Review — QUEEN OF HEARTS edited by Leita Kaldi Davis (Senegal)

Queen of Hearts: The Story of Anna Sipl Meyers
Edited by Leita Kaldi Davis (Senegal 1993–96), Anna Sipl Meyers (Author)
Self-published
July 2018
248 pages
$20.00 (paperback)

Reviewed by D.W. Jefferson (El Salvador 1974-76 & Costa Rica 1976-77)

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This is a life story worthy of a Horatio Alger novel, except that it is autobiographical rather than fiction, and the hero, Anna Sipl Meyers, continues her story after achieving her initial goal of owning a Las Vegas hotel and casino. In fact her ups and downs as a hotel and casino owner are among the most fascinating parts of her life story.

The book is based on two years of interviews conducted by Claytee D. White, Director of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV (University of Nevada Las Vegas) Libraries. RPCV Leita Kaldi Davis organized the interviews and edited them into a book which is conversational, well organized, and flows very well, keeping the reader’s attention to the last page.

From her early years in Yugoslavia where her family and others of German descent were persecuted by Tito in the post World War II years, to her adventures managing a hotel and casino in Las Vegas as the first woman to do so, Ms Sipl Meyers’ story is extraordinary. She is a woman of exceptional energy, drive and determination, and she candidly recounts her failures as well as her many successes. At one time she actually owned two hotel-casino combination properties in downtown Las Vegas.

Unfortunately the book displays evidence of a lack of careful proof reading. There are sentences without verbs, prepositional phrases without the preposition, and repeated words and phrases, all of which could have been caught and corrected by a proofreader.

But don’t let this flaw prevent you from enjoying the uplifting story of this amazing female entrepreneur. Her can-do attitude and refusal to allow circumstances to defeat her shine through, making this a very worthwhile read.

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D.W. Jefferson was a Peace Corps agriculture volunteer in El Salvador (1974-76) and Costa Rica (1976-77). A blog about his Peace Corps years is at dwjefferson.blogspot.com. He is currently retired from a career in computer software engineering.