Written by Sarah Dayan Mueller
One thing I’ve come to realize in my journey as an author, as well as an avid reader, is how important it is to preserve the stories of the past. Up until recently, I hadn’t read much historical fiction, but have now fallen in love with the genre. Jewish history and literature in particular holds a special place in my heart, because that is where so many of my family’s stories originate from. Which is why it’s so exciting to share that Home in a Hundred Places, along with myself as a Jewish Filipino Egyptian author, is officially part of the Jewish Book Council!
The Jewish Book Council has been around since 1944 and is the oldest organization dedicated to celebrating Jewish literature. I’m thrilled that the story of my dad’s life as a Jewish Egyptian spy will live on with such a wonderful organization.
One of the clearest memories I have of my dad is of him sitting on our couch with his glasses on, a pencil in his hand, reading my latest writings. He printed out every short story I wrote or full manuscript I dreamed up, and sat in the living room until he read the first word to the very last. He was my strongest supporter and greatest encourager in life.
But after all these years of fictional storytelling, I knew it was time to tell the greatest story I have ever known.
Home in a Hundred Places is my new novel, based on the true life events of my Sephardic dad as he maneuvered and escaped a life of espionage as a Jew in Egypt and eventually settled in New York, only to have dementia slowly erase a lifetime’s worth of adventures and experiences.
If there is one thing I learned about Alzheimer’s disease through his years long struggle with it, it is how important it is to remember that a person’s life is not defined by dementia, but more so by the beautiful life that happened before it.
95% of my dad’s life did not include angry mood swings or memory loss, but instead was full of exciting journeys around the world and the purest love I have ever known.
He passed away before he got the chance to sit on the couch one more time to read this novel or see it published and on the shelves at Barnes & Noble. He read every piece of writing I ever created because he was my biggest fan, and I wrote this story of his beautiful life because I’m his biggest fan too.
