Customer Reviews

Confinement

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Like most of Carrie Brown's work, this one radiates with beauty -- the beauty of language and of a great story. Where she has outdone herself is in the emotional effect of the novel. I frankly wasn't prepared to love this book, and indeed felt a little impatient in the first 1/2 chapter or so. But Brown masterfully interweaves not only the characters' lives and circumstances, but also all the different kinds and consequences of love and sacrifice. It's this trait that sets it apart.

There are no cheap thrills or manufactured emotions here... nothing contrived. Brown respects her readers, and it shows. Rather, this novel and its characters step quietly into the reader's life, as if they'd been waiting for our attention all along. They spin their wonderful story, and ask only for us to watch and listen. Believe me, it's enough.

Longing, loss and suffering are the themes of Confinement, a gorgeously written and emotionally charged novel by Carrie Brown. I couldn't put this book down. This is a beautiful story, which brims over with passion and symbolism, as Brown melodiously recounts the complex and tortured life of Arthur Henning, a rather cloistered and resolute Jewish man - a refugee from Nazi Austria - who, together with his young son Toby, starts a new life as a chauffeur in America at a country estate, the home of the Duvall family. As his life in America settles, he watches Toby grow up along side the Duvalls' daughter Aggie. When Aggie falls pregnant, Mr. Duvall orders Arthur to drive her to Breakabeen, a home for unwed mothers. Arthur is shocked at the way her parents treat Aggie and when he learns of their decision to put the baby up for adoption he wants to save Agatha. Consequently, he begins to fall in love with her.

The confinement of the title is the confinement of the soul, as Arthur, a lonely man who is hiding from his past, seems unable to reclaim his life. His relationship with Aggie, however, releases him from his emotional slumber. For Arthur, Aggie is also a victim of persecution and confinement. Someone has taken advantage of her - her kindness, her humour and the decency that stood in her character. And his desire for her "becomes a boulder" which he cannot see around. Twenty years of his life in America seems to him a "sorry, shabby thing" and although he has been forced to reinvent himself, his sudden attraction to Aggie makes him question the type of man he has become.

His first winter in America is a private epilogue to the war, "a final, quite chapter in which nothing has happened and every loss will be felt over again." He remembers his wife Anna, and their baby, killed in the London blitz. And he is haunted by images of his friend, pianist and surgeon Dr Ornstein, sitting in his coffee shop just before he was brutally assaulted by the SS. He's obsessed by these ghostly images from the past, living a cloistered life in the United States, while also lamenting his Jewish faith, which "drifts life a river without banks to guide it", forever extinguished in the face of war.

Brown is a gifted stylist, whose prose is meticulously whittled and surefooted. Her powers of description are formidable - Arthur wants his own past to be erased, "to shiver and break up like water fleeing through his fingers." Confinement is narrated in a generous, patient, and intelligent voice, and the author almost presents the subject matter from the perspective of an insider, clear eyed and without sentimentality. This is a fine novel, about a man who feels he has lost everything, and who stands empty handed, but who, in the end achieves redemption. Mike Leonard March 04

Arthur Henning comes to America after fleeing his native country, but loses his wife and baby daughter to the London Blitz. Nevertheless he remains hopeful, carrying his young son, Toby, and a battered suitcase to the United States, where it has been arranged for him to work as a driver for the wealthy Duvall's.

Arthur's inner struggles are complicated by a recurring memory, an event he witnessed at the hands of the Nazi storm troopers, the brutal beating of a surgeon as bystanders watch, helpless to intervene. A lingering remnant of a disturbing past that tortures his mind, Arthur can never forget the nightmare of being Jewish in Hitler's Germany.

Scarred before he ever sets foot in his new country, Arthur is hopeful, living a precise and guarded life devoid of complications, his spirit humbled by the loss of joy. The years pass and Toby grows up in his father's shadow, witnesses to the excesses of the Duvall's, a prosperity they will never enjoy. Agatha, the Duvall's daughter, a year younger than Toby, is frequently left in Arthur's care when her mother is indisposed.

When a dismayed Arthur is ordered to deliver a pregnant Aggie to a home for unwed mothers, the humble Arthur is stunned by the Duvall's curt dismissal of their daughter; he makes it his personal mission to keep track of the baby, a boy, given up for adoption. Then he loses track of the adoptive family, thrown once more into despair, especially when Toby leaves home without a word. Years later, while driving through a familiar neighborhood, Arthur sees the child again, an experience that marks a new beginning, an opening of Arthur's long-stifled heart. Through the abiding friendship of Agatha, Arthur finds his way back to contentment.

This is a story born of the loss of country and kin, the loss of a child and finally a grandchild. Bridging Hitler's Europe and the American dream as lived from the outside, looking in, Arthur eventually disentangles from the manacles of his own history, finding redemption in the unknowable future, one defined by a newly awakened personal freedom. What might have been an engaging novel, crumbles under the burden of weighty prose. The author's use of description is better than average, but consistently overwrought, making it difficult to separate one element from the story, or one time frame from another. All in all, this is an ambitious effort by the author of The Hatbox Baby, another novel that never quite reaches its potential. Luan Gaines/2005.

'confinement' is one of the best books i have read in many years. usually i shy away from refugee stories because they become horribly sentimental, but this is just a nice story about a displaced german tailor. the writing style is good, the characters are well developed, and the ending is complete and satisfying. it shows clearly how persons with solid character persevere. buy this and get a copy for a good friend.dgs

I picked this book up at a book sale with no foreknowledge about it. I think I read some of the reviews here on Amazon before investing in the reading time, though, and it was a worthwhile read.

The author does an applaudable job of painting a picture of someone's life, and depicting a condition many (if not most) of us find ourselves in at some point in our lives. That is, we see Arthur trapped in his longings for something more, and yet at the same time confined by his unwillingness to jeopardize what he already has. It is sometimes painful to experience Arthur's world, as he is perenially enfeebled by his inability to demonstrate any courage. However, this character is not so rare amongst us, and as mentioned earlier, we've probably all got a little Arthur in us. It's insightful to see how this character flaw takes away any power we might have to take our lives in a direction we'd really like to go in. Carrie Brown also does a nice job in developing the characters of the people surrounding Arthur's life.

I especially compliment Ms. Brown's ability to describe that feeling Arthur often has, that feeling of longing. So many times she describes Arhurs longing - for his son, who grows up and beyond his reach, and for Aggie - a woman much his junior for which he harbors a futile romantic love. I admired Ms. Brown's work in being able to desribe that powerlessness that we've all felt when longing for something we simply can not have; something Arthur carries with him throughout his life.

The overleaf on my copy of the book seems to tie the book's title to Aggie's stay at Breakabeen. From my point of view, "Confinement" is more aptly tied to Arthur's own condition of being paralyzed by his own emotional condition. It will be up to each reader to make their own call on that.

Perhaps the story moves a bit slowly at times, but it is just this kind of tale. Something that unwinds slowly, just as the lives of the characters develop, some more than others, during the years that unfold through this novel. Some people will certainly enjoy this book.

I bought this book on a whim and am so glad I did. I absolutely loved it. This was one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read.

Arthur Henning is a character that I think will stay with me for a long time. His loneliness is overwhelming. I believe his love for Aggie represents to him all that he once had before the war and her child represents all that he lost since.

I thought the way Brown kept going back to the Dr. Ornstein character was quite compelling. That was what seemed to be the single most life altering moment for Arthur. The loss of his wife and daughter, Toby leaving, his unrequited love for Aggie - these were almost inevitable for Arthur based on what happened to Dr. Ornstein. Brown's ability to go from the present to the past all in the same paragraph was excellent and did not detract from the story in any way. Her portrayal of the Duvall's and Mrs. MacCauley were excellent, although I would have liked to know more about what made the Duvall's the way they were. Still, this is a wonderful book that I highly recommend. I look forward to reading Ms. Browns other books.

In 1939 Jewish tailor Arthur Henning accompanied by his wife, their son and their infant daughter barely escapes the Nazi invasion of his hometown of Vienna. He relocates in London, but ironically tragedy occurs about a year later when his spouse and daughter die during a Nazi air assault.

In 1946 Arthur and his son Toby immigrate to the United States. In the New York City suburbs, he becomes a chauffeur to wealthy banker Mr. Duvall and his wife. However, Toby impregnates the Duval daughter Aggie, who refuses to reveal the identity of the father to her parents. Having no say, Aggie is sent to Mrs. MacCauley's house for unwed mothers. When the child is born, the baby is given away for adoption. Over the years the five participants increasingly feel betrayed by their loved ones.

This character driven historical tale uses flashbacks to provide insight into war years and the beginning of the boomer era. The story line is cleverly designed so that the audience knows how the key quintet feels especially Arthur who believes that life is one big tragedy. Though quite dark in outlook fans of deep pessimistic mid twentieth century stories will want to be confined with Carrie Brown's gloomy tale.

Harriet Klausner

Carrie Brown is surely one of the most gifted writers working today. Her prose is luminous, tugging on heartstrings, brilliantly evoking a place. Her first novel, Rose's Garden, stands alone, reflecting Ms. Brown's empathy for and understanding of her characters. Lamb In Love fulfilled the promise found in her initial offering.

With Confinement the author has lost none of her deft pen, her delicately painted scenes, yet for this reader the story was so lugubrious, ponderous that one was oft tempted to put it aside. This effect may well have been brought about by the time protagonist Arthur Henning spends in rumination.

In a nutshell, it is his story. With the aid of friends Arthur and his young son, Toby, have come to the country estate of a New York banker. He is a refugee, driven from his Vienna home by the Nazis and now a widower, having lost his wife, Anna, and infant daughter in a London bombing.

All of this is more than Arthur can accept or comprehend. It was Anna he tells us who had faith and could speak properly to God. As for him, "He could only speak to God as he would speak to anyone, and he did not know, now, whether even Anna would have been able to pray to a God who could fail to rise up against such evil as the world had seen." This paradox haunts him constantly.

Further, in Vienna he was a tailor; here he is a chauffeur. Yet, he has found refuge because there is a cottage for him and Toby, and conviviality with the other servants. Thus, for a decade, Arthur remains somewhat at ease, taking pleasure in watching Toby and the family's daughter, Agatha, grow.

But, at last, his stillness is interrupted when he's ordered to drive Agatha to a home for unwed mothers where she is to have her baby and give it up for adoption. Once again, for Arthur, the incomprehensible is taking place, and it is enough to make him see what his life has become and what might be done.

The denouement? A heartbreaking one that could only flow from the pen of Carrie Brown.

- Gail Cooke

This is a story about an Austrian Jew, forced to flee the country with his family in 1939. He first goes to England where his wife and one of his children are killed in a bombing raid, then comes to America with his other child where he is taken in as a chauffeur by a wealthy businessman in upstate New York. The story begins and primarily takes place after his arrival in America, and concerns his relationship with this family, their daughter, their other servants, and his own son. It is a troubled family, and he is a troubled man.

It is tough to be critical of this novel. The author is clearly intelligent and occasionally her prose shows flashes of brilliance, but taken as a whole, the novel is, quite simply, not significant. The holocaust survivor story is certainly a worthy subject, but it's been done literally hundreds of times, and in many cases by truly great authors. In this case, there is just not enough to make it worthwhile. The characters are not deep, their experiences in America and Austria are not terribly compelling or original, and the setting is mundane. The plot? Well, less than half way through it veers into a fifties' American melodrama, with an unwanted pregnancy, a runaway teenager, and a heartless Dad. One can't help but wonder whether the holocaust survivor thing was simply a device to make this other stuff seem more important.

But it does try, it tries so hard, and is sometimes very good. Here for example, is the protagonist's physical description of his deceased wife, with her, "consoling imperfections, the sprinkling of raised moles across her shoulders, the surprise exposure of gum above her top teeth when she laughed, the asterisks of broken blood vessels at the backs of her knees." This is excellent, vivid imagery. But at the same time, there is too much of this which is extraneous, adds nothing, and becomes a drag on the narrative. Here is the protagonist pulling his car in front of the home in which he believes his grandson resides: "Arthur stopped the car and turned off the ignition. He stared ahead down the empty lane ahead of him. A fence ran along the one side, its posts capped with snow. A bird alighted on one, scattering snow, and then lifted off again and flew away." Beyond stopping the car and turning off the ignition, is any of the rest of that necessary? The novel is loaded with this kind of junk.

There is also a continuity problem in that the scene is shuffled constantly like a deck of cards. Having it move from Austria to America and back again is one thing, but when a chapter starts with Arthur visiting Aggie (his mentor's daughter), during her third week at the Unwed Mother's Home, then shifts within several pages to his visit to her in the first week, then shifts again to a conversation he had with his son at some recent point in time, then shifts once more to a conversation during his son's childhood, it becomes very difficult for one to keep track. When the narrative finally gets back to the third week visit, one wonders if that in fact is where it started.

These issues are problematic but the novel could have potentially overcome them had it had a memorable or complex protagonist at its center. Yes, Arthur is a good man, filled with remorse and longing and haunted by his past, but what motivates him? Is it his love for Aggie which "confines" him to this place? Apparently so, but why? Why is this man, this relationship, special? And no, simply escaping from the Holocaust isn't enough. One finds oneself yearning for a Pnin, a Sophie, a Joe Kavalier even, to give us the emotional attachment this theme requires.

Arthur is haunted by a Dr. Ornstein, a Viennese surgeon whose savage beating at the hands of the Nazis he witnessed in 1939. Bits and pieces of this are fed to us on dozens of occasions throughout the novel. Arthur speaks to Ornstein. He sees Ornstein watching his actions. Yet, towards the novel's end, when it is finally time to describe in detail this life-altering moment, the scene is unbelievably brief. Ornstein's hands are broken. He bleeds. He is carried back into the café. That's it? Of course, it's awful, but after alluding to this event for 350 pages, one expects much, much more. It is not a haunting or even very memorable scene. Instead, it is only disappointing.

Much like the novel as a whole. Intelligent to be sure, and a noble effort, but in the end it is merely a wordy and overindulgent melodrama.

THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE BOOK. That's all I have to say. It has changed my life.