Customer Reviews

Remnants of Crypto-Jews Among Hispanic Americans

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For many years I have followed the career of prize-winning photographer Gloria Golden, and I consider her a great artist. In her new book, Golden has transcended the world of the visual arts and become an important scholar, photojournalist, and chronicler of Jewish history. Despite the many chronicles that fill CRYPTO-JEWS with human interest, both the book's opening essay and its compelling accounts of Golden's interviews with southwestern American Crypto-Jews embrace an impressive range of intellectual disciplines, Jewish history, world history, sociology and anthropology among them.

Though this landmark study will appeal to scholars, Golden's absorbing page-turner reads like fiction. Anyone fascinated by the human condition should purchase this gem of a book. I look forward to reading more of Golden's writing.

The interview and photographs of the people in Gloria Golden's book Remnants of Crypto-Jews Among Hispanic Americans show a special dedication to the story these unique people have to tell. Careful attention to detail make their stories very enlightening. The photographs help the reader make the human connections to each story.
I am of Sephardic ancestry on my father's side with his ancestors leaving Spain during the Inquisition and settling in Turkey. Our family was fortunate and never had to question our Jewish background as the Crypto-Jews do.
After reading Gloria Golden's book I was able to get an insight into an unusual and often difficult transition these people of Jewish ancestry had to face when they found out about their Jewish heritage.
Gloria Golden's book not only informs but also shows in a very dramatic way, how these Hispanic Americans are coping with their identity crisis.

Nadine Behar Ellman