The German Bride

by Joanna Hershon

Book Overview

Berl?n, 1861. Eva Frank, una jud?a de diecis?is a?os de edad, se hace un retrato pintado, lo que conduce a una indiscreci?n que trae consecuencias devastadoras. Desesperada por escapar de una... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345468465
• ISBN13: 9780345468468
• Release Date: March 2009
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 2.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

The TRULY Wild West

In Hershon's third novel, THE GERMAN BRIDE-- (I have read them all and enjoyed them immensely)-- she takes on new historical narrative territory, moving from a sensual romance in Germany to the truly Wild West of early (barely settled) Santa Fe-- the depiction of action here is visceral, as real as any I've read-- it made me feel the grit under my fingernails, made me sympathize with Eva's displacement, and her longing for her earlier life, while she takes on all the difficulties that come her way, including her problematic husband. Even today, women will feel great empathy for this character, "Eva," and look forward to what Joanna Hershon might write next!

Outstanding novel

As a resident of Santa Fe, I was eager to read this novel. I have taken a course in Jewish Santa Fe and the merchant families who had settled here in the mid-1800's, and had grown along with the community. These merchants had prospered by trading with the native peoples AND by securing Army contracts. Many of the men in these merchant families had gone back to Germany for brides and had brought them to this new, wild land. As the century turned from 19th to 20th, many of these families moved Back East to a more cultured life than the wild west of Santa Fe could offer. I expected Hershon to write the "conventional" story, that of young German bride, brought to Santa Fe and prospering along with her husband. Instead, she writes of a misalliance, a marriage between a young woman and a profligate man, who gambled, drank, and caroused both his own money and that of his brother, with whom he worked. This is quite a story she writes; earning easily the five stars it's been awarded so far by all the reviewers.

Extraordinary

The story of a young Jewish woman from a wealthy family in Germany who falls in love with a painter. Their match will never be accepted, but they continue to secretly see each other, leading to a ill-fated tragedy. Punishing herself, the young woman quickly marries a man who claims to be making a great fortune in America. However she finds he has a lot of secrets and eventually she is forced to make a life for herself free of him and free of blame.

I loved this book

I loved this book! Joanna Hersshon does a marvelous job of describing the Western landscape as well as the Jewish experience in America during the 1860s. It's amazing that no one has covered the subject before a novel. Her descriptions of the Southwest are amazing as well as her character development. I highly recommend "The German Bride"

Lyrical, engrossing and entirely original...

In The German Bride, Joanna Hershon proves once more that she's one of the most unique and compelling voices in literature today--as well as one of the most daring. Her third and most accomplished novel not only explores surprising territory--the lives of German-Jewish merchants in post Civil War Santa Fe--but does it with trademark Hershon grace, elegance, and the perfect touch of spine-tingling surrealism. I found Eva Frank's unlikely journey in turns touching, illuminating, humorous and--in the end--all but impossible to put down, and the colorful (and well-researched) cast of characters that surround her--heavy-stakes gamblers, stiff-lipped French nuns, sharpshooting brothel madams, and of course the fellow Jews with whom Eva shares her Passover meals) make every chapter a discovery. I can't recommend this book highly enough!