Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Triangle

by Katharine Weber (Goodreads Author)

3.46 of 5 stars 3.46 · rating details · 722 ratings · 163 reviews

Esther Gottesfeld is the last living survivor of the notorious 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist fire and has told her story countless times in the span of her lifetime. Even so, her death at the age of 106 leaves unanswered many questions about what happened that fateful day. How did she manage to survive the fire when at least 146 workers, most of them women, her sister and fianc...more

Hardcover, 242 pages

Published June 13th 2006 by Farrar Straus Giroux

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Garment and Textile

42nd out of 88 books — 41 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,259)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jun 28, 2007 Danielle rated it 3 of 5 stars

The other day this dude comes into the bookstore, and he's trying to return this jigsaw puzle book because once you take it apart the first time, all of the pieces are a little off, and they don't fit togetter or back in the original mold. And I'm kind of like whatever dude, that's why it was on the bargain rack for 4.99, but this book reminds me of that. It's got lots of interesting pieces, but each part of the book is just slightly off, and the author almost pulls off having a lot of disparate...more The other day this dude comes into the bookstore, and he's trying to return this jigsaw puzle book because once you take it apart the first time, all of the pieces are a little off, and they don't fit togetter or back in the original mold. And I'm kind of like whatever dude, that's why it was on the bargain rack for 4.99, but this book reminds me of that. It's got lots of interesting pieces, but each part of the book is just slightly off, and the author almost pulls off having a lot of disparate pieces add up, but then they don't quite. George and Ruth and Rebecca and Esther are all just short of adding up on their own, and then you put them together and the degree of offness increases. Like, this is almost a novel that ties together the Triangle Fire, Genetics research, the origins of artistic genius, music, the nature of love, September 11th, a decades old mystery, and the way academia in general and contemporary academic feminism in particular can be both astute and super frustrating, but then in the end it is not a novel that pulls this off or makes me care the way I wanted to.

I guess partly I was frustrated by the fact that I really did think the historical material-- the triangle factory fire and really the whole women's garment making industry--is utterly fascinating and compelling, and I wanted the book to be more concretely about that. Instead it kept accessing that without getting to the heart of any of it or making it the book's center, and then towards the end the book's all ha! I'm actually a book about September 11th, and I'm just using this historical event to parlay your memory of that experience into something else so that you can't complain that I'm sort of a book about Septmeber 11th, and just to be sure you can't complain , I'll sidestep that event too! And you're like shut up, book , and the book's like, No! And, because my ultimate plot twist was super obvious from the get go, instead of actually complicating the things you figured out in chapter two, I'll just be obscure about the way I reveal them so you have to do a lot of work to establish you were right all along! And then you're like no, really, shut up book , and the cat's like OMG are you talking to the book again , and then you call someone to tell them all about it and they're like, OMG you're talking to the cat again , and then you go type way too much about it on the internet while the cat silently judges you. Which is all to say, this book frustrated me because of its unfulfilled potential to be awesome.

Finally, and I swear I have never made this complaint about any book ever, the paper quality of the paperbck was like appalling. The pages were squeaky and made my hands hurt turning them. It actually got in the way of my reading experience. (less)

8 likes · like · see review

Feb 03, 2008 Janet rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

An unfortunate waste of a great idea. In 1911, a garment sweatshop burned, killing over 100 people. The premise of this book is a good one--what is the true memory of the last survivor of that tragedy, and what really happened that day, and why. There are distracting subplots--one about a composer who writes music based on science could have been a good book on it's own. The dialog is stilted and at times cutesy, but all the parts that are interviews with the survivor, or her recounting her memo...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 28, 2007 Lois rated it 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved this book and keep recommending it to anyone who loves to learn about history through story. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and the fire that killed so many women is not exactly up there in history classes with the wars, kings and blah de blah public schools keep feeding our children. Its time and place and workers come alive in this book. (a sadly eerie affect for me too while reading it was the strange mirror of the women jumping/stepping out of the 7th and 8th floor window...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jun 06, 2007 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: library

On one level, this novel is the "What really happened at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire?" historical semi-mystery that one would expect from the covers and blurbs. But it's also so much more. The novel focuses on the last living survivor of the fire, her granddaughter, the granddaughter's partner (a composer - there's some very interesting stuff here about the intersection of music and science), and an academic studying the fire. All of their feelings and motivations play out in different...more

4 likes · like · see review

Feb 28, 2012 Bonnie Brody rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Bonnie by: Book Club Selection

Usually I know right where I'm going when I write a review but this book has me a bit stymied because of its thematic content. It is brilliant and beautifully written, literate and musical at the same time. It tackles great themes and does it subtly yet with a great strength. It is one of the finest books I've ever read.

The story is about the Triangle Factory fire which was, prior to 9/11, the worst tragedy that ever befell New York. One hundred forty-six men, women and children were killed in a...more Usually I know right where I'm going when I write a review but this book has me a bit stymied because of its thematic content. It is brilliant and beautifully written, literate and musical at the same time. It tackles great themes and does it subtly yet with a great strength. It is one of the finest books I've ever read.

The story is about the Triangle Factory fire which was, prior to 9/11, the worst tragedy that ever befell New York. One hundred forty-six men, women and children were killed in a fire that occurred in a sweat shop on the lower east side of Manhattan. This fire helped spur unions to grow and protect workers. Had there been exits available when the fire occurred, almost all of the deaths could have been prevented. As the story opens, Esther Gottesfeld is 106 years old, the oldest survivor of the 1911 tragedy. It is shortly after 9/11 and the two events are synchronous in the story-telling. Esther is being interviewed by an arrogant feminist scholar, Ruth Zion, who is trying to find out information about the fire and pry secrets out of Esther. Esther is too wise and cagey for Ruth Zion to get very far.

The story is also about Esther's granddaughter, Rebecca, who lives with George Botkin, the most famous composer of contemporary U.S. music. He writes music about DNA strands, chemistry, echinacea, and Huntington's Disease (which he may have inherited). His music is loved by a wide audience.

The story weaves back and forth in time and between characters. The strongest parts of the book are those about Esther while the most original parts of the book are about George and Rebecca. There are secrets to be found out and secrets to be kept. One fascinating theme in the book is the connections between the Triangle Fire, 9/11, and music - another triangle. We find out that Rebecca and George share similar DNA strands. For two people very much in love, this seems serendipitous but also sweet.

The ending of this book is dreamlike and written in stream of consciousness. I could not come up for air as its beauty swept me with it like a tide. The last 40 pages are as beautiful as anything I've ever read. I highly recommend this book.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jun 17, 2011 Gwen rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is beautifully written, haunting, and thought-provoking. As I read this historical tale-cum-mystery, I wanted my stepson to read it (musical composition), my walking partner to read it (ethical questions), my colleagues to read it (can we use it in class? are feminist scholars that ...), my book club to read it (Triangle Fire and its resonances in the Jewish community) ... and I could not put it down.

The novel traces the parallel lives of Esther Gottesfeld, the last known survivor of t...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 13, 2011 Kathryn rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book had so much promise - a historical event, a secret, a consideration of how history is remembered and reinterpreted according to people's personal agendas - but it was just not good. No, the parts about the Triangle fire were great, mostly because the event itself is so compelling, but all the subplots were so, so tiresome. It seemed as if the author had chosen a project that she wasn't skilled enough to complete, so she skipped over all the hardest-to-write parts and tried to write aro...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 27, 2010 Jennifer rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

This book had so much potential, but didn't live up to it for me.

Esther is the last living survivor of the 1911 Triangle factory fire. How did she manage to survive on a day when so many others died, including her twin sister, Pauline, and her fiance, Sam? Ruth, a feminist historian, is determined to take a thorough and accurate oral history. She senses that Esther isn't being consistent and is determined to find out why, through repeated interviews.

If the book had just been those interviews an...more

like · see review

Aug 01, 2009 skein rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 3-star

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for stories of avoidable disaster, and the Triangle Factory fire in 1911 was nothing if not avoidable. Many that's why I liked this? It is something like a conceptual novel - andthe writing almost always falls flat under the weight of One Good Idea - but not in this case. There is a large amount of repetition - the same long story is told at least five separate times - but the plot (such as it is.) centers - rotates - around memory and loss and grief and l...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 25, 2010 Sterlingcindysu rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A great story in such compact writing. There's really 2 stories, the one about the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, which I really don't know much about, and the other about the composer who creates music based on DNA--I think that could have been a stand alone novel by itself. So much research, not just on the fire and music, but also Yiddish, Huntingdon's disease, etc. I kept thinking, I need to look up this word, but I didn't want to stop reading. Perhaps I'm slow, but when Esther repeats her testim...more A great story in such compact writing. There's really 2 stories, the one about the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, which I really don't know much about, and the other about the composer who creates music based on DNA--I think that could have been a stand alone novel by itself. So much research, not just on the fire and music, but also Yiddish, Huntingdon's disease, etc. I kept thinking, I need to look up this word, but I didn't want to stop reading. Perhaps I'm slow, but when Esther repeats her testimony over and over, it wasn't until near the end that I saw the discprencies.

The only thing that didn't make sense to me was when the researcher left the cat out on the windowsill, perhaps I was missing something or it was just to break up the tension. Cute cover, the idea that you're "unbuttoning" the truth (or buttoning it up depending how you look at it.)

(spoiler) I think the reason why Pauline took the money was payback for being raped, not for her testimony.

(copied review) Esther Gottesfeld is the last living survivor of the notorious 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist fire and has told her story countless times in the span of her lifetime. Even so, her death at the age of 106 leaves unanswered many questions about what happened that fateful day. How did she manage to survive the fire when at least 146 workers, most of them women, her sister and fiancé among them, burned or jumped to their deaths from the sweatshop inferno? Are the discrepancies in her various accounts over the years just ordinary human fallacy, or is there a hidden story in Esther’s recollections of that terrible day? Esther’s granddaughter Rebecca Gottesfeld, with her partner George Botkin, an ingenious composer, seek to unravel the facts of the matter while Ruth Zion, a zealous feminist historian of the fire, bores in on them with her own mole-like agenda. A brilliant, haunting novel about one of the most terrible tragedies in early twentieth-century America, Triangle forces us to consider how we tell our stories, how we hear them, and how history is forged from unverifiable truths. Wrote The Music Lesson(less)

1 like · like · see review

Feb 05, 2009 Bookmarks Magazine added it

Katharine Weber, whose grandmother worked for the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in 1909, explores one woman's unreliable retelling of that experience. While this clever, haunting, and playful story works on multiple levels (with triangles the leitmotif), at core it functions as a mystery: Why didn't Esther help her fianc_

like · see review

Nov 18, 2011 Becky rated it 3 of 5 stars

Katharine Weber's central story of the 1911 tragic fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory has SO much potential....but, the end product just doesn't hold together for me. Esther Gottesfields, an immigrant and factory worker who survives the fire, is a sympathetic and interesting central character. The social-economic conditions are vivid and dramatic. What goes wrong? The author fractures her story between the grand daughter (who searches for the fire story,) her husband (who obsesses over his...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 14, 2010 Jerry Delaney rated it 3 of 5 stars

The novel is based on the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in 1911 in which 146 people died, mostly young immigrant women. The chapters dealing with the fire were superb and i was also caught up in the story of one survivor's granddaughter and the granddauhter's husband. But wile George's musical theories were interesting, they belonged in a different book. Here, they were too much of a distraction, being completely peripheral to the main story. I'm really sorry that the feminist historian was a...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 20, 2011 Elaine rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the centennial of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire so it seemed fitting to find this book at the library. It was the memory of the fire that kept me reading too, because the first chapters almost made me give up on the book. One of the main characters is a composer, and the chapter about him seemed to have the sole purpose of showing off the author's knowledge about music. Likewise with the chapter about another main character, a geneticist -- and again, we learn that the author knows lots a...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 01, 2009 Liza rated it 4 of 5 stars

I first learned about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in my women's studies class my freshman year of college. I saw this book on the shelf and pulled it off in the hopes that it might center around this event, and it did, but it did so much more. Not only did this give an incredibly vivid account of what it must have been like to work in the factory and also be in the fire, but it also described life as an immigrant, a worker with no rights, and a woman living around the turn of the centur...more

3 likes · like · see review

Aug 25, 2010 Caroline M. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am still completely under the spell of this book -- it kept me up past one in the morning because I couldn't put it down until I had finished reading. The novel introduces us to Rebecca Gottesfeld, her partner, the composer George Botkin, and Rebecca's grandmother Esther, the last living survivor of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. As we follow their lives in New York City over the late summer and fall of 2001, we are also often plunged into the past as we hear, over and over, Esther...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 06, 2012 Wendy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Strange. The premise for the book the Triangle shirtwaist fire in 1911 was intrigiung, but the approach taken for me was sub par. There were way to many tangents especially witn Botkin and his music composition. I found myself skimming thost parts and missing nothing. The historian ruth bothered me too, she was way to intense and for what purpose? The author dumps her at the end of the book. I wanted more about the grandmother Esther and the actual shirtwaist fire. The story could have been told...more

like · see review

Nov 26, 2010 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The last living survivor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire leaves many unanswered questions about the fire. Ruth, a feminist historian, contacts Esther's granddaughter to seek answers but Rebecca never suspected her grandmother was hiding anything, until she begins to listen to Ruth's seemingly wild theories.

Half of this book is very interesting but Weber includes a parallel story about Rebecca's significant other, George, who writes powerful and affecting music based on patterns in nature...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 23, 2012 Connie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-bookgroups, fire, src-spring-2012, historical-fiction

In 1911, there was a horrific fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York where almost 150 people died. Esther Gottesfeld, the last living survivor of the fire, lived to be 106. Over the years she has told her story many times. Ruth Zion, a feminist and a historian, has noticed a few discrepancies in the story of that fateful day. Esther's granddaughter, Rebecca, and her boyfriend, George, are also trying to figure out Esther's true story after opening up her safe deposit box.

Between Rut...more

like · see review

Jun 22, 2009 Paula rated it 4 of 5 stars

The author cleverly brings together a work of historical fiction, a unique theory of music composition, and the story of a contemporary relationship. The historical fiction centers around the notorious 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and the personal story of its oldest survivor and her recollection of the horrendous conditions of the workers who were primarily immigrants. There's a mystery surrounding the circumstances of her survival which unfolds as the story of her granddaughter and he...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 24, 2011 Bea rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was vaguely aware of the fact that there had been a fire in the old sweatshops in NYC in the past which had changed labor laws. However, now I am more aware of this historical event as that fire sets the scene for this story. Esther is the oldest surviving fire victim. She and her sister Pauline worked in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and were there on the day of the fire. This story revolves around her testimony of events and her several interviews with a feminist writer, who seems to me to...more

like · see review

Feb 10, 2011 Kevin rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: no one

It’s hard to say anything really bad about this novel, but there really isn’t a whole let there. I couldn’t recommend it. Very slight and short story of the last survivor of the Triangle fire. It’s gradually revealed that she lied about some important aspects of her escape and survival to hide the fact she had been raped by a supervisor and was pregnant. The main story involves her granddaughter and her boyfriend who is a musical genius. I honestly looked for the reason for this aspect of the no...more

like · see review

Sep 28, 2012 Tia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, mystery, sex-abuse-crimes, should-have-been-better

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

May 18, 2012 Jenifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

For 90 years (between 1911 and 2001) the Triangle Factory Fire was the most deadly event in New York City History. I took a moment to compare and contrast the article on Wiki about the Triangle Factory Fire with this novel and it is clear that Weber has developed many of her plot points from pieces of truth from this tragic event. I almost abandoned ship in the first 50 pages, but when I finally caught on to the writing style and began to understand the quirkiness of Weber's narrative, the chara...more

like · see review

Jul 05, 2010 Jodie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have always been interested in the Triangle fire, and this was a good read. The story is told through a "triangle" of characters.

1 like · like · see review

Jul 18, 2009 Patty rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, american-history, family, fiction, grief, death, historical-fiction, immigrant-experience, new-york-city, women-writers, music, musician

From the front cover to the last page of this book, I found surprises. For example, it took me a couple of glances to see the cover (there are buttons) in the way the author would want me to see them.

In the body of this novel, I found the major characters to be fascinating. We have Esther who survived the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, her granddaughter who is a genetic counselor, her lover who writes amazing music and a pain-in-the-neck feminist. I was amazed that anyone could make any story with th...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 24, 2009 Coco rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book made me so angry! It had such possibility and ended up being so mediocre. I wanted it to be a great book about the Triangle Shirtwaist FIre, but it seemed as if Weber couldn't make up her mind. Was it the fire? Was it the mathematical compositions? Or perhaps 911? Maybe even feminism and academics? I read it for my book club and that's the only reason I finished it. Does Weber have an editor? The pushy Ruth was completely over the top and the sections with the boyfriend/composer felt l...more

like · see review

May 23, 2010 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

I think I read this last summer and I have only vague recollections of the book. What I do remember about the book was the realism of the narrator's interview of her grandmother. The narrator decides to interview her grandmother about her experiences in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. The grandmother is vague and evasive and mixes up her details -- pretty much exactly what happens when you decide to ask somebody about an event that happened 60 years ago. Of course, this is a novel, so there is mor...more

like · see review

Nov 07, 2012 Cook Memorial Public Library rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

Based on actual events of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911, the author really captured the terror and heartbreak of that day as the events are related by Esther Gottesfeld, the last remaining survivor. I enjoyed the mystery element, too, since Esther’s story seems inconsistent, and there seems to be a secret that may never be revealed. The details of factory conditions, especially for immigrant women, were a powerful reminder of recent history.

--Recommended by Connie

Check our catalog: http:/...more

like · see review

Mar 11, 2011 Tracey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Throughout the read I found myself bouncing between liking it and disliking it. I found the subject of the 1911 Triangel shirtwaist fire to be very interesting while the details of the music and composition of the character George were dragging me down. I would have liked to know more about Rebecca's professional life and had more connection to her, she was after all the granddaughter of the last surviving woman from that fateful fire, Esther Gottesfeld. Nice blending of fact and fiction. I am c...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 41 42 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (4)

Genres

Historical Fiction

46 users

Book Club

14 users

New York

5 users

Mystery

4 users

Music

4 users

Adult

3 users

History > American History

2 users

Womens

2 users

Literature > American

2 users

Adult Fiction

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Katharine Weber

Katharine Weber’s fiction debut in print, the short story "Friend of the Family," appeared in The New Yorker in January, 1993.

Her first novel, Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear (of which that story was a chapter), was published by Crown Publishers, Inc. in 1995 and was published in paperback by Picador in 1996. She was named by Granta to the controversial list of 50 Best Young America...more Katharine Weber’s fiction debut in print, the short story "Friend of the Family," appeared in The New Yorker in January, 1993.

Her first novel, Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear (of which that story was a chapter), was published by Crown Publishers, Inc. in 1995 and was published in paperback by Picador in 1996. She was named by Granta to the controversial list of 50 Best Young American Novelists in 1996.

Her second novel, The Music Lesson, was published by Crown Publishers, Inc. in 1999, and was published in paperback by Picador in 2000. The Music Lesson has been published in fourteen foreign editions.

The Little Women was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2003 and by Picador in 2004. All three novels weren named Notable Books by The New York Times Book Review. Writing in The New York Times, Richard Eder said, "Katharine Weber's novel, which stops being droll only to be funny and almost never stops being exceedingly smart, is a hermit crab. Creeping into the whelk shell of Louisa May Alcott's celebrated novel, it avails itself of the spirals to do double and triple twists inside them."

Katharine’s fourth novel, Triangle, which takes up the notorious Triangle Waist company factory fire of 1911, was published in 2006 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and in 2007 by Picador. It was longlisted for the Dublin IMPAC Literary Award, was a Finalist for the John Gardner Fiction Book Award and the Paterson Fiction Prize, and was the winner of the Connecticut Book Award for Fiction.

True Confections, Katharine's fifth novel, was published in January 2010 by Shaye Areheart Books, and was published in paperback by Broadway Books in December, 2010. In January Broadway also brought out a new edition of The Music Lesson. Triangle and The Music Lesson are now available as ebooks, too. Her next book, a memoir, The Memory Of All That: George Gershwin, Kay Swift, and My Family's Legacy of Infidelities, will be published by Crown in July 2011.

Katharine's maternal grandmother was the songwriter Kay Swift. Since Swift's death in 1993, Katharine has been a Trustee and the Administrator of the Kay Swift Memorial Trust, which is dedicated to preserving and promoting the music of Kay Swift. This work includes the first Broadway musical with a score by a woman, "Fine and Dandy," and several popular show tunes of the era, among them "Fine and Dandy" and "Can't We Be Friends?"(less)

More about Katharine Weber...

Books by Katharine Weber

Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear: A Novel

The Memory of All That: George Gershwin, Kay Swift, and My Family's Legacy of Infidelities

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Triangle

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Triangle
avg rating	preview: Triangle Goodreads rating: 3.46 (722 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/108307.Triangle?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312001237l/108307.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/108307.Triangle?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Triangle by Katharine Weber[/url]

Triangle

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website