Reviews

1. New York Times Book Review (11/25/2001)
"Varian Fry was the American Schindler. He even had a list. Sheila Isenberg's book A HERO OF OUR OWN helps rescue Fry from obscurity. And with its stories of desperate exiles, menacing Nazis, forged documents and midnight escapes through the mountains, it reads at times like the script for some old Hollywood movie. Think Warner Brothers in the 1940's. Think CASABLANCA (even down to the transit visas for Portugal). All that's missing is Peter Lorre."

2. Washington Post Book World (12/16/01)
"Now that America has been shocked into a new appreciation of heroism, the story of the late Varian Fry is especially timely. Sheila Isenberg devotes most of the book to the specifics of Fry's action-packed months in Marseilles, when he ferried numerous Jews (Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, Andre Breton, and Hannah Arendt, to name a few) out of occupied France. This is where Isenberg starts to explore new terrain: Tales of survivors and saviors are familiar to us, but Fry was both. And he was American."

3. The Roanoke Times (Jan. 27, 2002)
"Sheila Isenberg has written a masterful biography of this most enigmatic man. She pulls no punches in exhibiting his flaws, but shows no restraint in praising his virtues ... [Fry's life] is truly unique and compelling, and Isenberg tells it with considerable compassion. The book is well worth the attention of anyone interested in reading about a most unlikely 20th-century hero."

4. Booklist (9/1/01)
"Varian Fry, the only American honored at Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, played a crucial role in rescuing more than 1,000 European refugees from the Nazis. This highly readable biography tells the exciting escape stories of the underground railroad he organized. Isenberg sets the rescue story against the background of American isolationism and anti-Semitism at the time, documenting her dramatic narrative with more than 70 pages of fascinating notes. A must for WWII collections."

5. St. Louis Post-Dispatch (11/25/01)
"One of the BEST BOOKS of 2001. This little book is a life of a saint equal to any medieval tome."

6. The Free-Lance Star, Fredericksburg, Va. (Feb. 10, 2002)
"A HERO OF OUR OWN comes at a time when we need to remind ourselves of the high price of sticking one's neck out for others. Isenberg's work is a painstakingly documented book that presents human nature at its best and worst. In this dark work, she portrays Fry as a flawed but dedicated idealist."

7. JewishPress.com (Posted 12/5/01)
“This is one more time when you have to say: 'Read the book!'[A Hero of Our Own] records one adventure after another. From almost the moment that Varian Fry landed in Marseilles, in occupied Vichy, France, with basically no prior training or experience in emigration matters, he engineered the work of a dedicated staff that not only directly assisted the escape and emigration efforts of many survivors, but also documented the nefarious activities of Nazis and their sympathizers. Some day soon, another Hollywood scriptwriter may prepare this story once more for a movie or theatrical presentation, but as I said, one can obtain quite a thrill by reading this book."

8. Publisher's Weekly (12/17/01)
Interview
"Given the new gravity of public discourse, it may be a propitious time for the book. Isenberg finds an analogy between the isolationist spirit during Fry's days 'and the insular period we went through' before September 11. Beyond that, Fry's heroism has its own power. Some call him the 'American Schindler' and, indeed, Isenberg finds an explanation proffered by Oskar Schindler's surprising heroism applicable to Fry: only a 'divine inspiration' could explain how such a man could draw so deeply on his principles, creativity, courage and tenacity to stem the tide of history."

9. Taconic Times (1/10/02)
"You'll want to read Sheila Isenberg's riveting biography of Varian Fry, A Hero of Our Own. It is the flashback to Fry's early life that gave this reader the clearest insight not only into the man but into the times he lived in. He was a man who 'chafed at the world,' a rebel against authority [and] a hero abroad. He died in 1967, an ordinary person who had done extraordinary things just once in his life. There are 16 pages of photos [and] interviews with survivors, letters and records."