In the great disorder of wartime Berlin, Lucia Muller-Rossi was an unofficial star: mistress to an Ambassador, the whole world to her young son, an...
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reviews
Jul 15, 2009
Jac
rated it: 
The pitfall of this book, for me at least, was the marketing. I was expecting a first-person narrative of events in 1940's Berlin detailing a woman's life before and during WWII, and the actions she takes in response. I wanted her story; I ached for her story throughout the entire novel. I wanted her motives, her thoughts, her actions, her circumstances. Instead, I received a roundabout novel about a granddaughter attempting to rid herself of inherited shame. I could not share completely in her
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Apr 13, 2011
Tuck
rated it: 
based on true stories of berliners secreting fine art out of germany to switzerland, then selling said meissens, picassos, etc.. and making millions. this is the story of one such woman, and her family, and those that try to bring her to justice. its a good story, but i don't prefer author pye's style of "reportage" rather than narrative. that said, this is a significant novel and will be around for many long (centuries?) years, let us hope.
Jul 28, 2011
Diane
rated it:
An interesting topic that falls short due to some mediocre story-telling. The plot develops slowly and then characters are introduced, complications barely explained and nothing is ultimately settled. The short, choppy paragraphs left me feeling frustrated. Overall this felt incomplete.
Jan 24, 2010
Caroline
rated it:
eh - the book seemed to be in need of some editing. It didn't flow and lots of parts were just clunky in both dialouge and pace. It seemed to have the potential to be very interesting especially being based on a true events (the main character was based off a real person) but for some reason, it just didn't work.
Aug 28, 2010
Sarah
rated it:
An interesting story about an ethically challenging topic. However, the author writes in an obtuse way that seems intended to infuse the story with depth, but instead just makes the descriptions of everything that happens somewhat vague.
Mar 01, 2010
Trish
rated it: 
Maybe I should clarify and say that the 4 stars is really for about 1/2-3/4 of the novel. I couldn't put it down at first, but the ending was anti-climatic.
Aug 06, 2009
Marvin
rated it: 
Another one I gave up on. It looks back at WWII in Europe in short, choppy sections made up of short, choppy sentences, and with little sense of story line.
Jul 28, 2009
Clare
rated it:
This novel takes place both in the present and in World War II. It lent itself to some good discussion points for my book club.
Sep 14, 2009
Kelly
rated it:
Yet ANOTHER one of those books that has a fabulous cover, but anything but fabulous insides.
Apr 15, 2009
Rachel
rated it:
What a snore. Anti-climactic, blah. The whole story is given away in the dust-jacket.
I want the last hour I spent finishing it back!
I want the last hour I spent finishing it back!
Apr 02, 2008
~mad
rated it:
I plugged my way through this one - I usually an interested in Nazi Germany and that time - this one was hard - would not recommend.
The story was very depressing on top of the subject matter. While I loke to read books of people who persevere, this one portrayed a woman with little or no remorse.
Don't bother. Sorry.....
The story was very depressing on top of the subject matter. While I loke to read books of people who persevere, this one portrayed a woman with little or no remorse.
Don't bother. Sorry.....
Jun 29, 2011
Roberta
rated it:
Yet another book club tedious read. I couldn't care less about Lucia (the smuggler), her son Nicholas, or her granddaughter Helen. I did get one good quote out of it: "They were a closed society, not ready even for a biological intruder". Apt for childless couple who choose to be that way.
Jul 19, 2008
Valerie
rated it:
A woman whose antiques business was based on selling items left in her care during WWII is confronted by a stranger who recognizes one of the items as her own.
May 05, 2008
It starts out so well, but the later half of the book is unreadable. No praise for this book. The writer really gave up half way through.
Feb 02, 2012
Not going to finish it this time, maybe give it a try another time but for now it goes under surprisingly bad!
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