Customer Reviews

Keeping Hannah Waiting

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Have you ever read a book and thought how great the movie of it would be? This is one of those stories! "Keeping Hannah Waiting" is a beautiful and compelling story by Dave Clarke, a veteran author and child of two Holocaust survivors. This is a classic romance wrapped in a mystery and knitted together by art, history, and Holocaust.

A working class bakery employee named Kate inherits an attic full of books from her mother. One of the books, titled "Die Zulassung, 1940" contains a real surprise - a breathtaking painting of a young woman lying in a field of lavender. Only after she sells the painting for $50 million does she find that the painting was stolen by the Nazis from its rightful owner. Unable to get the painting back, Kate wants to give the money from its sale to the original owner - if she can find that person. Solving the mystery of who is the painting's rightful owner takes Kate on a journey of the most interesting kind, one that runs right through the heart.

The story jumps back in time to Russia in 1910 to tell the how the painting was created. The romance between an artist and the beauty that eventually becomes his model is a familiar one. If you liked "Titanic", then you will definitely like "Keeping Hannah Waiting."

This story reaches across Time and embraces it with both hands. It is rich with culture and the characters are real enough to jump right off the page. Its scant 267 pages is simply not enough to tell a story this big. This shortness really hurts in two ways. The description of the end of the romance between the model and the artist occurs in just two pages. If that part of the story had been written as tenderly and compellingly as the rest of this really good book, then it would have been great. The story of how the Nazis steal the painting happens in just a few pages as well leaving the reader with a sense of "what might have been" rather than the "wow" that is the rest of this book.

"Keeping Hannah Waiting" is good and definitely worth every minute of the read. Another fifty pages would have made this great. I hope the author adds those missing pages at some point in the future. The quality of the writing and the powerful elements of the story make this a pleasure to read.

"Keeping Hannah Waiting"

By Dave Clarke

Author Dave Clarke spins a fascinating tale of a grieving daughter's accidental discovery of a previously unknown and fabulously valuable Chagall painting, found among the huge collection of old books left by the young woman's recently deceased mother.

More interesting than the fairy-tale-like inheritance of riches is the story that unfolds after young Kate McBride, a bakery worker, receives the proceeds of the painting's sale. The story is driven by Kate's strong ethics, her determination to do the right thing and her natural empathy for those in need. The money takes Kate to Europe where the chance viewing of a photograph at Dachau turns her life in a new direction--the search for Hannah Kessler Stern, believed to be a survivor of the Holocaust. Kate's seriousness is nicely offset by the facetiousness of best bud Connie Perez. All of Clarke's characters are highly believable, and his use of authentic dialect is compelling.

The reader is transported back to pre-World War II Europe, when young Marc Chagall, an aspiring Russian painter from a large Jewish family, met and fell in love with eighteen-year-old Hannah Kessler, daughter of a Jewish insurance mogul who intends for his daughter to marry the son of his business associate and carry on the family business. Their tender story stands in stark contrast to the horror set in motion by the rise of Adolph Hitler and his ethnic purging.

Clarke has put human faces on history, and has highlighted, not only the terror of Nazism, but also the unresolved injustices that remain today, decades after the murders and destruction of families in the concentration camps and the wholesale looting of art and other valuables by Nazis. He has done it so artfully that I was pulled headlong into the story. The harshness of war's ugliness and injustice were gently offset by the beauty of his description and the joyful freshness of the love story. The reader, however, will remember it all.

Clarke is to be commended for his treatment of this topic, and for directing profits from his book to the Survivor Mitzvah Project, begun as a 100% charity to support aging Holocaust survivors in need around the world. ( Visit their web site, http://www.survivormitzvah.org/.)

Reviewed by Persis Granger, author of "Adirondack Gold," "Adirondack Gold II: A Summer of Strangers" and coauthor/editor, "Shared Stories from Daughters of Alzheimer's: Writing a Path to Peace." Granger also hosts writers' retreats in NY and FL. See www.PersisGranger.com

"Keeping Hannah Waiting" is one of those rare gems that manages to take a topic whose scale seems too large for any one person to fully comprehend--the echoing repercussions of the Holocaust across the last six decades--and, by telescoping in on just a few ordinary lives, gives the reader a perspective that is at once all-encompassing and microscopic. More important, it's a perspective anyone can understand and take to heart.

By artfully adapting an age-old premise (poor boy meets rich girl and the ensuing impediments to true love--think "Pride and Prejudice" to the mega-box office hit "Titanic," a formula which suits this topic well), Clarke takes a tale otherwise too depressing for most to endure, and instead creates an enchanting love story between a young, idealistic Marc Chagall and the woman who touches his soul, all while infusing the book with well-researched cultural tidbits and the historic and contemporary challenges that remain to be resolved.

With well-rounded characters, a fast-paced plot, and an easy, descriptive style, Clarke pulls readers headfirst into his story from the get-go. It's hard to put 'Hannah' down once you pick it up

Like the celebrated artist at the heart of his story, Clarke deftly paints a vibrant, colorful picture of life in eastern Europe at the turn of the twentieth century and of the risks and all-too-real consequences when prejudice and intolerance are allowed to fester in society unchecked.

This one is worth your time (which will fly by as you're drawn into the story) and, with proceeds from the book benefiting aging Holocaust survivors in need around the world, you'll help warm someone's heart the way this book will warm yours.

Kate McBride has an experience that most of us can only dream of. When going through her mother's possessions after she passes away, Kate finds a painting rolled up in a nondescript book. The painting is a never-before-seen work by Marc Chagall and she gives it the simple name "Girl With Flowers." After an exhaustive investigation, art experts determine that it is authentic and there is no record of previous ownership. It is sold at auction for fifty million dollars, so Kate is suddenly a very wealthy woman.

When Kate and her friend Connie take a trip to Europe, as an unplanned side trip they end up at the Holocaust memorial in Dachau. While looking through some old pictures commemorating the lives of the people who passed through there, Kate sees the painting in a photo. This begins an extensive search through the fragmentary records and leads Kate to an elderly woman in a nursing home. Her name is Hannah and she has little to no mental function. The only phrase Hannah has uttered in decades is "You keep it dear", so when Kate explains the situation about the painting, that is what she hears.

The story then flashes back to the story of artist Marc Chagall, his origins in Tsarist Russia and his fierce desire to paint or die. In 1910, Marc gets on board a train on his way to Paris and he encounters Hannah Kessler, the daughter of a wealthy Jewish insurance magnate named Jacob. It is at this point where the story mimics the love story in the movie "Titanic." Some of the points of similarity are:

*) Hannah is to be the wife in an arranged marriage to a wealthy man in order to preserve and protect the family wealth. This is a marriage that Hannah dreads.

*) Hannah goes to the caboose of the train and is pondering throwing herself off to her death. Marc encounters her and when the train unexpectedly lurches, Marc grabs her and pulls her to safety. When Jacob arrives shortly after with his entourage, Marc and Hannah have to be fast on their feet in explaining the situation.

*) Hannah sneaks off with Marc to a dance in Prague where Hannah steals the show with her moves.

*) Hannah sneaks Marc back to an art studio in her home and has Marc paint a nude picture of her.

Eventually, Marc goes on to Paris and Hannah stays in Prague even though they both deeply love each other.

When Jacob is accidentally killed in a pogrom, Hannah takes over the business and gets married to another man. The story then follows her life through the interwar years, the roundup of her family by the Germans, the struggle in the death camps and her eventual death. For the woman that Kate spoke to in the nursing home is Hannah's daughter, who managed to survive the camps. The story closes with Kate discovering that the former owner of a garment factory that employed Hannah's daughter is a former camp commandant who was in charge of a record book. In fact, it is the very record book that details the confiscation of Hannah's possessions. After Kate's extensive and unsuccessful effort to give the painting back to the rightful owner, she finds a way to put the money from the sale to good use in a way that would have pleased Hannah.

With over six million people perishing in the Holocaust, there are many interesting and unique stories that could be told. Using many historically accurate details, Clarke weaves a tale of sadness and triumph, where Kate manages to do the right thing in the aftermath of so many wrongs. It is unfortunate that the author chose to mimic the storyline of the move "Titanic" as much as he did. In my opinion, it detracted from what could have been a better story.

This incredible story brought tears to my eyes many times. I love how Clarke has woven the storylines of the present day together with the tragedies surrounding WW2. I have always been drawn to stories about Holocaust survivors because I believe it is history we must NOT forget. I loved Clarke's writing style because it was so wonderfully descriptive. The story completely engaged my heart and mind. Clarke created characters that I thoroughly enjoyed reading about. I really adored this story.

I would highly recommend this book to everyone.

Kate McBride finds a beautiful painting while sorting through her mother's books. Hidden in some sort of logbook, the painting went undiscovered for many years. Unsure about what to do with such a treasure, Kate tries hard to find the owner. Eventually the painting goes to auction and is sold for fifty million dollars. Kate uses the money to quit her job and travel to Europe. While in Europe, Kate finds the face in the painting. She decides to search for the woman in the painting to give her the money. Along the way, Kate learns the story of a Jewish girl named Hannah and the unknown painter Marc Chagall. Their love becomes torn apart in the war, along with all of Hannah's family.

Keeping Hannah Waiting is a story of one woman's quest. Kate becomes rich but wants to give the money back to the person who really deserves it. In her quest, she learns about herself. She also learns more about Hannah and a painter who later became very famous, a Marc Chagall. Kate learns a lot about the horrors of the Holocaust and how it ripped families apart. Dave Clarke understands the pain of the survivors and writes realistically about the Holocaust.

Clarke's novel is several stories together. It is the story of Kate. Clarke writes of a love between Hannah and Marc. It is also the story of the Holocaust. He weaved the stories together well. Readers will be drawn into each piece. They will experience the horrors of the Holocaust and how people tried to live normally after such an experience. I kept reading, wondering about the ending. Will Marc and Hannah get another chance? Will Hannah get the money? Will Kate find happiness? The ending ties the novel up well. Readers will not be disappointed after reading this book.