Get our latest staff recommendations, classroom reading guides and discover assets for your stores and social media channels. Receive the Children’s Bookseller newsletter to your inbox when you sign up, plus more from Simon & Schuster.If you are an independent bookseller in the U.S. and would like to be added to our independent bookseller newsletter, please email indies@simonandschuster.com
Table of Contents
About The Book
A 2022 Audible Editor's Selection
One of Wall Street Journal’s Ten Best Books of the Year * Winner of the National Jewish Book Awards for Holocaust Memoir and Sephardic Culture * Recipient of the Jewish Book Council’s Natan Notable Book Award * Winner of the Sophie Brody Medal
The remarkable story of ninety-nine-year-old Stella Levi whose conversations with the author over the course of six years bring to life the vibrant world of Jewish Rhodes, the deportation to Auschwitz that extinguished ninety percent of her community, and the resilience and wisdom of the woman who lived to tell the tale.
With nearly a century of life behind her, Stella Levi had never before spoken in detail about her past. Then she met Michael Frank. He came to her Greenwich Village apartment one Saturday afternoon to ask her a question about the Juderia, the neighborhood on the Greek island of Rhodes where she’d grown up in a Jewish community that had thrived there for half a millennium.
Neither of them could know this was the first of one hundred Saturdays over the course of six years that they would spend in each other’s company. During these meetings Stella traveled back in time to conjure what it felt like to come of age on this luminous, legendary island in the eastern Aegean, which the Italians conquered in 1912, began governing as an official colonial possession in 1923, and continued to administer even after the Germans seized control in September 1943. The following July, the Germans rounded up all 1,700-plus residents of the Juderia and sent them first by boat and then by train to Auschwitz on what was the longest journey—measured by both time and distance—of any of the deportations. Ninety percent of them were murdered upon arrival.
Probing and courageous, candid and sly, Stella is a magical modern-day Scheherazade whose stories reveal what it was like to grow up in an extraordinary place in an extraordinary time—and to construct a life after that place has vanished. One Hundred Saturdays is a portrait of one of the last survivors drawn at nearly the last possible moment, as well as an account of a tender and transformative friendship between storyteller and listener, offering a powerful “reminder that the ability to listen thoughtfully is a rare and significant gift” (The Wall Street Journal).
One of Wall Street Journal’s Ten Best Books of the Year * Winner of the National Jewish Book Awards for Holocaust Memoir and Sephardic Culture * Recipient of the Jewish Book Council’s Natan Notable Book Award * Winner of the Sophie Brody Medal
The remarkable story of ninety-nine-year-old Stella Levi whose conversations with the author over the course of six years bring to life the vibrant world of Jewish Rhodes, the deportation to Auschwitz that extinguished ninety percent of her community, and the resilience and wisdom of the woman who lived to tell the tale.
With nearly a century of life behind her, Stella Levi had never before spoken in detail about her past. Then she met Michael Frank. He came to her Greenwich Village apartment one Saturday afternoon to ask her a question about the Juderia, the neighborhood on the Greek island of Rhodes where she’d grown up in a Jewish community that had thrived there for half a millennium.
Neither of them could know this was the first of one hundred Saturdays over the course of six years that they would spend in each other’s company. During these meetings Stella traveled back in time to conjure what it felt like to come of age on this luminous, legendary island in the eastern Aegean, which the Italians conquered in 1912, began governing as an official colonial possession in 1923, and continued to administer even after the Germans seized control in September 1943. The following July, the Germans rounded up all 1,700-plus residents of the Juderia and sent them first by boat and then by train to Auschwitz on what was the longest journey—measured by both time and distance—of any of the deportations. Ninety percent of them were murdered upon arrival.
Probing and courageous, candid and sly, Stella is a magical modern-day Scheherazade whose stories reveal what it was like to grow up in an extraordinary place in an extraordinary time—and to construct a life after that place has vanished. One Hundred Saturdays is a portrait of one of the last survivors drawn at nearly the last possible moment, as well as an account of a tender and transformative friendship between storyteller and listener, offering a powerful “reminder that the ability to listen thoughtfully is a rare and significant gift” (The Wall Street Journal).
Reading Group Guide
Join our mailing list! Get our latest staff recommendations, classroom reading guides and discover assets for your stores and social media channels. Receive the Children’s Bookseller newsletter to your inbox when you sign up, plus more from Simon & Schuster.If you are an independent bookseller in the U.S. and would like to be added to our independent bookseller newsletter, please email indies@simonandschuster.com
By clicking 'Sign me up' I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge the Privacy Policy and Notice of Financial Incentive. Free ebook offer available to NEW US subscribers only. Offer redeemable at Simon & Schuster's ebook fulfillment partner. Must redeem within 90 days. See full terms and conditions and this month's choices.
Topics & Questions for Discussion
1. The book opens with a beautiful, lyrical sentence before introducing Stella. What do you think of the author’s writing style★ In what ways did the author relay Stella’s story on paper, keeping it thoroughly her own, while crafting his own beautiful sentences, paragraphs, and reflections★
2. Reflections specifically on the time in the camps consume a confined portion of the book (and, so, also of Michael’s visits with Stella). Why do you think it was so important to preface the story of Stella’s time in the camps by first establishing what life felt and looked (and smelled, tasted, and sounded) like in the Juderia, as the neighborhood where Stella grew up was known★
3. Stella is hesitant for a long time to share stories of her time in the camps with Michael. Why do you think she finally decides to open up (even if she makes Michael wait and listen to her explain it in her own order)★
4. Stella’s sister Renée undergoes a significant transformation in body and character as a result of her time in the camps. Early in the book (page 14), Renée is described as “hesitant and delicate,” though Stella later reflects that she’s “‘not sure whether Renée was born delicate or whether my mother simply treated her that way and so that’s what she became.’” Toward the end of their time in the camps, when Stella and Renée are forced to walk from a nameless satellite camp to Allach, another satellite camp of Dachau, Stella is ill and ready to give in to death. It is Renée, miraculously recovered from her asthma upon arrival to the camps, who holds Stella up and pushes her along the path. Stella, too, frequently recalls her “past self,” left behind during the war. Have you or someone you know ever experienced an unexpected, perhaps even miraculous transformation as the result of significant life events★ What do you think of our tendency to assume that one’s physical and emotional dispositions are unlikely to change a great deal during the course of our lives★
5. The power of language—or different languages and the worlds they open up to you—is a major theme in this book and in Stella’s life. Has language impacted you in a significant way that has changed your life or perhaps even saved your life★
6. In sharing her story with Michael and with us, Stella has preserved the Juderia—the place itself, the people, and the ways. Take a moment to consider the significance of this—what would happen to the history and culture of the Juderia, had Stella not shared her acute memories of this lost world★ Have you or anyone in your family come from a world that has disappeared or so dramatically altered that it is no longer recognizable★ What does it mean to try to preserve a place that has changed, or vanished, in this way★
7. There are several memoirs and books about Holocaust survivors. Stella references these early on as contributing to her hesitation to share. How do you feel Stella’s story may differ from or compare to other survivor stories★
8. Before going to the camps, Stella has multiple men in her life who are “more than friends.” She appreciates each of them for separate qualities. What do you think of Stella’s feelings about marriage, friendship, and the general importance of human connection★
Enhance Your Book Club
1. Have each of you interview a family member or friend—just asking a short set of questions regarding their lives and family history. After you collect their answers, write them down and share them with each other. After reading each other’s brief interviews, take time to reflect together on the power of oral histories and the value of participating in the preservation of story.
2. Consider how you may have changed throughout your life. Write down and name different versions of yourself that have been present as a result of your circumstances. Have fun with this! You can be as creative as you like—if you want, you can even make a visual representation of your different selves. If you are comfortable, consider sharing with the group what this exercise meant to you.
3. Take a group trip to a local museum or significant cultural spot (this could be a place of religious organization or even a family-owned restaurant, a library, or a shop). Enjoy looking around and experiencing the essence of a culture and a history passed indirectly through displays, foods, architecture, or something else.
1. The book opens with a beautiful, lyrical sentence before introducing Stella. What do you think of the author’s writing style★ In what ways did the author relay Stella’s story on paper, keeping it thoroughly her own, while crafting his own beautiful sentences, paragraphs, and reflections★
2. Reflections specifically on the time in the camps consume a confined portion of the book (and, so, also of Michael’s visits with Stella). Why do you think it was so important to preface the story of Stella’s time in the camps by first establishing what life felt and looked (and smelled, tasted, and sounded) like in the Juderia, as the neighborhood where Stella grew up was known★
3. Stella is hesitant for a long time to share stories of her time in the camps with Michael. Why do you think she finally decides to open up (even if she makes Michael wait and listen to her explain it in her own order)★
4. Stella’s sister Renée undergoes a significant transformation in body and character as a result of her time in the camps. Early in the book (page 14), Renée is described as “hesitant and delicate,” though Stella later reflects that she’s “‘not sure whether Renée was born delicate or whether my mother simply treated her that way and so that’s what she became.’” Toward the end of their time in the camps, when Stella and Renée are forced to walk from a nameless satellite camp to Allach, another satellite camp of Dachau, Stella is ill and ready to give in to death. It is Renée, miraculously recovered from her asthma upon arrival to the camps, who holds Stella up and pushes her along the path. Stella, too, frequently recalls her “past self,” left behind during the war. Have you or someone you know ever experienced an unexpected, perhaps even miraculous transformation as the result of significant life events★ What do you think of our tendency to assume that one’s physical and emotional dispositions are unlikely to change a great deal during the course of our lives★
5. The power of language—or different languages and the worlds they open up to you—is a major theme in this book and in Stella’s life. Has language impacted you in a significant way that has changed your life or perhaps even saved your life★
6. In sharing her story with Michael and with us, Stella has preserved the Juderia—the place itself, the people, and the ways. Take a moment to consider the significance of this—what would happen to the history and culture of the Juderia, had Stella not shared her acute memories of this lost world★ Have you or anyone in your family come from a world that has disappeared or so dramatically altered that it is no longer recognizable★ What does it mean to try to preserve a place that has changed, or vanished, in this way★
7. There are several memoirs and books about Holocaust survivors. Stella references these early on as contributing to her hesitation to share. How do you feel Stella’s story may differ from or compare to other survivor stories★
8. Before going to the camps, Stella has multiple men in her life who are “more than friends.” She appreciates each of them for separate qualities. What do you think of Stella’s feelings about marriage, friendship, and the general importance of human connection★
Enhance Your Book Club
1. Have each of you interview a family member or friend—just asking a short set of questions regarding their lives and family history. After you collect their answers, write them down and share them with each other. After reading each other’s brief interviews, take time to reflect together on the power of oral histories and the value of participating in the preservation of story.
2. Consider how you may have changed throughout your life. Write down and name different versions of yourself that have been present as a result of your circumstances. Have fun with this! You can be as creative as you like—if you want, you can even make a visual representation of your different selves. If you are comfortable, consider sharing with the group what this exercise meant to you.
3. Take a group trip to a local museum or significant cultural spot (this could be a place of religious organization or even a family-owned restaurant, a library, or a shop). Enjoy looking around and experiencing the essence of a culture and a history passed indirectly through displays, foods, architecture, or something else.
About The Author
Photograph by Marta Barisione
Michael Frank is the author of What Is Missing, a novel, and The Mighty Franks, a memoir, which was awarded the 2018 JQ Wingate Prize and was named one of the best books of the year by The Telegraph and The New Statesman. His essays, articles, and short stories have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Slate, The Yale Review, Salmagundi, The TLS, Tablet, and other publications. The recipient of a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship, he lives with his family in New York City and Camogli, Italy.
About The Reader
Photograph by Marta Barisione
Michael Frank is the author of What Is Missing, a novel, and The Mighty Franks, a memoir, which was awarded the 2018 JQ Wingate Prize and was named one of the best books of the year by The Telegraph and The New Statesman. His essays, articles, and short stories have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Slate, The Yale Review, Salmagundi, The TLS, Tablet, and other publications. The recipient of a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship, he lives with his family in New York City and Camogli, Italy.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (September 6, 2022)
- Runtime: 8 hours and 27 minutes
- ISBN13: 9781797147611
Browse Related Books
Raves and Reviews
"Occasional recordings of Stella’s voice make this even more an audiobook treasure. Frank remains an objective storyteller offering a clear-eyed look at one woman whose strong will helped her to survive."
– AudioFile Magazine
Awards and Honors
- ALA Sophie Brody Medal Winner
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): One Hundred Saturdays Unabridged Audio Download 9781797147611
- Author Photo (jpg): Michael Frank Photograph by Marta Barisione(0.1 MB)
Any use of an author photo must include its respective photo credit
