by Geraldine Brooks
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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. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
See all Editorial Reviews
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. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
See all Editorial Reviews
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