Romance Language [Paperback]

Alan Elsner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2009

Part love story, part historical drama, part coming-of-age novel, Romance Language begins in 2007 as 17-year-old Petra runs off from college and shows up in far-away Romania on a quest to find the father she's never known and to uncover the tumultuous events that led to her birth. The story also flashes back to 1989 when Petra's mother, a magazine writer, is assigned to write an expose of Europe's most brutal communist regime.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alan Elsner has worked as a correspondent and editor for Reuters News Service for 30 years. His first book, Gates of Injustice, was praised by Sen. Edward Kennedy. His first novel, The Nazi Hunter, was recommended by Library Journal and Publisher's Weekly.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Merpoint Publishing, LLC; 1st Edition edition (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916620905
• ISBN-13: 978-0916620905
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,112,338 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been a journalist for 32 years, having lived in Israel, Britain, Sweden, Romania and the United States. I've flown with the Secretary of State and on Air Force One, gone jogging with George W. Bush, witnessed wars, terrorism and natural disasters.
I helped build a memorial in a Nazi extermination camp, helped expose the Rwandan genocide and wrote a Holocaust memoir.
I love literature, movies and music. I like to hear from fellow readers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb ..., December 27, 2009

By 

Susan Sloate "Author, FORWARD TO CAMELOT" (Mount Pleasant, SC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Romance Language (Paperback)

Alan Elsner's ROMANCE LANGUAGE reminded me very much of DOCTOR ZHIVAGO ... a passionate love story between two totally unlike lovers at a unique and violent time in history. But there the comparison ends, as ROMANCE LANGUAGE is simply a beautiful book, direct, spare and impossible to put down, whereas I found Pasternak's masterpiece to be hard going.

Elsner knows his subject from having actually experienced Roumania firsthand, and it shows in the tiny and lovely details he covers, in the characters of his American women, Liz and Petra, and the wonderful character of Stephan (whom I will candidly admit I found the most compelling character in the book -- the ultimate romantic hero battling both forbidden love and the system in which he lives). His professional background as a writer and editor is a gift to his readers, as he sketches scenes and characters swiftly and memorably, with each scene building on the previous one and every relationship being fully delineated.

There are few works of literature that one can truly consider unflawed, but ROMANCE LANGUAGE seems like one that has it all: Three-dimensional characters, a solid grounding in the historical background, a feeling of poetry in the prose, a pace that won't let you quit reading and a love story we live right along with the lovers. I give it my highest recommendation and urge all readers of similar books to put it high on their to-do list, right now.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very enjoyable quick read, January 2, 2010

By 

L. Mcgrew (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Romance Language (Paperback)

Because I am in two book clubs I have read more than the average person. Some books start out promising and then lose steam well before the end and it is a slog to get through them. Others never manage to grab me at all from the get go. This novel suffers from neither of these problems, as it is an enjoyable read from beginning to end. The author is articulate with a sense of humor and a clear understanding of some of the more subtle aspects of feelings and relationships. He also obviously is familiar with both modern Romania and the Romania of the late eighties. I enjoyed his use of letters and emails between the mother and the daughter in addition to his clear mastery of dialogue. I would actually give the book 4.5 stars if I could because I wanted to see a bit more in-depth and extended descriptions of the setting and the people (the author made it obvious that he was capable of this multiple times during the novel but I would have preferred to see more) and because the character of Tom was never fully developed. But these are minor distractions and overall, the novel is highly recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, May 18, 2010

By 

A. R. Gresh (Martinsburg, WV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Romance Language (Paperback)

I am so glad that I had the opportunity to read Alan Eisner's "Romance Language". I have been reading my whole life and since 1991, I have read over 500 books. This is definitely a favorite. It drew me in from the very first page and I could not put it down; I read it in one day. I am not a history buff but because of the way in which the story was written, blending a historical background with a beautiful love story, I would recommend this book as a "must read". This story is still on my mind and the good feeling will remain with me for a long time.