Footpaths in the Painted City: A Search for Shipwrecked Ancestors, Forgotten Histories, and a Sense of Home

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'A beautifully written memoir about finding home . . . Told from the heart, Footpaths in the Painted City performs the unique feat of making the foreign feel familiar.' SUKETU MEHTASADIA SHEPARD grew up in a joyful, chaotic home. Her father, a white American Protestant, and her mother, a Pakistani Muslim, cherished their different backgrounds, and created a household full of stories and storytellers. But at the age of thirteen, Sadia learned that there was one story she had never been told. Her maternal grandmother had not born been a Muslim: she had begun her life as Rachel Jacobs, and belonged to the Bene Israel, a tiny Indian-Jewish community who believe they are descended from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel, shipwrecked on India's Konkan coast two thousand years ago, Driven by her desire to fill in the mission pieces of her family's fractured history, Sadia headed to India . . . Footpaths in the Painted City is an unforgettable story of family secrets, shrouded identities, forbidden love and, above all, eye-opening self-discovery.'Sadia Shepard writes with compassion and humility about her journey . . . We are reminded, through the intimate and touching portrait of her family, of all the mysteries that shape who we are.'TAHMINA ANAM

Reviews

"'Exquisite... Gorgeous, honest' Christian Science Monitor 'A beautifully written memoir about finding home... Told from the heart, Footpaths in the Painted City performs the unique feat of making the foreign feel familiar.' Suketu Mehta 'Sadia Shepard writes with compassion and humility about her journey... We are reminded through the intimate and touching portrait of her family, of all the mysteries that shape who we are.' Tahmina Anam 'A rich tapestry of theology, art, emotions and forgotten lore... Lavish Muslim weddings, Jewish villages hidden in Indian jungles, earnest lovers reaching across religion and culture.' - Washington Post '[An] elegantly crafted memoir... [Shepard's] writing is vivid and her meditations on heritage and grief are moving.' - New Yorker"

Author Bio

Sadia Shepard is a documentary filmmaker and writer who lives in New York City. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Stanford University, and began her work with the Bene Israel community of Western India while on a Fulbright Scholarship. This is her first book. Visit her website at www.sadiashepard.com.