Mendocino [Hardcover]

Judith Greber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 13, 1988

The small town lay in the rugged North Coast territory of California. Into a wilderness of beauty and refuge, Russian Nicolai Beriankov came with his Indian wife and children from Fort Ross. There, in 1844, he built a great redwood house where he bagan to carve out his dream and his destiny. It is the story of one family's survival across eight generations, through war, poverty, bitter hatred and scathing scandal.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Perhaps fearing that a novel spanning seven generations of ordinary folk who do "the work of the world" would not be enough to lure readers steeped in the antics of the rich and glitzy crowd, Greber (The Silent Partner) pours a contrived melting pot of bloodlines into one California family. Remaining in the Mendocino woods after his expedition leaves in 1842, a Russian trader builds an intricately decorated, rambling house for his family. Though beautiful, it is both prison and sanctuary to his American-Indian wife and the generations that follow. To dreamy, sensual Daisy, daughter of a Chinese "sing-song girl" rescued from a life of prostitution, the house is a ball and chain keeping her from an exciting outside world. To her offspringa half-Mexican son and a half-Irish daughterit's a place to first escape from, then return to, as their dreams and fortunes are crushed by World War I and the Depression. History weaves through these lives as a somewhat perfunctory backdrop, but their more personal stories speak of an America regrettably full of prejudice and persecution. Though Greber's characters embrace stereotypes, it's their freshness and pluck that will strike the reader most. Literary Guild alternate.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

From 1842 to 1973 seven generations of one family live and die in an ancestral home near the northern California city of Mendocino. They survive cholera, prostitution, racial prejudice, earthquakes, etc. Though the scenario is depressing, some interesting characters emerge, in particular the Russian patriarch and his half-Indian son, but just as their stories start to come alive new characters are introduced and the others are lost in the shuffle. Greber uses intermarriage to fuse these vignettes, but the device doesn't work. And as the house itself is isolated in the forest, so are its inhabitants, never really interacting with or being part of the community of Mendocino. Greber is a good writer, but this is just another saga. For large public libraries only. Lydia Burruel Johnson, Mesa P.L., Ariz.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 356 pages
• Publisher: Crown; 1st edition (February 13, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 051756761X
• ISBN-13: 978-0517567616
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,636,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mendocino, June 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mendocino (Hardcover)

This light and easy historical fiction was a pleasure to read. Based on my own visit and experiences in Mendocino, Calif., the historical facts are basically accurate. One can truly imagine the town as the story progresses through many generations of several families and their lives in the area. The novel is especially recommended for those visiting or planning to visit the wonderful town of Mendocino.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, historical novel, March 10, 2006

By 

Fletch from the West (No. CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mendocino (Paperback)

This is a fun historical novel in the Louis L'Amour style. The historical timelines and occurances are fairly accurate (sometimes a bit brutal) and the human interest is strong and the depth of relationships and thoughfulness is moving. I live in this area so it was especially fun for me.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too Depressing -- I Couldn't Finish It, September 25, 2006

By 

David H. Birley (Rock Hill, SC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mendocino (Paperback)

I very rarely start any novel -- even a really badly written one -- without reading it to the end. This is not a badly written novel -- in fact the writing style is very proficient. There is a ring of historical autenticity under the story line, and a breath of life in the characters. At least that is what I must say about Section 1, for that is all I read.

The book, or at least that segment of it is such a depressing downer -- especially the end of it, that there was absolutely nothing to draw me forward into the next one. I know that death and brutality are factors of true life, and were encountered by people of certain historical places and times. However reading about those experiences is not something that I would choose for "entertainment".

Unless you have a strong stomach, or a particular prurient interest in a sort of stretched out telling of man's inhumanity to man, and why America historically isn't really God's gift to humanity, you might do best to pass this one by.