me?, won the 1991 Drue Heinz Literature Prize. Her work has been anthologized in Best American Short Stories, Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, The Pushcart Prize Anthology, and Best American Essays. The mother of two daughters, she teaches at Boston College.

About the Narrator:

Gail Shalan is a NYC based actor working on stage, screen, and behind the mic (as well as with puppets). She recently received her Master's in Acting from the world-renowned Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (UK) and was the selected recipient of the Diana Kite Creativity Award for 2018.

She has a fully-equipped professional grade recording studio where continues to work internationally as a commercial VO talent and an audiobook narrator for companies such as HarperCollins, Highbridge / Tantor, Blackstone, Spoken Realms, Chatterbox, Insatiable Press, and Audible (US & UK).