THE PHOENIX INHERITANCE by Derek Rossitter
Authors Online
Genre: Fictional Saga
Rating: Good
ISBN: 99780755202867, $14.95, 252 pp.
Quoting from the back cover:
“This enthralling and nostalgic tale is set in the same period as the author’s companion novel, Splendour Postponed, i.e. the hundred years between 1870 and 1970. It recounts the story of three families caught up in an intricate web of love, hate, prejudice, hope, despair, treason, murder, forgiveness and reconciliation. The action moves between Germany, England, Switzerland, Austria and France and embraces both world wars and the Holocaust.”
The novel begins in Berlin 1871 with Josef Aronberg, proprietor of an international textile import/export business, deciding what to do about his unproductive business manager in London, Reuben, his wife’s only brother. Josef decides to send his son Isaac and family to replace Reuben and set Reuben up with his own bookshop.
As there are several families involved over a one hundred year period, the 252-page novel moves fairly rapidly until about the middle where it slows down over the issue of prejudice and anti-Semitism just before World War II. After the war, the pace resumes. The primary families are 1) the Aronbergs, Threlfalls, Arbitants, Prestons, and Winslows. The central theme throughout deals with discrimination, prejudice and violence against people of Jewish heritage.
Derek Rossitter does a good job in keeping his reader interested and moving forward, in developing his characters, and weaving it all together. He includes the genealogies of 4 of the families which is very helpful in keeping tract of who’s who, their marriages and children. The only criticism I have is that the editing with regard to punctuation is poor...not just a few errors, and this takes away from a professional presentation.
In general, however, it is a good read and if you like this type of family fictional saga, give it a try.
Kaye Trout - September 9, 2011
Genre: Fictional Saga
Rating: Good
ISBN: 99780755202867, $14.95, 252 pp.
Quoting from the back cover:
“This enthralling and nostalgic tale is set in the same period as the author’s companion novel, Splendour Postponed, i.e. the hundred years between 1870 and 1970. It recounts the story of three families caught up in an intricate web of love, hate, prejudice, hope, despair, treason, murder, forgiveness and reconciliation. The action moves between Germany, England, Switzerland, Austria and France and embraces both world wars and the Holocaust.”
The novel begins in Berlin 1871 with Josef Aronberg, proprietor of an international textile import/export business, deciding what to do about his unproductive business manager in London, Reuben, his wife’s only brother. Josef decides to send his son Isaac and family to replace Reuben and set Reuben up with his own bookshop.
As there are several families involved over a one hundred year period, the 252-page novel moves fairly rapidly until about the middle where it slows down over the issue of prejudice and anti-Semitism just before World War II. After the war, the pace resumes. The primary families are 1) the Aronbergs, Threlfalls, Arbitants, Prestons, and Winslows. The central theme throughout deals with discrimination, prejudice and violence against people of Jewish heritage.
Derek Rossitter does a good job in keeping his reader interested and moving forward, in developing his characters, and weaving it all together. He includes the genealogies of 4 of the families which is very helpful in keeping tract of who’s who, their marriages and children. The only criticism I have is that the editing with regard to punctuation is poor...not just a few errors, and this takes away from a professional presentation.
In general, however, it is a good read and if you like this type of family fictional saga, give it a try.
Kaye Trout - September 9, 2011
posted by Kaye | 3:19 PM
