A Deputy Was King

The Matriarch Chronicles #2

by G.B. Stern

It is 1921, Toni Rakonitz has made a success of her fashion salon, but at 27 she is tired of being a business woman. She marries Giles on impulse and they pursue the pleasures of the Jazz Age. Only when her life begins to collapse does she accept her role of "matriarch" to her rich Jewish family.

Genres: Fiction

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1926

About the author

Gladys Bronwyn Stern or GB Stern (17 June 1890 – 20 September 1973) born Gladys Bertha Stern in London, England, wrote many novels, short stories, plays, memoirs, biographies and literary criticism.

Reviews

[Blanca]

Intriguing collection by British author, G.B. Stern. Known also as the Rakonitz Collection, a novel a year from the age of 20 was published for who knows how long chronicling a cosmopolitan European, non-practicing Jewish family in the post-war era. This will be a challenge to find.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a much better structured book than The Matriarch, but the pieces still did not quite fit together. The middle section that centers on Lorraine is the strongest part of the book, but it's not really clear to me what it did for the story of Toni in between which it is sandwiched. I also wish Stern had more bite. The Chinese coat episode was building up to something grand, but it went out with a whimper. I thought of Nabokov: "Some people—and I am one of them—hate happy ends. We feel cheated. Harm is the norm. Doom should not jam. The avalanche stopping in its tracks a few feet above the cowering village behaves not only unnaturally but unethically."

"The rumpled glitter of the olives; a telegraph wire, that looped the abyss from one village to another, gleamed, where rays caught it, a quivering bridge of pure gold." (p. 229)

[Mrs S C Msalila · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good read, it annoyed me at times but all in all worth persevering. Interesting insight into family hierarchies and responsibilities.

[KarlaC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished this book knowing I probably won't be able to find the third book in this series. Bummer, because I would like to read it. Review to follow.