Homestead

Lippi's characters are nothing short of wonderful. There is, for example, Johanna, whose heart is torn between her love for Francesco--a soldier hiding in the Austrian Alps--and her sister Angelika, who hides her dependence upon Johanna behind not-so-subtle reminders of familial duty. And there is Katharina, whose impulsiveness causes her to betray her two half-brothers for a ride in a Nazi motorcar, and Stante, who proves his worth not only in the Wainwright's workshop but also by his courage withstanding the Nazis. The character portrayals are based upon Lippi's own experiences living in Austria for four years. You'll hate for these stories to end.

Product Description
Each life has its place, and every variation ripples the surface of the tiny alpine village called Rosenau. Be it a mysteriously misaddressed love letter or a girl's careless delivery of two helpless relatives into Nazi hands, the town's balance is ever tested, and ever tender. Here is a novel spanning eighty years -- years that bring factories and wars, store-bought cheese and city-trained teachers -- weaving the fates of the wives, mothers, and daughters in this remote corner of Austria. To quote Rosellen Brown, "the women in this haunting book are deeply and uniquely of their place, yet they speak (often wordlessly) of women's longings and satisfactions everywhere."

You will love this book and will want to pass it on so you can talk about it with your friends!


Watch for the family trees   July 16, 2001
Carol Peterson Hennekens (Colorado Springs, CO United States)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I would have enjoyed it a great deal more if the family trees had been placed in the front of the book rather than in the appendix (since I was a good girl and didn't skip ahead to the end). Considering there is a whole story devoted to a postcard mailed to "Anna" where the intended receipient could have be half of the village, keeping track of the names is tricky. The family trees are really helpful - if you know they are there.

Otherwise, the format of the book makes for good reading. The book is a series of episodes in the lives of the women in three families. They aren't quite short stories since characters and plot lines reappear every so often. At the same time, the stories are distinct enough that I was able to put the book down between chapters.

Bottom-line: A pleasant read with the chance to armchair travel into life in a small Austrian village. Our book group liked the book a great deal although it didn't stimulate an extensive discussion.


A Beautiful Book!   January 22, 2000
Christine L. Braun (Virginia, USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

This book is a gem. I didn't know I could identify so completely with characters from another country, time, and way of life. Lippi's writing gifts are responsible; they make every one of these stories evocative and memorable. I only wish she'd write more stories about the people of Rosenau -- not moving forward in time but paralleling the time she's already covered.


A wonderfully written and touching story   March 21, 2002
Leigh Munro (LONDON United Kingdom)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

This is a marvellous book. It is the story of a small Alpine village over the course of 70 years told through the lives of the women who lived there. Each chapter is the story of an individual woman at a point in time, but the stories weave in and out so that you never lose track of what happened to them. I found the book deeply satisfying to read - at times it was funny, it was always touching and often very sad. I felt I was involved in the lives of these women (and their men-folk), there was great suspense and it was extremely well-written.

I wonder what other readers made of the final chapter - it seemed to me that everything had come full circle. I would love to read this novel as part of a book club discussion.

If you enjoy "literary fiction" this book is for you - you will not be disappointed. It entertains and it stimulates - what more can any reader ask for?