Helpful Score: 1
I just love Belva Plain, and this book is I think one of her best...In this magnificent return to the world of Evergreen, Henrietta Roth, an extraordinary woman, fights to control her destiny;and three turbulent generations come vividly to life against a background of immigrant struggle, war and passion...
Three generations involved in the struggle of war while being immigrants. Historical novel at its best.
Set in turn-of-the-century New York, Plain focuses on irrepressible Hennie De Riveraaunt of Evergreen's Paul Wernerand. Hennie's stagnant existence ends when she begins dating Dan Roth, an impoverished science teacher and social reformer who despises the materialistic excesses of the rich. She weds him despite her middle-class family's objections and his earlier womanizing. The marriage is tested when Dan's activism alienates Hennie's wealthy brother-in-law, Walter Werner, whose father owns tenements, and when Hennie agrees to raise Leah, daughter of a dying factory worker. The girl matures into a shrewd, forceful woman who gravitates toward the Roths' exceptionally mild-mannered son, Freddy. While their relationship intensifies, Walter's son, Paul, weds affluent Mimi Mayer, yet he cannot dismiss his passion for Anna, his mother's winsome maid.
The author writes with "historical relavance", while insightfully depicting the class consciousness of pre and post WWI New York. This is a great family saga, which is well loved by readers of this genre.
She is a great storyteller! It is about immigrants in New York thru 3 generations.
From the back cover - In this magnificent return to the world of 'Evergreen,' Henrietta Roth, and extraordinary woman, fights to control her destiny; and three turbulent generations come vividly to life against a background of immigrant struggle, war and passion.
In this magnificent retturn to the world of Evergreen Henriettea Roth as extraordinary woman fight to contro her destiny and three turbulent generations come vividly to life
In the return to the world of Evergreen, Henrietta Roth fights to control her destiny, and three turbulent generations come vividly to life against a background of immigrant struggle, war and passion.
