Anything But Yes: A Novel of Anna Del Monte, Jewish Citizen of Rome, 1749

Written by Joie Davidow

Narrated by Shaina Summerville

Anything But Yes is the true story of a young woman's struggle to defend her identity in the face of relentless attempts to destroy it. In 1749, eighteen-year-old Anna del Monte was seized at gunpoint from her home in the Jewish ghetto of Rome and thrown into a convent cell at the Casa dei Catecumeni, the house of converts. With no access to the outside world, she withstood endless lectures, threats, promises, isolation and sleep deprivation. If she were she to utter the simple word "yes," she risked forced baptism, which would mean never returning to her home, and total loss of contact with any Jew-mother, father, brother, sister-for the rest of her life.

Even in Rome, very few people know the story of the Ghetto or the abduction of Jews, the story of popes ever more intent on converting every non-Catholic living in the long shadow of the Vatican. Young girls and small children were the primary targets. They were vulnerable, easily confused, gullible. Anna del Monte was different. She was strong, brilliant, educated, and wrote a diary of her experiences. The document was lost for more than 200 hundred years, then rediscovered in 1989. Anything But Yes is also based on Davidow's extensive research on life in the eighteenth-century Roman ghetto, its traditions, food, personalities, and dialect.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Feb 13, 2024
• ISBN: 9798350890389

Joie Davidow

Joie Davidow is the author of a memoir, Marked for Life (Harmony), and Infusions of Healing (Fireside). With Esmeralda Santiago, she is the co-editor of two story anthologies Las Mamis and Las Christmas (both Alfred A. Knopf). She was co-founder of the L.A. Weekly, and founder of L.A. Style and Sí magazines. Her latest project is a historic novel, An Unofficial Marriage, about the lifelong love between 19th-century opera star Pauline Viardot-Garcia and Russian author Ivan Turgenev. She lives in Rome, Italy, where she is the co-founder and editor of a weekly online magazine, www.InRomeNow.com