A heartrending story about a young mother’s fight to keep her daughter, and the winds of fortune that tear them apart by the New York Times bestselling author of The Nature of Fragile Things and The Last Year of the War.
California, 1938—When she loses her parents in an accident, sixteen-year-old Rosanne is taken in by the owners of the vineyard where she has lived her whole life as the vinedresser’s daughter. She moves into Celine and Truman Calvert’s spacious house with a secret, however—Rosie sees colors when she hears sound. She promised her mother she’d never reveal her little-understood ability to anyone, but the weight of her isolation and grief prove too much for her. Driven by her loneliness she not only breaks the vow to her mother, but in a desperate moment lets down her guard and ends up pregnant. Banished by the Calverts, Rosanne believes she is bound for a home for unwed mothers, and having lost her family she treasures her pregnancy as the chance for a future one. But she soon finds out she is not going to a home of any kind, but to a place far worse than anything she could have imagined.
Austria, 1947—After witnessing firsthand Adolf Hitler’s brutal pursuit of hereditary purity—especially with regard to “different children”—Helen Calvert, Truman’s sister, is ready to return to America for good. But when she arrives at her brother’s peaceful vineyard after decades working abroad, she is shocked to learn what really happened nine years earlier to the vinedresser’s daughter, a girl whom Helen had long ago befriended. In her determination to find Rosanne, Helen discovers that while the war had been won in Europe, there are still terrifying battles to be fought at home.
My Review:
A tough read, but an important one. I’m firmly in the camp that believes we need to remember our past mistakes in order to prevent them from happening again. Sadly, the issues dealt with in this novel haven’t yet been erased from the world’s history. In fact, they seem to have morphed into parallel issues that come from similar roots. And that’s what made this such a difficult read for me, though ultimately a worthwhile one.
Told in two voices in a kind of split time — just a decade or so spans the two POVs. Both are heartrending, but I think Roseanne’s story was more of a sucker punch for me. Probably because it happened in North America and it is impossible to dismiss the idea that such atrocities would never happen here. Meissner does an amazing job with phrasing and pacing — so compelling. Even the harrowing parts hold a certain beauty and I think that’s because she made it all so real and so easy for my emotions to become entangled with Roseanne’s story.
Some of Helen’s POV are reflections on her experiences in Nazi occupied Austria during the war. But it’s also about her coming to grips with an uncertain homecoming and the shocking discovery that compels her to attempt to right a horrific wrong.
I cried buckets by the end. Such a firestorm of emotion that just came pouring out. But I’m also wiser and more convicted to make a difference now, the way these heroines did. An immersive and memorable read.
I listened to the audio edition narrated by Xe Sands and Jorjeana Marie. Incredible performances from both.
Of Note: not a Christian Fiction selection but a clean read other than a few mild language issues.
GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:
ebook available to anyone with a .com kindle account OR a gift card for Canadians so they can purchase their own ebook. (Amazon doesn’t allow ebook gifting in Canada?!)
If you would like a chance to win a copy of Only the Beautiful, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it’s easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday May 13, 2023. Offer open to International Readers.
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