Review: Portrait of a Woman in White by Susan Winkler

Young lovers are torn apart when Lili Rosenswig flees Paris with her family as the Nazis invade and her husband-to-be stays to defend his country. When the Nazis loot the family’s gallery, including a beloved portrait of Lili's mother, art, love, and war are entwined in an enthralling new historical novel, Portrait of a Woman in White by Susan Winkler.

Susan was captivated by French art and culture as a young child. Her appreciation deepened through a grad school degree in French literature and a career writing non-fiction guidebooks to Paris. Historical accounts of how the Nazis appropriated French art collections – primarily artwork owned by Jewish families – during World War II fired her imagination, inspiring a story of one fictional family’s loss and struggle to rebuild the family identity and fortune in a new country.

The book works all the way through. The story is compelling and well-told, with a lot of plot packed between the covers. The characters are believable people who change in believable ways as the story unfolds. Lili in particular becomes more interesting as she matures from a sassy pre-war teen ager to a responsible adult with difficult choices to face.

With war-torn lovers, a family saga plot, and a stolen Matisse, Portrait of a Woman in White is a terrific novel. Each copy should come with a "Perfect for Book Club" sticker on the cover!

OTHER REVIEWS

• American Girls Art Club In Paris

If you would like your review of this book listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it.

NOTES

Read my interview of Susan Winkler here.

Also recommended: "French Impressions: Susan Winkler’s Portrait of a Woman in White on love, loss, and the human ability to reinvent oneself" on A Woman's Paris.

Teaser Tuesday: Skios

As the director of the foundation has become more eccentric and reclusive, so had his choices of lecturer become more idiosyncratic. The Post-syncretistic Approach to whatever it was the previous year had caused even Mrs. Toppler, who was prepared to thank almost anybody for almost anything, to choke on the task, which was perhaps the unconscious reason she had left the “not” out of this being an occasion they would not forget in a hurry.

-- Skios by Michael Frayn

Michael Frayn wrote the hilarious and perpetually-running play, Noises Off, so it is no surprise that he could take a similar formula for intricate farce, set it on a Greek Island, and come up with a winner.  Skios is non-stop funny.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Jenn at A Daily Rhythm, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday & GIVEAWAY Winner

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event. Mailbox Monday has now returned to its permanent home where you can link to your MM post.

GIVEAWAY WINNER

I got a short stack of books last week. But first, the GIVEAWAY winner of a copy of A Common Meal is Andrea Stoeckel from Syracuse, New York! Andrea won a new copy of A Common Meal: A Devotional and Practical Guide to Rice & Beans Month, published by Lahash International.



A Common Meal is a guide and companion for Rice & Beans month, a project where families or whole communities eat simple meals during the month of March (or during Lent) and send the money they save to help hungry families in Est Africa.  It is a program started in 2010 by Lahash International in partnership with local ministries in Africa.






MAILBOX MONDAY BOOKS

Thanks to a swing through my favorite library friends' store, Booktique in Lake Oswego (a must for all Portland-area book lovers), where the weekly special was half off all trade paperbacks, I picked up four new mysteries:



The Princess of Burundi by Kjell Eriksson (Winner of the Swedish Crime Academy Award for Best Crime Novel)



About the Author by John Colapinto (a clever looking mystery with a literary plot)



Payment in Blood by Elizabeth George (I'm working on gathering all of her Inspector Lynley books)



The Water's Lovely by Ruth Rendell (one of her stand alones)

Book Beginning & GIVEAWAY Reminder: A Common Meal

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book  Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



MY BOOK BEGINNING

Each year since 2010, Rice & Beans Month participants have spent the month of March (or the 40 days of Lent) putting love into action through three central themes:

1. Simplicity: altering our diets to emphasize basic and inexpensive meals

2. Solidarity: standing in unity with our brothers and sisters in East Africa who have limited resources and inadequate nutrition

3. Sharing: donating our save money so that vulnerable kids and their families can receive much-needed nutritional support.

-- A Common Meal: A Devotional and Practical Guide to Rice & Beans Month, published by Lahash International.

THE BOOK:

A Common Meal offers recipes, daily devotions, lessons, and stories to accompany a family through Rice & Beans month. Lahash International started Rice & Beans Month in 2010 in partnership with local ministries in Africa.  Each year, during the month of March (or Lent), families or communities eat simple meals in solidarity with the less fortunate.  They take the money they save and donate it to hunger-relief and agricultural programs in East Africa.

Read more about A Common Meal and Rice & Beans Month at www.eatriceandbeans.com.

THE GIVEAWAY:

I have one copy of A Common Meal available for a giveaway to someone who is interested in taking part in Rice & Beans Month.  Details for the GIVEAWAY are here on this page (click the link).

The contest is for readers in the USA and is open until Sunday, March 8, 2015 at 9:00 PST.

Teaser Tuesday & GIVEAWAY Reminder: A Common Meal

We have forgotten that the heart of communion is the gathering of souls, not the filling of stomachs. Food gives us a reason to be together, but it is not the reason.

-- A Common Meal: A Devotional and Practical Guide to Rice & Beans Month, published by Lahash International.

THE BOOK:

A Common Meal is a guide and companion for Rice & Beans month, a project where individuals, families, or communities eat simple meals during the month of March (or Lent) in solidarity with the poor.  They then share the savings with hungry families in East Africa.

Portland-based Lahash International started Rice & Beans Month in 2010 in partnership with local ministries in Africa. The goal is to not only provide immediate food distribution, but also to lay the foundation for agricultural programs that will sustain these East Africa families for years to come.

The books offers daily devotions and discussion prompts for each day of Rice & Beans Month, as well inspiring stories and simple recipes.  It is a great way to teach kids lessons about material wealth, ease, and comfort, and real spiritual values.

THE GIVEAWAY:

I have one copy of A Common Meal available for a giveaway to someone who is interested in taking part in Rice & Beans Month.  Details for the GIVEAWAY are here on this page.

The contest is for readers in the USA and is open until Sunday, March 8, 2015 at 9:00 PST.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.