Tapestry

From Publishers Weekly
Readers who have not previously met the Werners and Roths in The Golden Cup and Evergreen will sense something missing when they begin this continuing saga about these tightly knit, aristocratic German-Jewish families. This book contains multiple allusions to past events, yet the first-time reader can still become immediately involved in the narrative, thanks to Plain's adroit blending of complex personalities with a panoramic view of world events. The novel covers the early '20s until the end of World War II. Paterfamilias is Paul Werner, a high-minded banker, a dedicated philanthropist and a reluctant adulterer. His genteel wife Marion, unable to bear children, coolly retreats to her private circle of charitable events and card parties. Although Paul still broods over his first love, Anna, he turns to his exuberant cousin Leah, a flourishing business woman, for a brief, happy affair. It is at a large family gathering that long pent-up emotions explode, and past tragedies, infidelities and hostilities emerge with destructive force. Although there is a historical inevitability to the events viewed here (the 1920 "Red scare"; Prohibition; the stock market crash; the rise of Hitler) the characters are never predictable. They act with passion and conviction, and their many vicissitudes will not disappoint Plain's fans. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selections. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Paul Werner, the key figure of a powerful New York banking family, is the protagonist in this saga of one man's concerns with the impending doom of World War II and the plight of his German-Jewish relatives and friends. Paul is caught in a passionless, childless marriage, and he struggles for years with the memory and reality of his first love and subsequent affairs of the heart. All of the characters are fleshed out, and the storyline is rich in historical perspective, attention to detail, and resolution of plot. Another sweeping family saga by a master. For most fiction collections. Literary Guild dual main selection; Doubleday main selection. Virginia A. Doser, Saddleback Coll. Lib., Mission Viejo, Cal.Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
"Belva Plain is a talented tale-spinner with almost  Dickensian ability to keep her stories going."  -- The Philadelphia Inquirer.  

"A powerful novel... another winner... Ms. Plain  weaves her story like a master craftsman entwining  the colorful threads of each character's life  embroidered with the golden strands of historical  details." -- Rave Reviews.


Review
"Belva Plain is a talented tale-spinner with almost  Dickensian ability to keep her stories going."  -- The Philadelphia Inquirer.  

"A powerful novel... another winner... Ms. Plain  weaves her story like a master craftsman entwining  the colorful threads of each character's life  embroidered with the golden strands of historical  details." -- Rave Reviews.


Card catalog description
A second-grade reader with stories, poems, articles, a play, and lessons in such skills as following directions and understanding word pictures.


From the Publisher
Beginning in 1920, paralleling Hitler's rise to power, and encompassing World War II, Bleva Plain's new novel weaves the threads of history into a brilliant tapestry. As vivid events plunge the world into a dizzying vortex of change, an unforgettable American Family must summon up extraordinary courage to face birth, death, murder, illicit passion, and a great tragedy... and one passionate man must fight his own war against evil -- a war that can be won only with honor, integrity, and love.

"Belva Plain is a talented tale-spinner with almost Dickensian ability to keep her stories going." -- The Philadelphia Inquirer.

ANNOTATION

As the vivid events of World War II plunge the world into a dizzying vortex of change, an unforgettable American family must summon extraordinary courage to face birth, death, murder, illicit passion and great tragedy. And one passionate man must fight his own war against evil--a war that can only be won with honor, integrity and love.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Beginning in 1920, paralleling Hitler's rise to power, and encompassing World War II, Bleva Plain's new novel weaves the threads of history into a brilliant tapestry. As vivid events plunge the world into a dizzying vortex of change, an unforgettable American Family must summon up extraordinary courage to face birth, death, murder, illicit passion, and a great tragedy... and one passionate man must fight his own war against evil — a war that can be won only with honor, integrity, and love.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Readers who have not previously met the Werners and Roths in The Golden Cup and Evergreen will sense something missing when they begin this continuing saga about these tightly knit, aristocratic German-Jewish families. This book contains multiple allusions to past events, yet the first-time reader can still become immediately involved in the narrative, thanks to Plain's adroit blending of complex personalities with a panoramic view of world events. The novel covers the early '20s until the end of World War II. Paterfamilias is Paul Werner, a high-minded banker, a dedicated philanthropist and a reluctant adulterer. His genteel wife Marion, unable to bear children, coolly retreats to her private circle of charitable events and card parties. Although Paul still broods over his first love, Anna, he turns to his exuberant cousin Leah, a flourishing business woman, for a brief, happy affair. It is at a large family gathering that long pent-up emotions explode, and past tragedies, infidelities and hostilities emerge with destructive force. Although there is a historical inevitability to the events viewed here (the 1920 ``Red scare''; Prohibition; the stock market crash; the rise of Hitler) the characters are never predictable. They act with passion and conviction, and their many vicissitudes will not disappoint Plain's fans. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selections. (May)

Library Journal