Customer Reviews

The Golden Willow: The Story of a Lifetime of Love

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the third book that Harry Bernstein has written about his life. The first one was absolutely the kind of book you just can't put down, as he told of his early life in England before the first world war. It was so evocative of a time and place that is truly alien to us today.

His second book told the story of his family immigrating to the USA. And it was also fascinating. What grit they had to endure. And what a different kind of life Harry ended up creating for himself, his wife, and children, than he had in England. In the second book is a beautiful photograph of his wife staring up at Harry. I was struck by the expression of love on her face. You could see that this was an exceptional wife who clearly adored her husband, even after many years.

Now, in this third book, Golden Willow, we get two stories twined together: The story of Ruby and Harry's long love and marriage, and the story of how Harry came to write these three books as he dealt with the grief of losing Ruby. What a moving story. Not only is it interesting as biography, and for the story itself, but it is written in a lovely prose. How I wish all of his other books that went unpublished over the years could now be published.

Harry Bernstein is a great writer, and Golden Willow is a truly fine book.

IF YOU HAVE READ THE FIRST TWO BOOKS BY MR. BERNSTEIN THEN YOU WILL WANT TO READ THIS BOOK AS WELL. THIS BOOK PUTS A VERY NICE ENDING ON THE SERIES HE HAS BEGUN. THE GOLDEN WILLOW SHOWS YOU JUST HOW MUCH LOVE CAN EXIST BETWEEN TWO INDIVIDUALS.

I am a huge fan of Harry's, falling in immediate love with his first novel telling the tale of his childhood and continuing that love with his second novel about coming to America. In the final and third novel about his life, Harry turns to telling the beautiful story about his relationship with his wife. While this final story in the series of Harry's life is in my opinion the most beautiful, it does lack a bit from the previous stories in the fact that it isn't quite as gripping of a story and his retelling doesn't quite put you there like the previous two stories did. However, it is still a wonderful love story that I hope will live on long after Harry is gone and one that not just his grandchildren will aspire to have one like. I wish I had known Ruby, she seems like she was a wonderful lady. It makes my heart happy to know that there really are "happily ever afters" like this.

After reading Mr. Bernstein's two previous books, I was anxious and excited to enter into his world once more and read about the love of his life, Ruby. I was not disappointed. This love story gives hope to all of us in this day and age of divorce. Yes, there is eternal love. While this book is not as gripping as his other two, it is a beautiful love story and a perfect "ending." My only regret is that that Mr. Bernstein did not publish more of his stories to share with us, but I am so happy that he gave us three books to cherish and share for years to come.

A wonderful continuation of Harry's life stories, this book is a loving tribute to Ruby, the love of his life. Very inspiring and a quick read!

HARRY BERNSTEIN IS MY HERO. This third book written in his late 90's is a tribute to his darling wife, a woman of infinite patience and understanding, and it is all about his yearning to be a writer. This book, The Golden Willow, proves it is never too late!

After reading and thoroughly enjoying Mr. Berstein's previous 2 books, "The Invisible Wall" and "The Dream", I couldn't wait to read "The Golden Willow". I was so looking forward to it being interesting and captivating, and it didn't disappoint. A book that I couldn't put down and was sorry when I finished reading it.
I would definitely recommend this book. You can actually "feel" the love and devotion of Mr. Bernstein and his wife, Ruby for each other.

I loved Harry's first book, really liked his second book, but found the third book kind of like old news. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not sorry I read it, but I just didn't love it like the first two. Either way I'm thrilled that the author was able to tell his story at such an advanced age. I was surprised though that two historical errors weren't caught by the editor. In one of the last chapters in the book the author describes the turbulent 60's and mentions that Robert Kennedy was shot in a restaurant in San Francisco. He was shot walking through the kitchen at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. I just can't understand how that rather large fact was not corrected. The other mistake was that the shooter who killed Martin Luther King was not hiding in the bushes when he shot MLK on his hotel balcony. The killer was actually across the street from the hotel in his boarding house bathroom and shot MLK from the bathroom window. I agree that may be a lesser known fact, but still very surprised on the Kennedy fact.

Regardless, still an enjoyable book and a nice way to end the series.

This is the third of Harry Bernstein's memoirs. It was not as compelling as the first two, however I am glad I read it. It gives a proper end to Harry's life with his wife Ruby. I was disappointed that he didn't go into more detail about his children and grandchildren. The focus of this book is instead about his memories and last days spent with Ruby.

Couldn't get enough of this family's story, loved the first two books in this series. However, I have reservations about this, the third book. Lengthy sections from the first two books were frequently repeated. I wasn't crazy about the format where the time periods were alternated. The flow seemed illogical in terms of where each time period was divided into chapters. Unlike the first two books, I question the authenticity of his writing, especially the section on Paul Robeson; the background info and quoted dialogue is easily found in general references. In hindsight, I wish I had stopped after the second book.