Joan Isaacson

The Red Velvet Diary 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.