The arrogant years : one girl's search for her lost youth, from Cairo to Brooklyn

In the follow-up to her beloved, bestselling The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit , Lagnado tells the story of her mother, Edith, coming of age in a magical old Cairo of dusty alleyways and grand villas. Then Lagnado revisits her own years in America--as a schoolgirl in Brooklyn's immigrant enclaves, where she dreams of becoming the fearless Mrs. Emma Peel of The Avengers , coming of age in the turbulence of New York City's 1970s, and, later, as an "avenging" reporter for some of America's most prestigious newspapers. Not only a searing account of strangers in a strange land, The Arrogant Years is a lasting "meditation on exile and assimilation, feminism and the enduring ties of family." ( San Francisco Chronicle ) [Lagnado writes] in crystalline yet melodious prose. New York Times Lucette Lagnados acclaimed, award-winning The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit ([a] crushing, brilliant book New York Times Book Review ) told the powerfully moving story of her Jewish familys exile from Egypt. In her extraordinary follow-up memoir, The Arrogant Years , Lagnado revisits her first years in America, and describes a difficult coming-of-age tragically interrupted by a bout with cancer at age 16. At once a poignant mother and daughter story and a magnificent snapshot of the turbulent 60s and 70s, The Arrogant Years is a stunning work of memory and resilience that ranges from Cairo to Brooklyn and beyondthe unforgettable true story of a remarkable young womans determination to push past the boundaries of her life and make her way in the wider world. Lucette Lagnado revisits her first years in America, first in Brooklyn, then at Vassar and Columbia, revealing a coming-of-age interrupted by a bout with cancer at age 16. Its devastating consequences would rob her of her ability to have children and of her "arrogant years"--The years defined by their overwhelming sense of possibility, invincibility, and confidence--leaving her with the lonely echo of her own fears and judgment: "I am not woman enough." Lagnado looks to the women sequestered behind the wooden screen at her childhood synagogue, to the young co-eds at Vassar in the 1970s, to her own mother and the women of their past in Cairo, and reflects on their stories as she struggles to heal, to make the leap from girl to woman without the grace and strength of her "arrogant years." The curse of Alexandra. The secret of the Pasha's wife ; The Alley of the Pretty One ; The bride who set herself on fire ; The bonesetter of Mouski ; The porcelain dolls of Malaka Mazli Street Rebuilding the hearth. The legend of Agent Extraordinary ; Passion play on Sixty-seventy Street; The healing powers of iodine ; The errant sister ; The passion of the fast ; The Messiah is a woman ; The tragedy of the navy blue blazer ; The advance of the little porcelain dolls Cities of refuge. The shrine on the mountain ; The fall of afterword ; The spring of nevermore ; The Princess of West 116th Street The lady in the pink bow. The lost art of penmanship ; The woman against the wall ; An earthquake in Cairo The book of lamentations. The verse of consolation Inside the Pasha's library. An Autobiography Of Lagnado's Early Years As An Immigrant From Cairo To Brooklyn, Reflecting On Her Own Mother's Story As She Makes Her Own Choices. Lucette Lagnado. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 401-402).