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The Last Jews of Kerala
- The Two Thousand Year History of India’s Forgotten Jewish Community
- Narrated by: Leslie Bellair
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
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Publisher's summary
When a people die out, can their story survive?Two thousand years ago, trade routes and the fall of Jerusalem took Jewish settlers seeking sanctuary across Europe and Asia. One little-known group settled in Kerala, in tropical southwestern India. Eventually numbering in the thousands, with eight synagogues, they prospered. Some came to possess vast estates and plantations, and many enjoyed economic privilege and political influence. Their comfortable lives, however, were haunted by a feud between the Black Jews of Ernakulam and the White Jews of Mattancherry. Separated by a narrow stretch of swamp and the color of their skin, they locked in a rancorous feud for centuries, divided by racism and claims and counterclaims over who arrived first in their adopted land. Today, this once-illustrious people is in its dying days. Centuries of interbreeding and a latter-day Exodus from Kerala after Israel's creation in 1948 have shrunk the population. The Black and White Jews combined now number less than fifty, and only one synagogue remains. On the threshold of extinction, the two remaining Jewish communities of Kerala have come to realize that their destiny, and their undoing, is the same.
The Last Jews of Kerala narrates the rise and fall of the Black Jews and the White Jews over the centuries and within the context of the grand history of the Jewish people. It is the story of the twilight days of a people whose community will, within the next generation, cease to exist. Yet it is also a rich tale of weddings and funerals, of loyalty to family and fierce individualism, of desperation and hope.
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A true account of racism, feuds, and riches, The Last Jews of Kerala is a rich historical saga. Over 2,000 years ago, the town of Kerala was settled by the White Jews of Mattancherry and the Black Jews of Ernakulam after they were forced to flee Jerusalem. Edna Fernandes tells the story of how those two communities came to develop a fierce rivalry that eventually led both clans to ruin. Leslie Bellair's compassionate performance also serves to highlight the real human stories at the heart of these enthralling tales of the rise and fall of a culture.
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- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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The author of the much honored two-volume biography of Henri Matisse unearths the life and work of the Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winner Pearl Buck, whose novels in the 1930's and 40's were the first written for a Western audience to describe ordinary life in the still secret China of the late 19th and early 20th century.
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Very good
- By M. Brandman on 06-15-10
By: Hilary Spurling
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The Stories of Eva Luna
- By: Isabel Allende
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Pena
- Length: 2 hrs and 44 mins
- Abridged
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Immerse yourself in a world of love, vengeance, compassion, and irony with the evocative stories of Eva Luna. Author Isabel Allende introduced this well-loved character to audiences in her earlier novel, Eva Luna. Listen to Allende talk about the role of writing in her life in Giving Birth, Finding Form. This program also features Alice Walker and Jean Shinoda Bolen.
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Better some Allende than no Allende
- By Perschon on 12-04-14
By: Isabel Allende
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Sovietistan
- Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan
- By: Erika Fatland
- Narrated by: Jill Rolls
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan became free of the Soviet Union in 1991. But though they are new to modern statehood, this is a region rich in ancient history, culture, and landscapes unlike anywhere else in the world. Traveling alone, Erika Fatland is a true adventurer in every sense. In Sovietistan, she takes the listener on a compassionate and insightful journey to explore how their Soviet heritage has influenced these countries, with governments experimenting with both democracy and dictatorships.
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Outstanding book
- By George MP on 04-24-22
By: Erika Fatland
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The Souls of China
- The Return of Religion After Mao
- By: Ian Johnson
- Narrated by: Ian Johnson
- Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The Souls of China tells the story of one of the world's great spiritual revivals. Following a century of violent antireligious campaigns, China is now filled with new temples, churches, and mosques - as well as cults, sects, and politicians trying to harness religion for their own ends. Driving this explosion of faith is uncertainty - over what it means to be Chinese and how to live an ethical life in a country that discarded traditional morality a century ago and is searching for new guideposts.
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expository but boring
- By Laurent V. on 05-07-18
By: Ian Johnson
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Black Dog of Fate
- A Memoir
- By: Peter Balakian
- Narrated by: Peter Balakian
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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The first-born son of his generation, Peter Balakian grew up in a close, extended family, sheltered by 1950s and '60s New Jersey suburbia. He was immersed in an all-American boyhood defined by rock 'n' roll, adolescent pranks, and a passion for the New York Yankees that he shared with his beloved grandmother. But beneath this sunny world lay the dark specter of the trauma his family and ancestors had experienced: the Turkish government's extermination of more than a million Armenians.
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Great book!
- By Lm on 06-27-13
By: Peter Balakian
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Aavarana
- The Veil
- By: Sandeep Balakrishna - translator, S. L. Bhyrappa
- Narrated by: Deepti Gupta
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Aavarana: The Veil by S. L. Bhyrappa is a story of a free-spirited and rebellious young woman, Lakshmi, who marries the man she is deeply in love with. Amir, her husband, requests she convert to Islam, and she reluctantly agrees. Despite her father being completely against the marriage, she breaks ties with him and changes her name to Razia. However, things change for the worse, and she discovers a different side to Amir. He is not the progressive and liberal person she thought he was.
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Excellent Narration
- By Vikram on 04-10-23
By: Sandeep Balakrishna - translator, and others
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If the Oceans Were Ink
- An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran
- By: Carla Power
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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If the Oceans Were Ink is Carla Power's eye-opening story of how she and her longtime friend, Sheikh Mohammad Akram Nadwi, found a way to confront ugly stereotypes and persistent misperceptions that were cleaving their communities. Their friendship - between a secular American and a madrasa-trained sheikh - had always seemed unlikely, but now they were frustrated and bewildered by the battles being fought in their names.
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WAY TOO LONG-but good material
- By teri_novabern on 07-30-16
By: Carla Power
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The Home That Was Our Country
- By: Alia Malek
- Narrated by: Alia Malek
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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At the Arab Spring's hopeful start, Alia Malek returned to Damascus to reclaim her grandmother's apartment, which had been lost to her family since Hafez al-Assad came to power in 1970. Its loss was central to her parents' decision to make their lives in America. In chronicling the people who lived in the Tahaan building, past and present, Alia portrays the Syrians—the Muslims, Christians, Jews, Armenians, and Kurds—who worked, loved, and suffered in close quarters, mirroring the political shifts in their country
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Syria as never read before
- By rami hachwi on 09-17-18
By: Alia Malek
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Land of a Thousand Hills
- My Life in Rwanda
- By: Rosamond Halsey Carr, Ann Halsey Howard - contributor
- Narrated by: C. M. Hébert
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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When Rosamond Halsey Carr first arrived in Africa, she didn't realize that she would spend the rest of her life there. As a young fashion illustrator living in New York City in the 1940s, she seemed the least likely candidate for such a life of adventure. But marriage to a hunter-explorer took her to what was then the Belgian Congo, and divorce left her determined to stay on in neighboring Rwanda as the manager of a flower plantation.
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Wow... just, wow... (not a good wow)
- By Jankow on 01-04-21
By: Rosamond Halsey Carr, and others
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An American Bride in Kabul
- By: Phyllis Chesler PhD
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Few westerners will ever be able to understand Muslim or Afghan society unless they are part of a Muslim family. Twenty years old and in love, Phyllis Chesler, a Jewish-American girl from Brooklyn, embarked on an adventure that has lasted for more than a half-century. Drawing upon her personal diaries, Chesler recounts her ordeal, the nature of gender apartheid - and her longing to explore this beautiful, ancient, and exotic country and culture.
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An Exceptional Book
- By Elaine Fresco on 04-16-19
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The Pendulum
- A Granddaughter's Search for Her Family's Forbidden Nazi Past
- By: Julie Lindahl
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
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This powerful memoir traces Brazilian-born American Julie Lindahl's journey to uncover her grandparents' role in the Third Reich, as she is driven to understand how and why they became members of Hitler's elite, the SS. Out of the unbearable heart of the story - the unclaimed guilt that devours a family through the generations - emerges an unflinching will to learn the truth.
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Exceptional
- By Jean on 01-14-19
By: Julie Lindahl
What listeners say about The Last Jews of Kerala
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Paul Stevenson
- 01-16-23
A sad but informative narrative
The Jews of Kerala built a community that was at peace with the Hindus, Muslims and Christians around them. Internal strife and the actions of invading Portuguese and British forces, then damaging decisions by their own state's government, finally led all but a few to leave. Edna Fernandes provides us with a rich and sensitive narrative of this community in its final years.
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- Behzad
- 04-04-21
Last Jews of Kerala - General eval
Commendable work on data collection !
Particularly enjoyed the “composition” took you to the actual time & place !!
Downside: narrator read TOO FAST !
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- Mark
- 01-11-19
Interesting
An eye-opening story about Jews in India - and the unfortunate prejudice that exists among light skinned Jews toward Jews with darker skin. The narrator speaks too quickly. A good narrator does not rush. Overall, an interesting history.
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- Shifrah
- 01-10-21
Mispronunciation
Someone needed to instruct the narrator on the pronunciation of the Hebrew words in this book. B’nai Yisrael, Magen David...it’s really annoying to hear it. Story is great, reader not so great.
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- JK
- 10-24-21
INTERESTING PART OF JEWISH HISTORY
So glad I listened to this book. It is a part of Jewish history I was not familiar with.
Time and again when I read about the Jews I find that they are such a strong people.
I highly recommend listening and it is “included” for now.
The narrator has just the right voice.
My thanks to all, JK.
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- Cameron Crane
- 03-08-18
Interesting topic, unethical author, uninformed reader
This book is written on a very interesting topic and the writer presents some vivid description. Yet the author repeats herself so many times that I felt she should have presented her findings as a longform magazine article, rather than stretch them out into a full-length book.
I also found it unethical of the author to "befriend" reclusive community members only to turn around and vividly depict things like the way dentures slip disgustingly in and out of their mouth. These are real people who now come face to face with tourists (like me) who have read this book! In my opinion, the author did not treat her informants with journalistic integrity.
Finally, it was annoying that Audible's reader mispronounced words/names related to India AND words/names related to Judaism throughout the audiobook. This is a book focused on India and on Judaism -- Audible can't find a reader who is familiar with at least one of them? Leslie can't take the time to ask somebody how to pronounce unfamiliar words? Give me a break!
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5 people found this helpful
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- Jeff A. Goldberg
- 02-01-15
Good to learn the history, but slow moving story
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
The time was well spent to listen to the book as it had many back stories I didn't know. However, it was very slow moving. A little more historic detail or broader links to other Indian jews might have had some additional interest.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Nursey
- 12-23-20
Wonderful
A truly great story and wonderful performance. This from someone who does not even “like fiction.”
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- Thomas Le Min
- 05-20-23
Excellent! ✡︎
This audiobook is an outstanding look at a community that had been vibrant for millennia only to find itself in a death spiral as the result of their own intolerance for one half of their membership. The Indian Jews’ relation to Israel is also fascinating.
Finally, the narrator did a remarkable job in telling this fascinating tale. Her voice was clear and mellifluous and made it a joy to listen to. She definitely added much value to the audiobook over a simple book version. Both author and narrator are to be congratulated on an excellent job.
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- Alex
- 12-24-21
Negative and Poorly Written
The Last Jews of Kerala: The 2,000 Year History of India’s Forgotten Jewish Community, lives up to its title but not the subtitle. Journalist Edna Fernandes reflects her primary career by creating a book that is primarily a collection of interviews of Kerala Jews with about two chapters that provide a Wikipedia sized amount of historical context. The interviews thus were the core of the book and while these personal narratives could have been the book’s strength, they too fell short. Fernandes usually painted her subjects in a negative light making most of them come off as pessimistic, prejudicial and petty. Only her last few chapters, especially the one on the Negev Desert, were good at showing likable individuals with interesting stories, which reflect on the story of the Kerala Jews. On top of that the book was highly repetitive and just poorly written. My hope is it could encourage someone to write a more comprehensive history on the subject, or a more passionate narrative on the last Jews of Kerala.
The narration was read at a bizarrely fast pace. I was able to fix it by reducing it to either 0.9 or 0.8 speed. The narrator seemed detached and eager to read through the book as quickly as possible.
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