<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<GoodreadsResponse>
	<Request>
		<authentication>false</authentication>
		    <method><![CDATA[]]></method>
	</Request>
	
<book>
  <id>964394</id>
  <title><![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]></title>
  <isbn><![CDATA[0375421017]]></isbn>
  <isbn13><![CDATA[9780375421013]]></isbn13>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179856859m/964394.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179856859s/964394.jpg</small_image_url>
  <description><![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]></description>
  <work>
  <best_book_id type="integer">368584</best_book_id>
  <books_count type="integer">2</books_count>
  <desc_user_id type="integer" nil="true"></desc_user_id>
  <id type="integer">358569</id>
  <media_type nil="true"></media_type>
  <original_language_id type="integer" nil="true"></original_language_id>
  <original_publication_day type="integer" nil="true"></original_publication_day>
  <original_publication_month type="integer" nil="true"></original_publication_month>
  <original_publication_year type="integer">2002</original_publication_year>
  <original_title>The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story</original_title>
  <rating_dist>total:46|5:9|4:18|3:15|2:3|1:1|</rating_dist>
  <ratings_count type="integer">46</ratings_count>
  <ratings_sum type="integer">169</ratings_sum>
  <reviews_count type="integer">68</reviews_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">11</text_reviews_count>
</work>

  <average_rating><![CDATA[3.67]]></average_rating>
  <ratings_count><![CDATA[3]]></ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count><![CDATA[2]]></text_reviews_count>
  
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/964394.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/964394.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story]]></link>
  <authors>
    <author>
    <id>210451</id>
        <name><![CDATA[Valerie Steiker]]></name>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-200x266.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]]></small_image_url>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/210451.Valerie_Steiker]]></link>
    <average_rating>3.43</average_rating>
    <ratings_count>161</ratings_count>
    <text_reviews_count>45</text_reviews_count>
  </author>
  </authors>
    <reviews start="1" end="20" total="68">
      <review>
  <id>75521741</id>
    <user>
    <id>1226722</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Sandy]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1226722-sandy]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1254884030p3/1226722.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1254884030p2/1226722.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.72</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>43</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
            <shelf name="60-s-life" />
        <shelf name="bios-memoirs" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Fri Oct 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Oct 23 14:21:22 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Nov 09 17:10:52 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This is a marvelous memoir... rich in wonderful detail of a happy child's family and life in 60's New York. Her opening descriptions of her mother's beauty parlor was right out of my childhood... not so much the 'going to', as my mother did not, but of the knowing about and imagining the lives of th...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75521741">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75521741]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75521741]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>1995353</id>
    <user>
    <id>114949</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Kate]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Saint Paul, MN]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/114949-kate]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">964394</id>
  <isbn>0375421017</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375421013</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">2</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179856859m/964394.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179856859s/964394.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/964394.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.00</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>3</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[Sadly, no one]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Jun 15 06:58:16 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Jul 09 06:51:35 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I picked this up randomly from the Memoir shelf at the library.  So far it is has a basic, pretty uninspired writing style.  The author clearly had an interesting mother, but there is a sense of worship that I find a little disconcerting.  The author's mother did die when she was in college, so perh...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1995353">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1995353]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1995353]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>11711416</id>
    <user>
    <id>744366</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Lauren]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[San Francisco, CA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/744366-lauren-alfrey]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Sat Jan 05 10:17:18 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Jan 09 19:12:04 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I read The Leopard Hat during a very lonely summer in college, spent in a strange city with few friends.  I can remember being very engrossed with this book (possibly because of my lacking social life, but more likely because this book was really good!), and admiring Steiker's bold yet vulnerable vo...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/11711416">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/11711416]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/11711416]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>69943994</id>
    <user>
    <id>320577</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Gina]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Poughkeepsie, NY]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/320577-gina]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">964394</id>
  <isbn>0375421017</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375421013</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">2</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179856859m/964394.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179856859s/964394.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/964394.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Tue Sep 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Sep 03 11:56:17 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Sep 17 14:55:30 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[A well-written and enjoyable account of a woman and her relationship with her mother. ]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69943994]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69943994]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>30527358</id>
    <user>
    <id>200819</id>
    <name><![CDATA[mellymel]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Columbia, MD]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/200819-mellymel]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1187131901p3/200819.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1187131901p2/200819.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
            <shelf name="memoirs" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Tue May 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Aug 19 05:37:20 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed May 27 14:01:15 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I remember Anna Quindlen recommending this (along with Beekeeper's Apprentice) on the Today show a few years ago and it has taken me all this time to read it.<br/>A lovely counterpoint to all the hard knock life memoirs currently filling up the shelves. The book shines when the author is describing...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30527358">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30527358]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30527358]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>30942995</id>
    <user>
    <id>572709</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Jill]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/572709-jill]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Aug 22 17:52:31 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Aug 28 11:42:01 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I think that the author needed a better editor (again).  There were really good parts of this, but the lack of unity, lack of any sort of organizing principle didn't work for me.  It was as if she wrote a series of essays, rather than a non-fiction memoir.  I actually wanted to know her mother bette...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30942995">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30942995]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30942995]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>26732337</id>
    <user>
    <id>1245677</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Liga]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Riga, Latvia]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1245677-liga]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1216048811p3/1245677.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1216048811p2/1245677.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[Lily Koppel]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Fri Oct 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Jul 09 04:18:15 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Oct 16 03:59:41 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[good, good. this is another book that easily conjures (do i put 'up'  after 'conjure'?) images from films, other books, other cities, places, new york, of course, among them. however, there were a little too many things in there - in those images, in the story. things that i found hard to relate to....<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26732337">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26732337]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26732337]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>26514972</id>
    <user>
    <id>264870</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Amy]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/264870-amy]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Jul 07 06:40:51 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Jul 07 06:50:34 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I loved this book as a reflection on how we become who were are through our mothers.  One of my favorite quotes, &quot;To create something meaningful as an adult is all the more precious because you know how ephemeral life is, how painful and difficult and even ugly it can be.&quot;  It is really go...]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26514972]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26514972]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>26023156</id>
    <user>
    <id>822442</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Julie]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/822442-julie]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1210552668p3/822442.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1210552668p2/822442.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Jul 01 10:39:58 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Jul 01 10:41:21 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I loved this book, too. Valerie Steiker is one of those amazing  writers who happens to be a brilliant editor, too.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26023156]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26023156]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>37206142</id>
    <user>
    <id>1658376</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Barbara]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1658376-barbara]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1225064188p3/1658376.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1225064188p2/1658376.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006</read_at>
  <date_added>Sat Nov 08 15:28:31 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Nov 08 15:29:24 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Glad I read it, but not sure I'd go out of my way to read it again.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/37206142]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/37206142]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>26011210</id>
    <user>
    <id>722449</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Lily]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[New York, NY]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/722449-lily-koppel]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1208308156p3/722449.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1208308156p2/722449.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Jul 01 08:44:26 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Mar 16 11:04:02 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Poignant, painterly.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26011210]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26011210]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>79692254</id>
    <user>
    <id>1822200</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Diana]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Wayne, PA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1822200-diana]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Dec 02 17:00:19 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Dec 02 17:00:19 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79692254]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79692254]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>78294384</id>
    <user>
    <id>1399470</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Cathydny]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1399470-cathydny]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-U-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>0</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
            <shelf name="currently-reading" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Nov 19 02:55:59 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Nov 19 02:56:02 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78294384]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78294384]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>74396855</id>
    <user>
    <id>2835927</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Elizabeth]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2835927-elizabeth-oporto]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1255451574p3/2835927.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1255451574p2/2835927.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Oct 13 10:07:13 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Oct 13 10:07:13 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74396855]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/74396855]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>73771121</id>
    <user>
    <id>2815270</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Joyce]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2815270-joyce]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Oct 07 13:36:51 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Oct 07 13:36:51 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73771121]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/73771121]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>71171496</id>
    <user>
    <id>2307189</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Barb]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Surprise, AZ]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2307189-barb-christie]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1242058339p3/2307189.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1242058339p2/2307189.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>0</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
            <shelf name="to-read" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Sep 14 08:17:09 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Sep 14 08:17:09 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/71171496]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/71171496]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>69590574</id>
    <user>
    <id>47883</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Amanda]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[New York, NY]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/47883-amanda]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1193061785p3/47883.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1193061785p2/47883.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Tue Sep 08 08:25:34 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Aug 31 13:24:32 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Sep 08 08:25:34 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69590574]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/69590574]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>68848310</id>
    <user>
    <id>134141</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Olivia]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/134141-olivia]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Aug 25 12:17:37 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Aug 25 12:17:37 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68848310]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68848310]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>68254429</id>
    <user>
    <id>2555325</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Erin Rose]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2555325-erin-rose]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1248408999p3/2555325.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1248408999p2/2555325.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>0</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
            <shelf name="to-read" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Aug 20 16:37:47 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Aug 20 16:37:47 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68254429]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/68254429]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>66053051</id>
    <user>
    <id>2592359</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Brooke]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2592359-brooke]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-111x148.jpg]]></image_url>
    <small_image_url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg]]></small_image_url>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">368584</id>
  <isbn>0375726209</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780375726200</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">9</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Leopard Hat: A Daughter's Story]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223m/368584.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174177223s/368584.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/368584.The_Leopard_Hat_A_Daughter_s_Story</link>
  <average_rating>3.67</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>46</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Valerie Steiker's poignant memoir limns with love the indelible impact  of her glamorous, adored mother, Gisèle, and her painful struggle to come to  terms with Gisèle's premature death from cancer in 1988, when Valerie was only  20. The book's marvelous opening pages portray a beautiful, privileged woman who  can't do her own hair and throws the entire household into disarray when  dressing to go out with her husband. Swathed in gowns, bedecked in jewels, and  always shod in high heels (even on her canvas boat shoes), Gisèle is the epitome  of a wealthy, sophisticated New Yorker. She's also a Belgian-born Jew who spent  the war years in hiding with her mother after her father was deported to  Auschwitz; the magical cocoon Gisèle spins for her daughters in their East Side  apartment is a creation of her will and imagination, her passionate desire to  give them the childhood she was denied. Steiker's luminous prose, vividly  evoking Gisèle's allure, makes palpable the void left by her loss. Only at the  end of a five-year romance launched just weeks after Gisèle's death does the  author realize, &quot;I had been desperately trying to hold on to my mother ... at  the expense of my growing more fully into myself.&quot; The chapters about Valerie's  postcollege years as a young writer and editor in Manhattan, though  well-written and intelligent, aren't quite as compelling as the ones that  tenderly chronicle her mother's life. This is Gisèle's book, and it's clear her  daughter wouldn't have wanted it any other way. <em>--Wendy Smith</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2002</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Aug 03 15:49:49 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Aug 03 15:49:49 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/66053051]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/66053051]]></link>
</review>
    </reviews>
  <popular_shelves>
          <shelf name="to-read" />
          <shelf name="currently-reading" />
          <shelf name="memoir" />
          <shelf name="60-s-life" />
          <shelf name="bios-memoirs" />
          <shelf name="memoirs" />
          <shelf name="wwii" />
          <shelf name="judaism" />
          <shelf name="non-fiction" />
      </popular_shelves>
  <book_links>
    <book_link>
  <id>8</id>
  <name><![CDATA[WorldCat]]></name>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=964394</link>
</book_link>
  </book_links>
</book>
</GoodreadsResponse>