Auslander [Hardcover]

Mary Powell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

To the German-American inhabitants of Schoenberg, a town in the Texas hill country, an "auslander" is "someone who comes from a different region and either doesn't understand or won't bend to the local ways." Vera Jahn, one of four women who narrate alternating chapters in this remarkably confident and powerful first novel, also observes that "being a woman makes you an auslander. You're always having to earn your citizenship in a place where men, white men to be specific, decide what's important." From 1967 through 1987, the propertied Jahn family see such established rules challenged and their love of the land tested, as they try to balance commitment and freedom, stability and change. Representative of a new and different way of life is Carol Anne, a "city girl" seeking roots, who marries young Fritz Jahn and then finds him undemonstrative and patriarchal. Like her mother and fellow narrator, Sheila, flirtatious Carol Anne craves excitement and initially shirks responsibility, briefly deserting her family in an unsuccessful attempt to become a singer like her mother. Fritz's cousin, serious, level-headed Vera Jahn, resembles Carol Anne in her love of independence. Vera, raised by her maternal uncle, Benno, and his wife, Queenie, alongside Fritz, returns from pursuing an education in German language and literature to settle on Jahn land. She cherishes her single status, despite the guilt-ridden mutual attraction between herself and the maritally unhappy Fritz. Underneath the storm and stress of everyday life (including questionable land deals and troubled relationships) runs Queenie's narrative, her voice one of quiet strength as she tells of the past, of hardship and acceptance. Joys and tragedies unite the Jahns and the community, yet conflicts (Carol Anne's dissatisfaction, Vera's loneliness) remain unsolved at the book's conclusion, mirroring the evolving relationship between the people and the land. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Powell tells the gentle story of two decades (roughly 1967 to 1987) in the life of the Jahn family in Texas' river country. The tale is told in the voices of four very different women. Queenie Jahn, the matriarch, is steeped in the rich German tradition of the nineteenth-century settlers of this unforgiving land. Her niece, Vera, the prim historian, breaks free just long enough to establish her independence by earning academic bona fides and then returns to the bosom of the family, especially her one true love, her cousin Fritz. Carol Anne is an "auslander," literally an outlander, who marries Fritz. Sheila, Carol Anne's itinerant musician mother, is the most outlandish auslander. She has instilled in her daughter a wild spirit and an unwillingness to settle, character traits that won't reconcile easily with the stolid, self-denying Germans. Two floods, each of which has tragic repercussions, frame this lovingly crafted story. George Needham

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Texas Christian University Press (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875652158
• ISBN-13: 978-0875652153
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,967,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars CAN'T PUT IT DOWN, June 17, 2000

By 

Carolyn Fuller - See all my reviews

This review is from: Auslander (Hardcover)

I picked up this book one afternoon at a book store and couldn't put it down until I had finished it that night. Coming from a German background myself, I found Auslander extremely spellbinding. You don't, however, need to be German to feel the sense of family and understand the changes that a family goes through with each new generation. The fact that Mary Powell told her story through the voices of her characters made the reader feel as if she were reading diary entries of the four women in the book. It made the book more personal and insightful. If I had to compare Powell's style to a modern novelist, I would say she's right up there with Barbara Kingsolver.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ausländer, August 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Auslander (Hardcover)

While I loved the story this book told, I found the many errors in the German very distracting (the German word is "Ausländer," not "Auslander.") I grew up in Austin, and knew there were Germans in Texas, although I am not one of them. It was apparent that the author has never seen German written, and evidently the publishing company did not see fit to hire an editor who had. At first I thought that she was trying to represent possible linguistic shifts in Texas German, but since one of the main characters was a student of German Language and Literature, it was not believable for her to be unable to spell in German, and this was not the only problem she displayed with the German language.

I did love the character development, and I hope Powell continues to write; she is obviously quite talented. She had good insights into the complexity of the female role in society.