DUBAI: Elisa Sednaoui can now add best-selling author to her ever-growing curriculum vitae.
Shortly after the Egyptian-Italian-French model, filmmaker, and humanitarian published her first book, “Nobody Can Make You Feel Bad Without Your Permission,” earlier this month, it went on to become an instant bestseller in Italy.
The 34-year-old co-authored the book with Paolo Borzacchiello, an expert in linguistic intelligence who has been involved in the study and dissemination of everything related to human interactions and language for more than 15 years.
The new book tells the story of a little girl and boy named Elisa and Paolo struggling with regulating their emotions and managing their relationships with others. It is currently ranked No. 1 in the miscellaneous category and No. 9 of all the best-selling books this week in Italy.
Celebrating the achievement on Instagram with a lengthy heartfelt message to her 151,000 followers, Sednaoui said: “It’s an instant bestseller and it is thanks to you.
“The little girl I was, and I tell you about it in the book, deep down, she wasn’t sure she could really accomplish beautiful projects,” she added.
Despite having a successful and fruitful career in modeling and acting, she went on to explain that fashion and cinema had never brought her real satisfaction, and that her non-profit organization Funtasia had been the first project that had allowed her to, “feel the thrill of building something concrete.”
She said: “Like everyone else, I experienced professional disappointments and I am grateful for these experiences because they taught me what really matters in life. What matters is to be surrounded by people from whom you can learn and who love you for who you are inside.
“The joy of this achievement lies in the fact that it demonstrates to my children that it is possible for life to surprise you.”
Sednaoui shares two sons with her husband, British gallerist Alexander Dellal, whom she wed in 2014.
“The fact that you are buying the book, gifting it, that you write to us, that you are talking about it, well, is the greatest gift of this adventure,” she added.