Books like The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit by Lucette Lagnado


Lucette Lagnado vividly recounts Cairo’s cosmopolitan life between World War II and the rise of Gamal Abdel Nasser, focusing on her father Leon, a boulevardier who worked at Shepheard’s Hotel and later the Nile Hilton, always wearing his white sharkskin suit. The memoir traces the family’s fortunes as King Farouk’s court collapses and Nasser’s nationalization policies seize Egyptian industry, forcing Leon, his wife, and their children to abandon their homes, business, and the Jewish neighborhoods of Cairo. Carrying only twenty‑six suitcases, hidden jewels, and gold coins, the Lagnados flee to Paris, then New York, confronting poverty and hardship that contrast sharply with the beauty of the lives left behind. Lagnado’s narrative weaves faith, tradition, tragedy, and triumph into a sweeping portrait of exile and the American dream.
First publish date: June 26, 2007
Genre: Biography & Autobiography/Autobiography
Authors: Lucette Lagnado
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The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit by Lucette Lagnado

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