Via Zoom.  Register HERE.

A virtual illustrated talk about the lives of Jews in the Roman ghetto and the Church's relentless effort to convert them to Catholicism, presented by Joie Davidow, author of ANYTHING BUT YES, A Novel of Anna Del Monte, Jewish Citizen of Rome, 1749. In the course of her research, she learned a great deal about the life of Jews under papal rule, their food, customs, music, daily life, and dialect.

The book is based on the diary of an 18-year-old girl who was taken from her home at gunpoint and locked in a convent cell while the Church used every means to convert her. Anna del Monte kept a diary, which was found by a Jewish scholar in a library in Israel in 1985, more than two centuries after she was abducted. The book is her story.

Joie Davidow is the author of several books, including a memoir. In her career as a journalist, Davidow was the founder and editor of two award-winning magazines—L.A. Style and Sí—and a cofounder and editor of L.A. Weekly newspaper. She lives in Umbria, Italy.

ANYTHING BUT YES can be purchased here and a portion of the proceeds will be donated back to the local Bookstore in Lenox.