American Mother

December 16, 2024
In this poignant account, National Book Award winner McCann (Apeirogon) assists Diane Foley, the mother of journalist James Foley, who was the first American to be executed by ISIS, in telling the story of the fallout from her son’s death. The narrative progresses from Foley’s excruciating days in limbo after Jim went missing from Syria in 2012 to the horrors of his internet beheading in 2014 and Foley’s subsequent founding of a nonprofit dedicated to securing American journalists’ safety abroad. Woven throughout are accounts of chilling face-to-face meetings with one of her son’s killers, who agreed to meet the families of victims while awaiting sentencing in Virginia; sections that detail the fates of other Westerners kidnapped by ISIS; and passages that illuminate the dangers faced by conflict journalists today. Most stirring, however, is McCann and Foley’s portrait of Jim, whose tenacity and dedication to journalism led to him being taken hostage more than once while covering conflicts in the Middle East. Readers will be moved by this bracing chronicle of Foley’s commitment to honoring her son’s legacy.