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Lives Between The Lines: A Journey in Search of the Lost Levant
In Lives Between the Lines, Michael Vatikiotis traces the journey of his Greek and Italian forebears from Tuscany, Crete, Hydra and Rhodes, as they made their way to Egypt and the coast of Palestine in search of opportunity. In the process, he reveals a period where the Middle East was a place of ethnic and cultural harmony - where Arabs and Jews rubbed shoulders in bazaars and teashops, intermarried and shared family history.While lines were eventually drawn and people, including Vatikiotis's family, found themselves caught between clashing faiths, contested identities and violent conflict, this intimate and sweeping memoir is a paean to tolerance, offering a nuanced understanding of the lost Levant.
373 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 5, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 25, 2024
This memoir evoked in me similar feelings to those I experienced while reading Homo Irrealis: Essays by André Aciman. Both authors explore themes of displacement and identity, drawing from their Levantine backgrounds. Their families had to leave the places they called home for several decades (or even centuries) amidst the rise of nationalism and increasing intolerance in the Middle East in the 20th century. Understanding the complexity of the Middle East today is captured in this book, particularly through the lens of nationalism that surged after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent arbitrary divisions imposed by European colonial powers.
Vatikiotis, drawing from his extensive experience as a journalist and mediator in the Middle East, presents a vivid account of the cultural and religious diversity that once defined this area, spanning modern-day Türkiye, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Israel, and Palestine. His narrative intertwines the personal history of his family with parallel historical events, starting from the construction of the Suez Canal in the 19th century. On his father's side, Vatikiotis provides an account of life as Greeks in Palestine during a time when a sizable Greek community thrived there. His mother's side adds depth to the depiction of a British colonial administrator's life in the Middle East and the Sornaga family in Egypt, who hail from an Italian Jewish background.
While the book conveys a profound sense of loss and nostalgia for a bygone era, it also offers insightful reflections on the present challenges facing the Middle East. It presents a hopeful perspective, suggesting that despite ongoing conflicts, such as the ongoing war in Palestine, the region's history of relative peace and cosmopolitanism—where people from various ethnic groups, nationalities, and religions coexisted for centuries—hints at a hopeful possibility for the future.
Vatikiotis, drawing from his extensive experience as a journalist and mediator in the Middle East, presents a vivid account of the cultural and religious diversity that once defined this area, spanning modern-day Türkiye, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Israel, and Palestine. His narrative intertwines the personal history of his family with parallel historical events, starting from the construction of the Suez Canal in the 19th century. On his father's side, Vatikiotis provides an account of life as Greeks in Palestine during a time when a sizable Greek community thrived there. His mother's side adds depth to the depiction of a British colonial administrator's life in the Middle East and the Sornaga family in Egypt, who hail from an Italian Jewish background.
While the book conveys a profound sense of loss and nostalgia for a bygone era, it also offers insightful reflections on the present challenges facing the Middle East. It presents a hopeful perspective, suggesting that despite ongoing conflicts, such as the ongoing war in Palestine, the region's history of relative peace and cosmopolitanism—where people from various ethnic groups, nationalities, and religions coexisted for centuries—hints at a hopeful possibility for the future.
July 18, 2022
Vatikiotis retells his family’s history, connecting it to the greater shifts and events happening in the Levant region in the past two centuries. It is interesting to consider how not so long ago, Europeans were leaving Europe for better opportunities and greater security in the Middle East…
June 22, 2024
This is a beautifully written and incisive book, rich with historical detail and insight into a culture that the author knows well.
Vatikiotis skilfully deconstructs the history of the Levant through the centuries to reconstruct the lives of his ancestors at a time when lines and borders were fluid, drawn, and redrawn many times over.
Despite the challenges of presenting a linear account of the different powers that wielded control over the Levant, and those that vied for control after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Vatikiotis delivers a clear narrative that even readers unfamiliar with its past can follow. It is through this narrative that he threads the lives of his paternal and maternal lineages, the Greek Vatikiotises and Italian Sornagas, their disparate origins and eventual union.
Shifting seamlessly from crisp journalistic style to lyrical prose, Vatikiotis’ affection for the people and awareness of their predicament is unmistakable. He yearns to recapture moments that have been relegated to history, but only as far as to understand the lives that his parents and relatives had led. In Egypt, for instance, he is reminded that while the Levantine elite enjoyed La Belle Epoque, the khedival era (under Ottoman rule) and colonial past did nothing for the average Egyptian. “This sense of parallel but disconnected histories,” he writes” haunted me throughout my journey. I found no way to connect them.”
In this voyage of discovery, Vatikiotis encounters vestiges of his family’s legacy, such as the Sornaga ceramics factory in Cairo established by his great uncle Samuele, and the central building of the Monastery of Saint Theodosius in the village of al-Ubeidiya, near Bethlehem, that was built by another great-uncle, the monk Leontios.
The pleasure of reading this book comes from accompanying the author in his quest, through his stories and delightful vignettes, and witnessing life breathed into a lost era. Highly recommended.
Vatikiotis skilfully deconstructs the history of the Levant through the centuries to reconstruct the lives of his ancestors at a time when lines and borders were fluid, drawn, and redrawn many times over.
Despite the challenges of presenting a linear account of the different powers that wielded control over the Levant, and those that vied for control after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Vatikiotis delivers a clear narrative that even readers unfamiliar with its past can follow. It is through this narrative that he threads the lives of his paternal and maternal lineages, the Greek Vatikiotises and Italian Sornagas, their disparate origins and eventual union.
Shifting seamlessly from crisp journalistic style to lyrical prose, Vatikiotis’ affection for the people and awareness of their predicament is unmistakable. He yearns to recapture moments that have been relegated to history, but only as far as to understand the lives that his parents and relatives had led. In Egypt, for instance, he is reminded that while the Levantine elite enjoyed La Belle Epoque, the khedival era (under Ottoman rule) and colonial past did nothing for the average Egyptian. “This sense of parallel but disconnected histories,” he writes” haunted me throughout my journey. I found no way to connect them.”
In this voyage of discovery, Vatikiotis encounters vestiges of his family’s legacy, such as the Sornaga ceramics factory in Cairo established by his great uncle Samuele, and the central building of the Monastery of Saint Theodosius in the village of al-Ubeidiya, near Bethlehem, that was built by another great-uncle, the monk Leontios.
The pleasure of reading this book comes from accompanying the author in his quest, through his stories and delightful vignettes, and witnessing life breathed into a lost era. Highly recommended.
October 21, 2022
An eyeopening alternative view of the Levant/Israel/Palestine indeed.
Though somewhat repetitive in its nostalgic re-statement time and again of the sad loss of the valuable cosmopolitanism that existed in the Levant, as a committed lifelong Zionist Jew, I derived a lot of benefit also from the author's very different though not dispassionate view of the politics of Palestine/Israel - call it what you will.
However, one point the author does not at all make is that of the original perhaps 700,000 Palestinian refugees who vacated their homes, standard life expectancy statistics - especially as influenced by the regionally-specific factors operating in the Levant - tell us that perhaps tens of thousands remain alive today. The definition of a Palestinian refugee as extending to the nth generation applies to no other refugee group in the world. The descendants of the 900,000 Jews who sought refuge - mainly in Israel - at the time of partition and thereafter, are not classed as refugees. So why should the Palestinian refugees be a special case?
Coming now to the present, I am all for the setting up of a Palestinian State that is founded on peaceful acceptance of the historical fact of the existence of the 'intramural' State of Israel - comprised currently of close to 10M people including 1.5M Muslim or Christian or Druze Arabs. The 'extramural' population of some [overwhelmingly refugee descendants rather than refugees per se] 3-5M Arabs living in Gaza, Samaria and Judah [to use their Biblical names] surely deserve better than what they have sufferred since partition. Perhaps it will take a Marwan Barghouti to do this - Israel had a terrorist turn PM in Begin, so why not?
Though somewhat repetitive in its nostalgic re-statement time and again of the sad loss of the valuable cosmopolitanism that existed in the Levant, as a committed lifelong Zionist Jew, I derived a lot of benefit also from the author's very different though not dispassionate view of the politics of Palestine/Israel - call it what you will.
However, one point the author does not at all make is that of the original perhaps 700,000 Palestinian refugees who vacated their homes, standard life expectancy statistics - especially as influenced by the regionally-specific factors operating in the Levant - tell us that perhaps tens of thousands remain alive today. The definition of a Palestinian refugee as extending to the nth generation applies to no other refugee group in the world. The descendants of the 900,000 Jews who sought refuge - mainly in Israel - at the time of partition and thereafter, are not classed as refugees. So why should the Palestinian refugees be a special case?
Coming now to the present, I am all for the setting up of a Palestinian State that is founded on peaceful acceptance of the historical fact of the existence of the 'intramural' State of Israel - comprised currently of close to 10M people including 1.5M Muslim or Christian or Druze Arabs. The 'extramural' population of some [overwhelmingly refugee descendants rather than refugees per se] 3-5M Arabs living in Gaza, Samaria and Judah [to use their Biblical names] surely deserve better than what they have sufferred since partition. Perhaps it will take a Marwan Barghouti to do this - Israel had a terrorist turn PM in Begin, so why not?
April 13, 2025
This book was an interesting look into an epoch that has always interested me and into a time to which I would have liked to belong.
Yet I found my eyes rolling frequently, in the same way that I would roll my eyes at someone whose parents were born during British India returning to India today and lamenting the lack of British tea rooms and fellow white people.
The author uses overly flowery and repetitive language to make basic points. His attempts to cling to the Levant and claims of belong to lands come across as trite and artificial. I don’t see how he can claim to be Palestinian and Egyptian as he does at the end of the novel.
You get a sense of judgement of Islam without any understanding of what its basic tenets actually are. The grief for the Levantine era is superficially admitted to be a grief for colonialism, but it seems the author fails to actually link the period following world war 2 to the negative impacts of a long history of colonialism. He says the decline is due to puritanical views of religion, but doesn’t acknowledge that colonialists (including Levantines) exploited locals for decades, if not centuries, and benefited from this exploitation until the locals rose up against them. As a result, the overarching thesis seems to be that Europeans do everything better and should return to the Levant to benefit from the labour of local populations.
The novel was interesting but frustrating to read. I would have liked the author to spend more time acknowledging his often patronising description of quotidian life in Egypt and Palestine life (we don’t care that you’re struggling to find a beer, move on) and less time trying to justify why he can claim to be from apparently influential and grandiose families who, for a short time, lived in the Levant.
Yet I found my eyes rolling frequently, in the same way that I would roll my eyes at someone whose parents were born during British India returning to India today and lamenting the lack of British tea rooms and fellow white people.
The author uses overly flowery and repetitive language to make basic points. His attempts to cling to the Levant and claims of belong to lands come across as trite and artificial. I don’t see how he can claim to be Palestinian and Egyptian as he does at the end of the novel.
You get a sense of judgement of Islam without any understanding of what its basic tenets actually are. The grief for the Levantine era is superficially admitted to be a grief for colonialism, but it seems the author fails to actually link the period following world war 2 to the negative impacts of a long history of colonialism. He says the decline is due to puritanical views of religion, but doesn’t acknowledge that colonialists (including Levantines) exploited locals for decades, if not centuries, and benefited from this exploitation until the locals rose up against them. As a result, the overarching thesis seems to be that Europeans do everything better and should return to the Levant to benefit from the labour of local populations.
The novel was interesting but frustrating to read. I would have liked the author to spend more time acknowledging his often patronising description of quotidian life in Egypt and Palestine life (we don’t care that you’re struggling to find a beer, move on) and less time trying to justify why he can claim to be from apparently influential and grandiose families who, for a short time, lived in the Levant.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 16, 2023
This is a stunning book, written by one of the great BBC journalists who spent three decades covering Southeast Asia. His family however were Europeans who immigrated to the Levante on the last centuries. This poignant, personal, researched book tells the stories through the eyes of his family. And underscores what makes the sense of community there so great through today - and lessons and context for great change in the region.
November 7, 2023
Fascinating combination of family history and history of the Middle East from the late 19th to mid-20th century. The author traces the history of both sides of his Levantine family and the rise and fall of their fortunes in Palestine and Egypt. Sad and interesting.
May 27, 2025
Very insightful peek into what it means to be "Levantine." I feel much more informed about the history, angst, and loss behind this terminology. This book is also an honest revelation of how displacement impacts identity across multiple generations in a family.
October 4, 2025
Picked this up randomly at a vintage shop. Really great insight into the Levantine period of Greeks and Italians in the Middle East, had no idea about this subject previously. Touches on the history of the Israel Palestine conflict so very relevant today. Great read!
February 24, 2022
'Lives Between the Lives' is a stunning read, which has taken me many months because every page, every paragraph, every sentence, opened new doors on my understanding of the times and how they feed into today on both global and personal levels. This journey has added significance for me for a number of reasons - my father was born in Cairo in the 1920, the son of an Italian father and French mother. The milieu he was born into - homes in Cairo and Alexandria, relative wealth, a tight-knit community - is precisely described here by Michael, who I know from school years (his father also knew my father, to develop the connection further, via the American University in Cairo).
The sheer scale and detail of this beautifully woven tapestry is an immense literary achievement. The anecdotal evidence of visits and interviews with people and in places from this century, and the historical commentary and timeline of Levantine culture, is an irreplaceable addition to the historical record. Nor does Michael shy away from the grand vision - the way the Ottoman empire gave way to the Western empire. The benefits of an Ottoman worldview would benefit us now, as we sit on the powderkeg of forces which could see us off, having lazily redrawn the world atlas in a way which encourages hatred and division..... The analysis of how the Levantine mindset is not confined to one place, although it gestated and arguably reached its highest potential in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine prior to the land grab that presaged the state of Israel - these are vital notes on a historical process which has too often been described by outsiders, or by those with vested interest in nuancing the story according to a pre-existing agenda. Here, it is described from both points of view (Michael's father was a well-known historian and commentator on Middle East affairs). I can't begin to describe how grateful I am to Michael for having write this immense tome and urge anyone with even a passing interest in Middle East affairs to read it.
The sheer scale and detail of this beautifully woven tapestry is an immense literary achievement. The anecdotal evidence of visits and interviews with people and in places from this century, and the historical commentary and timeline of Levantine culture, is an irreplaceable addition to the historical record. Nor does Michael shy away from the grand vision - the way the Ottoman empire gave way to the Western empire. The benefits of an Ottoman worldview would benefit us now, as we sit on the powderkeg of forces which could see us off, having lazily redrawn the world atlas in a way which encourages hatred and division..... The analysis of how the Levantine mindset is not confined to one place, although it gestated and arguably reached its highest potential in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine prior to the land grab that presaged the state of Israel - these are vital notes on a historical process which has too often been described by outsiders, or by those with vested interest in nuancing the story according to a pre-existing agenda. Here, it is described from both points of view (Michael's father was a well-known historian and commentator on Middle East affairs). I can't begin to describe how grateful I am to Michael for having write this immense tome and urge anyone with even a passing interest in Middle East affairs to read it.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews