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Passions of the Grande Dame Hotel
"A sweeping tale that will appeal to fans of romance novels and 20th century history. The author's exploration of Jewish emigration from Europe is immersive and well researched." KIRKUS REVIEWS
CAPTIVATING HISTORICAL FICTION
Premiered as #1 newly released Historical Russian Fiction
Featured as BOOK MOVEMENT Historical Author of the Month , November, 2022
The fascinating saga of Palm Beach's Breakers Hotel includes its conversion to a World War II army hospital, where over a dozen babies were born. Passions and Fires will forever change the lives of three women, including a Russian-Jewish immigrant, whose heartrending journeys weave through the timeline of the resort.
It is February 1942, just months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Addie, the daughter of the assistant manager of the most beautiful resort in America, lives at The Breakers Hotel. Walking the beach, she and her friend, Natalie, are bemoaning their world becoming devoid of its young men, as they are called to serve. And then the girls witness an explosion. German submarines have begun torpedoing Allied merchant ships right off the Atlantic shore. Soon, the area becomes one of the most active military centers in the nation, with thousands of soldiers stationed right at their doorstep in Palm Beach County.
In February 1975, Manhattanite Beth Morgan is distraught over a broken engagement. Her society mother dismisses her problem and insists that Beth accompany her to Florida. When they join an historical hotel tour while waiting for their suite at The Breakers, Beth’s mother has a strange reaction to the handsome docent’s words, and Beth begins to wonder if that is why they have come. Could she have been one of the babies born at the Breakers Hotel? From the story of Addie’s alluring mother, Rebecca, a Russian Jewish immigrant in the 1920s, whose fiancé disappears when she follows him to America, to the tragedy of Natalie’s boyfriend in the war, it is a tale of love and loss, separations and reunions, guilt and absolution. It is a story of the American Dream and the power of passion.
CAPTIVATING HISTORICAL FICTION
Premiered as #1 newly released Historical Russian Fiction
Featured as BOOK MOVEMENT Historical Author of the Month , November, 2022
The fascinating saga of Palm Beach's Breakers Hotel includes its conversion to a World War II army hospital, where over a dozen babies were born. Passions and Fires will forever change the lives of three women, including a Russian-Jewish immigrant, whose heartrending journeys weave through the timeline of the resort.
It is February 1942, just months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Addie, the daughter of the assistant manager of the most beautiful resort in America, lives at The Breakers Hotel. Walking the beach, she and her friend, Natalie, are bemoaning their world becoming devoid of its young men, as they are called to serve. And then the girls witness an explosion. German submarines have begun torpedoing Allied merchant ships right off the Atlantic shore. Soon, the area becomes one of the most active military centers in the nation, with thousands of soldiers stationed right at their doorstep in Palm Beach County.
In February 1975, Manhattanite Beth Morgan is distraught over a broken engagement. Her society mother dismisses her problem and insists that Beth accompany her to Florida. When they join an historical hotel tour while waiting for their suite at The Breakers, Beth’s mother has a strange reaction to the handsome docent’s words, and Beth begins to wonder if that is why they have come. Could she have been one of the babies born at the Breakers Hotel? From the story of Addie’s alluring mother, Rebecca, a Russian Jewish immigrant in the 1920s, whose fiancé disappears when she follows him to America, to the tragedy of Natalie’s boyfriend in the war, it is a tale of love and loss, separations and reunions, guilt and absolution. It is a story of the American Dream and the power of passion.
- GenresHistorical FictionJewish
300 pages, Paperback
Published August 31, 2022
24 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Deby Eisenberg
4 books48 followersAs a Book Club leader for over 20 years, Deby Eisenberg challenged herself to write a novel that her avid readers could not put down and would love to discuss. With a Masters Degree from the University of Chicago, she is a former literature and creative writing high school teacher and journalist. Deby Eisenberg became a part of the Jewish Book Council Author Network with her first novel, engaging audiences on her national speaking tour. Pictures of the Past has been named to library Best Fiction lists and featured on the cover of the Chicago Jewish News. With her new novel, Protecting Paige, the author, inspired by her love of literary research, art, architecture, Jewish history, and travel in the United States and Europe, once again envisioned a multi-generational love story that would inform as well as entertain, that would broaden the mind and open the heart.
Readers of Sarah's Key and Those Who Save Us are drawn to Pictures of the Past. Although the novel does not just center on that one time period, it approaches the most serious subject of the Holocaust with vibrancy and heart. “As readers, we can better understand horrific events of global proportion through identification and empathy with individual experiences,” Eisenberg states.
She and her husband, Dr. Michael Eisenberg, an obstetrician-gynecologist live in Riverwoods, Illinois, and have three adult children and seven grandchildren
Readers of Sarah's Key and Those Who Save Us are drawn to Pictures of the Past. Although the novel does not just center on that one time period, it approaches the most serious subject of the Holocaust with vibrancy and heart. “As readers, we can better understand horrific events of global proportion through identification and empathy with individual experiences,” Eisenberg states.
She and her husband, Dr. Michael Eisenberg, an obstetrician-gynecologist live in Riverwoods, Illinois, and have three adult children and seven grandchildren
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 7, 2023
I am probably not the right reader to review this book because it is generally not a genre I choose. Why did I? The setting is The Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida; a location I had heard about. In addition it is historical fiction which I do enjoy. But, this quickly became a novel with multiple romance story lines and twists and I found them to be trite and predictable. It was an easy read with simple prose. There are many excellent reviews so if romance and happy endings are your things, go for it.
September 30, 2022
A delicious read to savor! This book will capture you with the plot. And then the characters will grab your heart. Loved following Rebecca's journey to America and how her path of hope and heartbreak played out through the pages. The ending was perfect.
- Historial Fiction Fan
- Historial Fiction Fan
May 31, 2025
I enjoyed this book a lot. I live in Palm Beach County, not far from the beautiful hotel The Breakers, which is the backdrop for this historical fiction book. The characters were well developed and the book was full of history!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews