AMERICAN MOTHER


With National Book Award–winning author Colum McCann, Diane Foley courageously returns to the story of her son, American journalist James Foley, who went abroad and never came home.

In late 2021, Diane Foley sat at a table across from Alexanda Kotey, a member of the ISIS group known as “the Beatles,” who pled guilty to the kidnapping, torture, and murder of her son James Foley seven years before. She asked the legendary writer Colum McCann to be there.

more …

With National Book Award–winning author Colum McCann, Diane Foley courageously returns to the story of her son, American journalist James Foley, who went abroad and never came home.

In late 2021, Diane Foley sat at a table across from Alexanda Kotey, a member of the ISIS group known as “the Beatles,” who pled guilty to the kidnapping, torture, and murder of her son James Foley seven years before. She asked the legendary writer Colum McCann to be there.

less …
  • Bloomsbury
  • Paperback
  • February 2025
  • 240 Pages
  • 9781639735679

Buy the Book

$17.99

Bookshop.org indies Bookstore

About Diane Foley & Colum McCann

Colum McCann is the author of American Mother
Colum McCann is the internationally bestselling author of ten works of fiction and one nonfiction book. The recipient of many honors, including the National Book Award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship, he lives in New York City.

Diane Foley is the author of American Mother
Diane Foley is the mother of American freelance conflict journalist James Wright Foley. She founded the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation to advocate for innocent Americans held hostage abroad. She lives in New Hampshire.

Praise

“One of the best books I’ve read in many, many years, if not my life.” —Anderson Cooper

“A work of great faith and redemption. Here is a woman making the whole world accessible to us all.” —Jamie Lee Curtis

“A spectacular tale of violence and forgiveness.” —Salman Rushdie

“Foley’s urge to understand the psychology of one of her son’s captors made her a perfect match for McCann.” The New York Times

“A book that will shake your soul out.” —Sting

“A call to decency in a war-torn world.” —Deborah Jackson Taffa

Discussion Questions

  1. Diane Foley’s journey is a deeply emotional one. How did her choice to meet Alexanda Kotey and speak with him make you feel? Did you feel differently the second time they met, at the end of the book? How so?
  2. “Listening is the quiet soul of storytelling.” How do you understand this phrase, and how do you think Diane, Colum, and Jim each understood it? Is listening more important than telling?
  3. There are times when the Kotey’s motives seem unclear to Diane. She acknowledges a series of emotions, including empathy, anger, compassion, and sadness. Do you think Kotey was manipulating Diane through what he said to her, and by his attitude in his letters later in the book? Also, was he trying to influence her by showing her the photographs of his children, or was that a natural move on his part? Why do you think Diane connected so much with Kotey’s children? Do you think you would have been able to exercise the same empathetic engagement?
  4. The photo of Jim kneeling in the desert, alongside his eventual killer, has become iconic. Do you recall the news from the terrible day (August 19, 2014) when Jim’s killing was posted on social media? If so, how do you feel about how it was covered by the media? Do you think history becomes a parade of recognizable images?
  5. “One moment there’s a plate of chips, a bowl of salsa, a couple of glasses of iced tea, a pleasant chat with a loved one, a favorite restaurant, and the next there’s a gaping hole in your consciousness.” Throughout the book, McCann and Foley juxtapose everyday moments like this against the chaos and devastation of war. Where do you see them using this technique and why do you think they chose it? Has war become an everyday staple of our language? Has social media affected how we juxtapose the tiny and the epic?
  6. How did it make you feel when Jim was freed from Libya? How do you think his family felt about his decision to go to Syria after he had been captured and freed? Can you imagine watching a loved one go to a war-torn area a second time, especially after the first was so traumatic? Does it affect your judgment of Jim?
  7. What do McCann and Foley mean by “it is impossible to learn something you think you already know. That is America in a nutshell. We think we know, so we don’t even try to learn”?
  8. Religion plays a large part in this story—Diane’s own Catholicism, Jim’s conversion to Islam alongside his recognition of his Catholic faith, the radical Islam of Kotey and the other Beatles. How does religion connect Diane, Jim, and the kidnappers? How does it separate them? Is there any point of connection? Do you think Diane respects Kotey’s idea of God? And is that feeling reciprocated?
  9. Diane thinks a lot about forgiveness: “She has told friends that she isn’t here now to forgive him or placate him.”Do you think she ultimately forgave Kotey for his role in her son’s suffering and death? Did she want to forgive him? Did he want her forgiveness?
  10. It took courage for Diane to channel her rage at her son’s death into policy change. What other examples of this can you think of in the world? When has a family member’s love been the force that motivates change in laws and governance?
  11. Do you feel it’s the responsibility of the American government to negotiate for its citizens’ freedom? Why do you think the United States and Britain have such different protocols for kidnappings than other nations? Why do you think the U.S.’s policy on ransom is so different for domestic kidnappings than it is for international kidnappings
  12. What do you think about Diane’s ongoing activism? Has she changed the world? Do you think she finds meaning in Jim’s death? Is this the solace she is looking for?