Harvest
A Novel
-
-
5.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $6.99
Publisher Description
"With the rich threads of Evergreen, The Golden Cup, and Tapestry, skillful storyteller [Belva] Plain continues to weave her eventful saga of the Werners."—Publishers Weekly
Only one man knew the secret Anna Friedman vowed to carry to her grave. Only he could undo her perfect life, and he had kept his silence—and his distance—for years. Yet as she watched her daughter Iris marry and have her own family, Anna saw the slow corrosion of a lifetime of secrets seep into a new generation. Iris’s “ideal” marriage was built on silence and lies . . . their rebellious son found his calling in anti–Vietnam War violence, fueled by rage. Anna’s was the only voice that spoke to them all as she struggled to undo the damage of the past. Then powerful banker Paul Werner returned, opening old wounds, driven to help Anna and the family he barely knew.
From New York’s luxurious suburbs to war-torn Israel, from Italian palazzi to California communes, Belva Plain’s sweeping epic begun in Evergreen reaches its triumphant conclusion. Don’t miss Belva Plain’s other magnificent novels that feature the indomitable Werner family: Evergreen, The Golden Cup, and Tapestry.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
With the rich threads of Evergreen , The Golden Cup and Tapestry , skillful storyteller Plain continues to weave her eventful saga of the Werners and their extended clan as they reaffirm their Jewish heritage during the stormy 1960s. Dark, sensitive Iris, daughter of the glowing, russet-haired Anna (by urbane banker Paul Werner--unbeknownst to Iris) is married to wealthy, improvident Dr. Theo Stern, whose European glamour excites other women. Iris's jealousy goads her to play at her own romance with a sinister partner. Her four children are growing up, but rebel Steve balks at his bar mitzvah, already anticipating the anarchist/bomb expert he will be at college, radicalized by cynical professor Tim Powers, whom he doesn't know is his distant cousin. When Paul's wife dies and his mistress leaves to fulfill her mission as a doctor in Israel, Paul hovers protectively over Iris's troubled family. A violent quarrel between Iris and Theo erupts into near tragedy, and Paul takes action. Plain's prose is never better than workmanlike, but the narrative moves quickly as her doughty characters surmount their alloted share of adversity. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selections; Reader's Digest Condensed Book.
