Customer Reviews

Mrs. Hornstien

5 star:		(7)
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This should be mandatory reading material for young women! A very short book packed with precious insight. The advice contained in this book is millions of times worth its price. Absolutely wonderful. I rushed to the store and bought an extra copy for my sister. I could write 50 more sentences and still not be able to convey the tremendous impression this book has made on me. Enjoyable from page one, funny and touching and dynamic (i love the way some of the characters speak, all in CAPS). Buy it and keep it on your nightstand forever!

A deeply gratifying contemporary fable about family and the passing of the torch from one generation to the next. The eponymous Mrs. Hornstien is an unforgetable "everywoman" whose roughhewn nobility shines through on every page. Wagman writes in spare but intense and achingly beautiful prose that conveys more truths about the human heart and human longing and stubbornness in the face of adversity than any book in recent memory. Mrs. Hornstien is an uncommon, genuine work of literature that also speaks in an insistent and always compelling voice about our common humanity. A small gem, and a perfect Mother's Day gift as well

A satisfying, circular tale of a woman's journey from naive seventeen-year-old fiancee into a family matriarch. The tale opens with Marty, a Russian Jew who lives in Philadelphia in the not-so-distant past, being introduced to her future mother-in-law. Marty is overwhelmed and intimidated by the grandeur surrounding Mrs. Hornstien and the Hornstien lifestyle. Mrs. Hornstien, called the "Boss Lady" (who is always right), by her son, comes to have a close relationship with Marty, who plays the dutiful daughter-in-law. It is only years after Mrs. Hornstien's death, when Marty's son brings his fiancee to meet her, that Marty realizes that life has come full circle. In this realization is the poignant lesson that Mrs. Hornstien for all her melodramatics and bluster had much to teach, and that life is all too fleeting. A satisfying novella that explores the transition of one woman from Marty Fish to Mrs. Hornstien

Packed in this little novella is a lot of powerful advice. If you have ever wondered what a great mother-in-law / daughter-in-law relationship is like, wonder no more. Watch it develop on each page. If only we were blessed with hindsight first!

Some people say you have to be a woman to appreciate this book. Wrong. Some say it another "Bridges". Wrong. It's a book that explains family, marriage and relationships in a novel, amusing, heartfelt way that you've never seen before. Well...in a way that hasn't been explained before. We know the book is destined for greatness. But, the question we have to ask is, Ms. Wagman...what do we have to look forward to in the future

In 117 pages Wagman packs a powerful story any mother will recognize parts of herself

I just found this book in the library with no knowledge of the author or title and I slowly fell in love with it. I read it in one day and started it all over again when I'd finished. I thought it would be light reading but turned out to contain wisdom and depth and then brought me to tears (no, I'm not a whimpy baby either). Now I'm searching the web for info about the author to tell her I lived in that world with Marty and felt her feelings. I didn't read about her I was there with her! Thank you for writing such an honest book Fredrica Wagman.