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Künstlers in Paradise
There was a time when the family Künstler lived in the fairy-tale city of Vienna. Circumstances transformed the fairy tale into a nightmare, and in 1939 the Künstlers found their way out of Vienna and into a new fairy Los Angeles, California, United States of America.
For years Mamie Künstler, ninety-three years old, as clever and glamorous as ever, has lived happily in her bungalow in Venice, California, with her inscrutable housekeeper and her gigantic St. Bernard. Their tranquility is upended when Mamie’s grandson Julian arrives from New York City. Like many a twentysomething, he has come to seek his fortune in Hollywood. But it is 2020, the global pandemic sweeps in, and Julian’s short visit suddenly has no end in sight.
Mamie was only eleven when the Künstlers escaped Vienna in 1939. They made their way, stunned and overwhelmed, to sunny, surreal Los Angeles, where they joined a colony of distinguished Jewish musicians, writers, and intellectuals also escaping Hitler. Now, faced with months of lockdown and a willing listener, Mamie begins to tell Julian the buried stories of her years in Los her escapades with eminent émigrés like Arnold Schoenberg, Christopher Isherwood, Thomas Mann. Oh, and Greta Garbo. While the pandemic cuts Julian off from the life he knows, Mamie’s tales open up a world of lives that came before him. They reveal to him just how much the past holds of the future.
For years Mamie Künstler, ninety-three years old, as clever and glamorous as ever, has lived happily in her bungalow in Venice, California, with her inscrutable housekeeper and her gigantic St. Bernard. Their tranquility is upended when Mamie’s grandson Julian arrives from New York City. Like many a twentysomething, he has come to seek his fortune in Hollywood. But it is 2020, the global pandemic sweeps in, and Julian’s short visit suddenly has no end in sight.
Mamie was only eleven when the Künstlers escaped Vienna in 1939. They made their way, stunned and overwhelmed, to sunny, surreal Los Angeles, where they joined a colony of distinguished Jewish musicians, writers, and intellectuals also escaping Hitler. Now, faced with months of lockdown and a willing listener, Mamie begins to tell Julian the buried stories of her years in Los her escapades with eminent émigrés like Arnold Schoenberg, Christopher Isherwood, Thomas Mann. Oh, and Greta Garbo. While the pandemic cuts Julian off from the life he knows, Mamie’s tales open up a world of lives that came before him. They reveal to him just how much the past holds of the future.
272 pages, Paperback
First published March 14, 2023
359 people are currently reading
12325 people want to read
About the author
Cathleen Schine
27 books597 followersCathleen Schine is the author of The New Yorkers, The Love Letter, and The Three Weissmanns of Westport among other novels. She has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, and The New York Times Book Review.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 568 reviews
October 5, 2023
While stories about the Holocaust and Jewish trauma are often hard to read, they're hard to read for a reason. If you know me at all, you know I can only do one WWII book a year. The genre is pervasive, and not in my favorite area of historical fiction. And while I wouldn't call this book quite that, as it's mostly a contemporary novel about a family that emigrated, fleeing the war, the touches of sadness are obviously still there.
Mamie is the matriarch of the Künstler family, having fled Austria in 1939 to settle in Los Angeles. I very much enjoyed the stories she told her grandchildren. Even more so, the descriptions of a Los Angeles set in the past. This is definitely more of a family story than one of war. As always with a story told in two time periods, I enjoyed Mamie's more than Julian's.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.
Mamie is the matriarch of the Künstler family, having fled Austria in 1939 to settle in Los Angeles. I very much enjoyed the stories she told her grandchildren. Even more so, the descriptions of a Los Angeles set in the past. This is definitely more of a family story than one of war. As always with a story told in two time periods, I enjoyed Mamie's more than Julian's.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.
January 21, 2023
Delightful book about 93 years old, Maime, who escaped Hitler’s war with her family when she was eleven years old. They settled in LA California in the early 30’s, surrounded by Hollywood heavies, and a group of talented immigrants from Germany and Eastern Europe.
Maime invites her 24 year old nephew, Jullian, to come to visit her from NY. During his visit the Pandemic hits and he’s stuck in lockdown with her and her elderly friend, Agatha.
Maime starts telling Jullian about her life, during their 4:00 pm cocktail hour, as he takes copious notes, hoping to turn it into a screen play.
Jullian stays for a full year getting the best ‘education’ from Maime. It’s a fun and heartwarming story. I didn’t want it to end.
Thank you Edelweiss and Henry Holt & Co.
Maime invites her 24 year old nephew, Jullian, to come to visit her from NY. During his visit the Pandemic hits and he’s stuck in lockdown with her and her elderly friend, Agatha.
Maime starts telling Jullian about her life, during their 4:00 pm cocktail hour, as he takes copious notes, hoping to turn it into a screen play.
Jullian stays for a full year getting the best ‘education’ from Maime. It’s a fun and heartwarming story. I didn’t want it to end.
Thank you Edelweiss and Henry Holt & Co.
April 4, 2023
Received ARC from GR Giveaway - As a fan of 20th Century historic fiction I was excited to receive this ARC. I am sad to be so disappointed. The storyline is promising and the plot starts out with an upward trajectory. After the grandson Julian moves in, and everyone is quarantined, the story stagnates.
With each chapter I was hopeful that it would improve but it remained as flat as the pandemic experience it chronicles. The dialog was challenging- Grandma Mamie telling stories was wonderful...but then when the author attempted to have the grandson retell Mamie's story to his lockdown girlfriend it was convoluted. Any wonder or dramatic tension over anticipating then learning what great California local or WWII emigre would cameo Mamie's life is lost when the grandson Googles. In the end it seemed more like a mish-mash of name-dropping than a fully-realized historic fiction narrative.
With each chapter I was hopeful that it would improve but it remained as flat as the pandemic experience it chronicles. The dialog was challenging- Grandma Mamie telling stories was wonderful...but then when the author attempted to have the grandson retell Mamie's story to his lockdown girlfriend it was convoluted. Any wonder or dramatic tension over anticipating then learning what great California local or WWII emigre would cameo Mamie's life is lost when the grandson Googles. In the end it seemed more like a mish-mash of name-dropping than a fully-realized historic fiction narrative.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 19, 2024
"Kunstler" is the name of a Viennese Jewish family who emigrated to Los Angeles, California just before World War II. In Vienna, the father in the family had been stripped of his employment and the daughter (11 years old at the time) was made to stand at the back of her classroom, without a desk. Anti-Semitic acts were occurring all around them. The father was a composer. A network of musicians helped the family leave Austria and settle in California. The family viewed California with its sunshine and orange trees as a paradise. Ironically, it was the mother's job as a film writer in Hollywood which supported the family there - not the father's work.
When I started reading, I saw some parallels between this novel and Anthony Marra's book, Mercury Pictures Presents. Both describe how Hollywood absorbed so many European immigrants during World War II. As described in "Kunstlers in Paradise," jobs were invented and affidavits signed by Jewish Americans to help Jewish refugees flee the terror that was happening overseas.
However, this was just the first part of the novel. It centered around Mamie, the young daughter of the family who came here from Europe with her family. We see her early beginnings in Venice, Ca. and then skip to her at age 92. We learn that she is a retired violinist living with her housekeeper/friend (Agatha). It is now the beginning of the Covid pandemic and her 24 year old grandson Julian comes to live with them.
The author's writing style is humorous and intelligent. I found myself laughing aloud during parts of the story. Yet, I thought the middle of the book drifted too much into details about Mamie's encounters with Hollywood celebrities. This became boring.
The pearls in the book for me were the relationships between Mamie and her family members, including Agatha. There were some emotional truths that resonated with me.
When I started reading, I saw some parallels between this novel and Anthony Marra's book, Mercury Pictures Presents. Both describe how Hollywood absorbed so many European immigrants during World War II. As described in "Kunstlers in Paradise," jobs were invented and affidavits signed by Jewish Americans to help Jewish refugees flee the terror that was happening overseas.
However, this was just the first part of the novel. It centered around Mamie, the young daughter of the family who came here from Europe with her family. We see her early beginnings in Venice, Ca. and then skip to her at age 92. We learn that she is a retired violinist living with her housekeeper/friend (Agatha). It is now the beginning of the Covid pandemic and her 24 year old grandson Julian comes to live with them.
The author's writing style is humorous and intelligent. I found myself laughing aloud during parts of the story. Yet, I thought the middle of the book drifted too much into details about Mamie's encounters with Hollywood celebrities. This became boring.
The pearls in the book for me were the relationships between Mamie and her family members, including Agatha. There were some emotional truths that resonated with me.
April 15, 2023
This is a rather light-hearted novel that involves, in part, extremely dark times. This is a novel of a Jewish family, in particular 11-year-old Mamie, escaping from Vienna in 1939 just in time. And then the characters are subsumed by the COVID-19 pandemic and needing to shelter in place. Not exactly light stuff. However, in the hands of this author, there is very little discomfort or pain expressed.
Mamie, who is 93 years old and living in Venice, CA, gets a visit from her struggling 24 year old grandson Julian. Julian has just lost his job, his apartment and his girlfriend. His parents refuse to subsidize his living, so he is shipped off to California to help his grandmother. While there, she tells him stories from her life. She was a classical violinist and met some rather noted people. The two that get the most air time are Greta Garbo and Arnold Schoenberg. Garbo is the beautiful elusive woman who opens Mamie up to romance and passion. Schoenberg provides a means to break out of the norm, but in a very structured and controlled manner. These become important lessons for Mamie throughout her life.
There is also survivor's guilt for the Kuntslers as they learn of the horrors of the Holocaust, and although L.A. is a sort of paradise for them, they also have some problems fitting in as emigres, as they call themselves. They are a very artistic family, the mother works for a movie studio and the father is a composer. However, they never really make it in America, and there is some longing for the elegance and history of Vienna.
So Mamie creates a life for herself, Julian finds a new young woman to be a potential soul mate, and no major tragedies happen to them. The stories are mostly pretty fascinating and they definitely drive the novel. There is some wry humor, and the characters are so well drawn. Not Schine's best, but still a very worthy read.
Mamie, who is 93 years old and living in Venice, CA, gets a visit from her struggling 24 year old grandson Julian. Julian has just lost his job, his apartment and his girlfriend. His parents refuse to subsidize his living, so he is shipped off to California to help his grandmother. While there, she tells him stories from her life. She was a classical violinist and met some rather noted people. The two that get the most air time are Greta Garbo and Arnold Schoenberg. Garbo is the beautiful elusive woman who opens Mamie up to romance and passion. Schoenberg provides a means to break out of the norm, but in a very structured and controlled manner. These become important lessons for Mamie throughout her life.
There is also survivor's guilt for the Kuntslers as they learn of the horrors of the Holocaust, and although L.A. is a sort of paradise for them, they also have some problems fitting in as emigres, as they call themselves. They are a very artistic family, the mother works for a movie studio and the father is a composer. However, they never really make it in America, and there is some longing for the elegance and history of Vienna.
So Mamie creates a life for herself, Julian finds a new young woman to be a potential soul mate, and no major tragedies happen to them. The stories are mostly pretty fascinating and they definitely drive the novel. There is some wry humor, and the characters are so well drawn. Not Schine's best, but still a very worthy read.
March 26, 2023
Possibly the most tedious book I’ve read in awhile, right up there with Still Life, another book with a compelling premise that falls flat on execution.
I wish I understood better what Schine was attempting to do with trying to intertwine the early days of the COVID pandemic with the experiences of Jewish emigres fleeing the Holocaust. What lessons from the ‘30s and ‘40s did Mamie learn that she could pass on to Julian, to help him navigate this fraught time of his own life? It would have been a heavy lift, but in the hands of a more competent writer, it could have been a compelling read. Instead, we get pages of name-dropping references (with a truly implausible sideplot concerning one of them); lectures on music theory; a history of Venice, California; the lessons tennis can teach us; and a relationship between two masked-up twentysomethings that attempts to flesh out Mamie’s lectures.
Telling the story through flashbacks, instead of narrative, may have added more depth and maybe could have connected the years better than reading often-tedious ramblings. Superficial character development also did not help. Julian was a spoiled, whiny brat. Julian’s parents were stereotypes of Jewish parents. Agatha — was she really needed? I literally could not care less about any of them the closer I got to the end.
Again, I ask: Just what was the point of this? It’s a question I ask often of a lot of new fiction, sadly. I did not read Schine before this book, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or be offended at the blurb on the dust jacket from People — “Schine is a modern-day Jewish Jane Austen.” Based my introduction to her with this book, which disinclines me to read others from her, I most strongly disagree.
I wish I understood better what Schine was attempting to do with trying to intertwine the early days of the COVID pandemic with the experiences of Jewish emigres fleeing the Holocaust. What lessons from the ‘30s and ‘40s did Mamie learn that she could pass on to Julian, to help him navigate this fraught time of his own life? It would have been a heavy lift, but in the hands of a more competent writer, it could have been a compelling read. Instead, we get pages of name-dropping references (with a truly implausible sideplot concerning one of them); lectures on music theory; a history of Venice, California; the lessons tennis can teach us; and a relationship between two masked-up twentysomethings that attempts to flesh out Mamie’s lectures.
Telling the story through flashbacks, instead of narrative, may have added more depth and maybe could have connected the years better than reading often-tedious ramblings. Superficial character development also did not help. Julian was a spoiled, whiny brat. Julian’s parents were stereotypes of Jewish parents. Agatha — was she really needed? I literally could not care less about any of them the closer I got to the end.
Again, I ask: Just what was the point of this? It’s a question I ask often of a lot of new fiction, sadly. I did not read Schine before this book, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or be offended at the blurb on the dust jacket from People — “Schine is a modern-day Jewish Jane Austen.” Based my introduction to her with this book, which disinclines me to read others from her, I most strongly disagree.
unable-to-finish
October 10, 2025dnf at page 134. I don't really like most novels that are about one character telling stories to another character. Too static.
August 26, 2022
I loved visiting the paradise of the Kuntslers, and enjoyed the basic story. We are now seeing novels responding to the nightmare of the Covid pandemic. Schine manages to eliminate the darkness and bring us a beautiful pandemic/coming of age/love story.
Julian Kuntsler is lost in Brooklyn. He seems aimless and disconnected from the harsh realities of what it means to be an adult. He is banished by his parents for a visit to his grandmother, Mamie in LA. It is there that he winds up spending his Covid exile. Such an enchanted period when his grandmother shares her stories with him and with us. She was part of the emigré community in Hollywood, narrowly escaping the horrors of the Holocaust.
As Julian learns her history, she shares wonderful stories about that time and her life. The stories really engaged me and as they entertained. Schine has a very special knack of writing about the elderly with sweetness and respect. She has done that in earlier novels and succeeds again here. Mamie and her companion, Agatha, are delightful.
Even the ending, charming and unexpected, provides an appropriate end to Julian’s visit to paradise.
Thank you Netgalley for this charmed visit to paradise.
Julian Kuntsler is lost in Brooklyn. He seems aimless and disconnected from the harsh realities of what it means to be an adult. He is banished by his parents for a visit to his grandmother, Mamie in LA. It is there that he winds up spending his Covid exile. Such an enchanted period when his grandmother shares her stories with him and with us. She was part of the emigré community in Hollywood, narrowly escaping the horrors of the Holocaust.
As Julian learns her history, she shares wonderful stories about that time and her life. The stories really engaged me and as they entertained. Schine has a very special knack of writing about the elderly with sweetness and respect. She has done that in earlier novels and succeeds again here. Mamie and her companion, Agatha, are delightful.
Even the ending, charming and unexpected, provides an appropriate end to Julian’s visit to paradise.
Thank you Netgalley for this charmed visit to paradise.
December 3, 2022
I received this book from Goodreads giveaway, thank you. I have to be honest, I could not finish the book. I read only the first 50 pages. It started out keeping me intrigued but as soon as it went into COVID lockdown mode I lost interest. I don’t need nor do I want to read about COVID. There is nothing in the preview of the book that states it is about COVID lockdown. My apologies to Goodreads giveaways that I could not finish reading. To many other books to read.
February 22, 2023
I've never read anything by Cathleen Schine before, but I really enjoyed this part-historical fiction novel, part-COVID pandemic novel. The book centers on Mamie Künstler who fled Nazi-controlled Vienna with her family as a child in 1939. We then fast-forward to the beginnings of lockdown in 2020, and her grandson, Julian, is stuck with her for the better part of a year. The two are an unlikely pair, but they grow closer together while Mamie shares anecdotes from her life.
There's a lot to like about this book, but I really appreciated the almost meandering format. Mamie's memories jump around from her childhood upon entering the United States to adulthood to more recent moments as a ninety-three year-old woman. She found herself in many unique situations, and I also appreciated that she aided in the transformation of her grandson from a bit of a brat at the beginning to something that resembled a maturing young adult.
Overall, this was a very interesting, sweetly comedic look into a few unique characters. Fans of historical fiction will be impressed.
There's a lot to like about this book, but I really appreciated the almost meandering format. Mamie's memories jump around from her childhood upon entering the United States to adulthood to more recent moments as a ninety-three year-old woman. She found herself in many unique situations, and I also appreciated that she aided in the transformation of her grandson from a bit of a brat at the beginning to something that resembled a maturing young adult.
Overall, this was a very interesting, sweetly comedic look into a few unique characters. Fans of historical fiction will be impressed.
March 13, 2023
This was my first book by new to me author Cathleen Shine and it was epic and unforgettable! Featuring 93-year-old Mamie Künstler, we get to know what her life was like immigrating to Venice, California from Vienna during WWII as a Jewish refugee.
Told through flashbacks as she shares her life story with her grandson, Julian, who is staying with Mamie during the COVID-19 lockdown. I really enjoyed the intergenerational friendship and reading about such a strong, interesting older woman protagonist!
Give us more books about fascinating older women please! This was also great as an audiobook narrated by Jesse Vilinsky! Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Librofm for the early ALC in exchange for my honest review! Recommended for fans of The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
Told through flashbacks as she shares her life story with her grandson, Julian, who is staying with Mamie during the COVID-19 lockdown. I really enjoyed the intergenerational friendship and reading about such a strong, interesting older woman protagonist!
Give us more books about fascinating older women please! This was also great as an audiobook narrated by Jesse Vilinsky! Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Librofm for the early ALC in exchange for my honest review! Recommended for fans of The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
April 15, 2023
Good premise. A bit shallow. A lot of unanswered questions in the end.
September 12, 2023
I think my expectations were set too high. I was ready for Mamie Kunstler to share stories of loss and luck with her grandson Julian, who stayed with her during the early days of the Covid pandemic. Her family fled the Nazis in Vienna when she was just 11 after all. And those few early chapters that described that time were the best parts of this book. But instead of sharing those stories, Mamie shared those of Hollywood parties while Julian recorded them in his moleskins for posterity.
I’ve never written a book, of course and I know it’s no easy feat but despite a few moments of laugh-out-loud humor and a very special relationship between Mamie and her caretaker/friend Agatha, I was bored throughout the majority of this story. It just lacked emotional resonance for me.
I’ve never written a book, of course and I know it’s no easy feat but despite a few moments of laugh-out-loud humor and a very special relationship between Mamie and her caretaker/friend Agatha, I was bored throughout the majority of this story. It just lacked emotional resonance for me.
May 15, 2025
Kunstlers in Paradise is a dual timeline novel that takes place in 1939, Vienna, during WWII, and 2020, Venice California, during the Covid pandemic. The main character, Mamie, now 93yrs old was only 11yrs old when her family escaped war torn Vienna. The other main character is Mamie's grandson, Julian. Julian, twenty-something, is down on his NY luck and off to CA to stay with Mamie while he follows his dream of Hollywood stardom. The move is not exactly favored by either party, but it is only meant to be a temporary visit. Mamie, housebound, is elderly and could use an extra helping hand these days and Julian is a lost soul looking for some meaning and direction in his own life.
Then it happens, 2020 hits, as does the Covid pandemic. The world is on lockdown and these two quickly become reluctant, yet long term, roommates. At first, against Julian's will, he is forced to listen to Mamie and all of her life experiences. He soon finds interest in the amazing ups and downs she has endured throughout her extraordinary life. Can it be that the two go from coexisting to being friendly companions? Julian finds he does not have to search far to find meaning in his life. Mamie finds fulfillment and a trustworthy friend.
Thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for this advance review copy in exchange for my honest opinion and review. I
enjoyed this read and look for further work from it's author, Cathleen Schine.
#netgalley
#kunstlersinparadise
#cathleenschine
#henryholtandcompany
Then it happens, 2020 hits, as does the Covid pandemic. The world is on lockdown and these two quickly become reluctant, yet long term, roommates. At first, against Julian's will, he is forced to listen to Mamie and all of her life experiences. He soon finds interest in the amazing ups and downs she has endured throughout her extraordinary life. Can it be that the two go from coexisting to being friendly companions? Julian finds he does not have to search far to find meaning in his life. Mamie finds fulfillment and a trustworthy friend.
Thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for this advance review copy in exchange for my honest opinion and review. I
enjoyed this read and look for further work from it's author, Cathleen Schine.
#netgalley
#kunstlersinparadise
#cathleenschine
#henryholtandcompany
November 23, 2024
Truly a remarkable novel quite possibly a perfect novel. I did not want it to end and the characters feel as real to me as family. I am in awe of this book. The seeds planted early on and then blooming into a full garden by book’s end. The way lines and phrases double back on each other from earlier sections to come to fruition in later ones. The music. The sadness. The love. The Holocaust. The pandemic. The emigres in Hollywood. This book spans time and worlds and cultures and dare I say death. It is ageless. Timeless. And I wish I had the experience of listening to my grandmother’s stories as Julian had. I am so grateful I stumbled upon this book in my ALC section of Libro.fm. The audio narration is fantastic, truly bringing Maime and the characters to life. Don’t pass this one up and stick with it. It’s a slow build to a superb story.
August 7, 2022
4.5 I love this author!
October 17, 2022
This is a gentle book structured as memories are structured; stories are told, retold, abandoned and revisited. To describe the plot is to sell the book short. It’s simply the story of a young adult grandson sent to care for his grandmother during the pandemic, in Venice, California. But this is grandma Mamie’s book, as, whether driven by boredom or an unburdening, or an act of love, she tells the story of her life, from her earliest days in Nazi occupied Vienna, to her days in her 90s after a long life in America.
And this is not just any story. She and her family add relationships of one type or another with the entire group of famed European émigrés during and after WWII. It manages to be history of one specific family, and the story of the immigrant experience as a whole.
Page to page, it is sometimes difficult to understand where the book is going, but over the fullness of this relatively short novel, you learn all you need to know.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co. for this lovely advance readers copy.
And this is not just any story. She and her family add relationships of one type or another with the entire group of famed European émigrés during and after WWII. It manages to be history of one specific family, and the story of the immigrant experience as a whole.
Page to page, it is sometimes difficult to understand where the book is going, but over the fullness of this relatively short novel, you learn all you need to know.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co. for this lovely advance readers copy.
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March 15, 2023Can't do it. Not for me. Neither the writing style, not the tone, nor the placements. Not beginning to embed after 60 pages I am throwing in the towel.
Others might like this grandma tale. Sunny climes with Bozo haired 93 year old. Gentle with humor, but totally boring amidst covid time waste. I could never give this prose flow prose pace more than a 2. This is for cozy, cozy fiction readers.
Others might like this grandma tale. Sunny climes with Bozo haired 93 year old. Gentle with humor, but totally boring amidst covid time waste. I could never give this prose flow prose pace more than a 2. This is for cozy, cozy fiction readers.
May 16, 2023
Boring. It’s a shame, the cover is so cute, although it doesn’t look like Southern California and the story just doesn’t feel like Los Angeles. Too many political jabs for me in this one. Hope her others are better.
June 21, 2023
I received this from a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.
1939.
Mamie Kunstler and her family left Austria to escape the Holocaust. Part of a group of German emigres, they migrated to Hollywood, California.
Present Day.
Now 93, living in a bungalow in Venice, California, Mamie and Agatha, her caretaker and friend, are living out their days. Encouraged by his parents, her grandson Julien lands on her doorstep, adding a new dynamic to their routines. Then Covid hits and to entertain Julien, Mamie begins to share stories of her past, including relationships with some Hollywood elite.
Filled with quirky characters, the novel was not what I expected, but was delightful and fun. My only caveat was the unnecessary insertion of politics.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
1939.
Mamie Kunstler and her family left Austria to escape the Holocaust. Part of a group of German emigres, they migrated to Hollywood, California.
Present Day.
Now 93, living in a bungalow in Venice, California, Mamie and Agatha, her caretaker and friend, are living out their days. Encouraged by his parents, her grandson Julien lands on her doorstep, adding a new dynamic to their routines. Then Covid hits and to entertain Julien, Mamie begins to share stories of her past, including relationships with some Hollywood elite.
Filled with quirky characters, the novel was not what I expected, but was delightful and fun. My only caveat was the unnecessary insertion of politics.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
March 5, 2023
Rating: 4.5 stars
This was such an interesting book! Julian ends up staying with his grandmother, Mamie, after COVID hits. I thought this book had a very good and unique plot. I loved both Julian and Mamie. I especially loved how eccentric Mamie was. I loved that she told Julian stories from her past and at times she was questioning why she was telling him these stories. I enjoyed this quick read so much and recommend it!
This was such an interesting book! Julian ends up staying with his grandmother, Mamie, after COVID hits. I thought this book had a very good and unique plot. I loved both Julian and Mamie. I especially loved how eccentric Mamie was. I loved that she told Julian stories from her past and at times she was questioning why she was telling him these stories. I enjoyed this quick read so much and recommend it!
March 29, 2023
First off, I am DOWN for a pandemic book. I know that is not everyone's thing, but to me, there is something so cathartic about seeing someone else bear witness to what happened. Have you noticed how many current books take place in 2019? I mean, I get it, I do, but things HAPPENED after 2019, you know?
KÜNSTLERS IN PARADISE is a pandemic book and more specifically, a lockdown book. 20-something Julian was supposed to temporarily live with his grandmother, Mamie, as he got on his feet in LA, but then the pandemic hit. Julian bunks through lockdown with his 90-something grandmother and her caretaker, Agatha. As they spend their days in confusion and boredom, Mamie begins telling Julian stories of her childhood in Venice, CA after her family escaped Hitler's Austria in the 1930s.
Mamie is funny and stubborn and spins a great story. As they're stuck in the upheaval of lockdown, she can't help but return in her mind to the upheaval of her family's escape from Austria and their first years in their new home in California. She shares her stories with Julian and he is captivated by his family's history which he didn't know much about.
I found the book to be a little uneven. Sometimes I was bored, wondering what was actually happening here (kinda like lockdown, huh?) and other times I was taken by a beautiful passage or charmed by the humor. There's also a lot of story-within-a-story happening which was occasionally disorienting and sometimes felt meandering.
KÜNSTLERS IN PARADISE is the right book when you're in the mood for a quiet, character-driven story with a measure of quirk and some old Hollywood fun.
Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for a free review copy of this book.
KÜNSTLERS IN PARADISE is a pandemic book and more specifically, a lockdown book. 20-something Julian was supposed to temporarily live with his grandmother, Mamie, as he got on his feet in LA, but then the pandemic hit. Julian bunks through lockdown with his 90-something grandmother and her caretaker, Agatha. As they spend their days in confusion and boredom, Mamie begins telling Julian stories of her childhood in Venice, CA after her family escaped Hitler's Austria in the 1930s.
Mamie is funny and stubborn and spins a great story. As they're stuck in the upheaval of lockdown, she can't help but return in her mind to the upheaval of her family's escape from Austria and their first years in their new home in California. She shares her stories with Julian and he is captivated by his family's history which he didn't know much about.
I found the book to be a little uneven. Sometimes I was bored, wondering what was actually happening here (kinda like lockdown, huh?) and other times I was taken by a beautiful passage or charmed by the humor. There's also a lot of story-within-a-story happening which was occasionally disorienting and sometimes felt meandering.
KÜNSTLERS IN PARADISE is the right book when you're in the mood for a quiet, character-driven story with a measure of quirk and some old Hollywood fun.
Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for a free review copy of this book.
January 27, 2023
4.5 stars, rounded up because this was such an enjoyable read. Charming, sweetly funny, and touching, Künstlers in Paradise is an intergenerational pandemic story that centers on a 90-something-year-old Jewish émigrée in Venice, California (originally from Vienna) who has a Gumplike talent for plopping herself right down in the middle of history. In her youth, Mamie has a formative romantic (and presumably sexual) relationship with the older and more experienced Greta Garbo; she plays tennis in Los Angeles with the dynamic Arnold Schoenberg, who also helps her learn how to liberate dissonance from the tyranny of the Western scale; she marries a (white) jazz musician and then, when it doesn't work out, she raises her son, Frank, on her own.
I hadn't read any novels by Schine before, but now I understand why she's tagged as the Jewish Jane Austen. This is a social novel, about social relationships, and the satire is sharp without ever feeling meanspirited. As much as I liked Mamie, the central character (so much more interesting than the other central character, the Gen Z-age Julian, who serves mostly as Mamie's amanuensis and sounding board), I think my favorite character was Mamie's friend, companion, and "dogsbody," Agatha, whose dry Slavic humor cuts through any incipient sentimentality.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. It's an advanced readers copy (supposedly an uncorrected proof, but hat's off to the proofreaders because it looked great to me).
I hadn't read any novels by Schine before, but now I understand why she's tagged as the Jewish Jane Austen. This is a social novel, about social relationships, and the satire is sharp without ever feeling meanspirited. As much as I liked Mamie, the central character (so much more interesting than the other central character, the Gen Z-age Julian, who serves mostly as Mamie's amanuensis and sounding board), I think my favorite character was Mamie's friend, companion, and "dogsbody," Agatha, whose dry Slavic humor cuts through any incipient sentimentality.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. It's an advanced readers copy (supposedly an uncorrected proof, but hat's off to the proofreaders because it looked great to me).
March 3, 2023
Thank you to Goodreads for the Giveaway. I’m sorry to say I did not enjoy this book. I won’t go into the premise as there are many descriptions available. I found it wordy and tedious. I liked the tongue in cheek remarks by Mamie and Agatha that brought some humor to the story, but that’s about it for me.
February 19, 2023
The best books are the ones that slowly infuse into you, then warm you as their story flows through you. I just read and read, engaged and entertained. What a wonderful writer.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
April 13, 2023
I’m so glad I decided to picked this up.
This was absolutely fantastic!
The writing just sucks you in and the characters were all so endearing and funny.
This book was perfection!
This was absolutely fantastic!
The writing just sucks you in and the characters were all so endearing and funny.
This book was perfection!
February 24, 2024
A slow burn that grew on me until I couldn’t put it down!
This book had me written all over it and it didn’t disappoint. I rarely read a book in just two weeks time.
A fictional story about an artistic, eccentric emigre, her wandering, somewhat lost grandson and the year they spent together in Venice, California during 2020 Covid.
During this hiatus, Mamie tells Julian, her grandson, of the year 1939 and its horrors for her Jewish family to escape Hitler’s Vienna along with a colony of other Jewish musicians and writers etc. to find themselves in Los Angeles, California.
The life there at the time could not have been more opposite to what they had escaped from and they rubbed elbows with the likes of Greta Garbo, Arnold Schoenberg and many more!
But there is so much more to this book than just a “Who’s Who in Hollywood”.
It’s rich with layers of life changing events, famous places and people, inner conflict, and jolting change.
It’s the juxtaposition of her Father, Otto Kunstler, a well known composer and pianist in Vienna with feeling grateful to have escaped and absolutely lost and a nobody in the new world.
It is Greta Garbo with her beauty and fame and secret life.
It’s her grandfather navigating a new world, with so many years behind him in an old world.
And on and on…
The stories that Mamie shares with Julian along with their days together unfold so organically, that you as the reader find yourself swept up in this refreshing almost surreal experience. And then at times driven down to the depths of despair.
I don’t want to give away how their relationship evolves, but it is very satisfying.
(As an aside, this book is also completely thought provoking for a music nerd like me.)
Mamie struggles with trying to learn music from her father and they fight about the piano and the diatonic scale. She calls the piano Hitler and that is going too far for her father. It is the end of their musical attempts together.
But then she meets Schoenberg through her father and connects with him and his discovery of 12 tone music.
He suggested the violin for her and she is satisfied, saying that dissonance has been emancipated!
She can now play all the pitches that exist between the black and white notes on the piano.
This serves as a metaphor in the book of life’s things black and white, and all the grey areas. We need to learn to appreciate and navigate both to survive.
But the best part of this book is its similarities to Mamie.
It doesn’t pretend to have answers. It gives you, as she gave her grandson, time and space to answer his own questions. And many times permission not to!
This book had me written all over it and it didn’t disappoint. I rarely read a book in just two weeks time.
A fictional story about an artistic, eccentric emigre, her wandering, somewhat lost grandson and the year they spent together in Venice, California during 2020 Covid.
During this hiatus, Mamie tells Julian, her grandson, of the year 1939 and its horrors for her Jewish family to escape Hitler’s Vienna along with a colony of other Jewish musicians and writers etc. to find themselves in Los Angeles, California.
The life there at the time could not have been more opposite to what they had escaped from and they rubbed elbows with the likes of Greta Garbo, Arnold Schoenberg and many more!
But there is so much more to this book than just a “Who’s Who in Hollywood”.
It’s rich with layers of life changing events, famous places and people, inner conflict, and jolting change.
It’s the juxtaposition of her Father, Otto Kunstler, a well known composer and pianist in Vienna with feeling grateful to have escaped and absolutely lost and a nobody in the new world.
It is Greta Garbo with her beauty and fame and secret life.
It’s her grandfather navigating a new world, with so many years behind him in an old world.
And on and on…
The stories that Mamie shares with Julian along with their days together unfold so organically, that you as the reader find yourself swept up in this refreshing almost surreal experience. And then at times driven down to the depths of despair.
I don’t want to give away how their relationship evolves, but it is very satisfying.
(As an aside, this book is also completely thought provoking for a music nerd like me.)
Mamie struggles with trying to learn music from her father and they fight about the piano and the diatonic scale. She calls the piano Hitler and that is going too far for her father. It is the end of their musical attempts together.
But then she meets Schoenberg through her father and connects with him and his discovery of 12 tone music.
He suggested the violin for her and she is satisfied, saying that dissonance has been emancipated!
She can now play all the pitches that exist between the black and white notes on the piano.
This serves as a metaphor in the book of life’s things black and white, and all the grey areas. We need to learn to appreciate and navigate both to survive.
But the best part of this book is its similarities to Mamie.
It doesn’t pretend to have answers. It gives you, as she gave her grandson, time and space to answer his own questions. And many times permission not to!
July 18, 2023
I was SO SURE I was picking up a book about Old Hollywood and Jewish émigrés. Oranges, movie studios, music, Greta Garbo on the beach. And YES, all of that is here. BUT! It's also a Pandemic novel. WHAT!
Mamie is a woman in her 80s who has lived a rich life. Born in Vienna, her family was forced to flee the Nazis and found refuge in Los Angeles. Julian is her grandson, a young New York man in a slump, unsure of his future, recently dumped, etc, etc. Fed up, Julian's parents announce they're cutting him off and send him to his grandmother's house in Venice, CA; he has no job or money, and she's recently injured her arm and needs some help, so it's a win-win. Julian naturally doesn't agree, but has no other option. After moving in, the COVID virus arrives in the US, and the world locks down. Julian and Mamie (and her enigmatic caretaker Agatha) have little to do but sit, talk, play records, identify flowers, drink. Gradually, Mamie shares her childhood stories with her grandson, and Julian discovers this orange-haired, gnarled-fingered ancestor is quite the muse to spark creativity and joy in his life.
This was so good! The writing, particularly Mamie's voice, is bright and witty, giving me some Olive Kitteridge vibes. It's also the SECOND BOOK that I read this year where I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS ABOUT THE PANDEMIC (first one was The Sentence by Louise Erdrich) and BOTH were fantastic even though I was a bit fussy about it because DO WE HAVE TO RELIVE THIS ALREADY, MY AUTHOR FRIENDS?? But the parallel between these two stories of escape and survivor's guilt is SO EXTRAORDINARY AND HEARTBREAKING. So, pandemic silver lining, maybe: global disasters give authors something really big and horrible and universal to extract beautiful musings from??? (And also lots of time in their houses???)
Mamie is a woman in her 80s who has lived a rich life. Born in Vienna, her family was forced to flee the Nazis and found refuge in Los Angeles. Julian is her grandson, a young New York man in a slump, unsure of his future, recently dumped, etc, etc. Fed up, Julian's parents announce they're cutting him off and send him to his grandmother's house in Venice, CA; he has no job or money, and she's recently injured her arm and needs some help, so it's a win-win. Julian naturally doesn't agree, but has no other option. After moving in, the COVID virus arrives in the US, and the world locks down. Julian and Mamie (and her enigmatic caretaker Agatha) have little to do but sit, talk, play records, identify flowers, drink. Gradually, Mamie shares her childhood stories with her grandson, and Julian discovers this orange-haired, gnarled-fingered ancestor is quite the muse to spark creativity and joy in his life.
This was so good! The writing, particularly Mamie's voice, is bright and witty, giving me some Olive Kitteridge vibes. It's also the SECOND BOOK that I read this year where I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS ABOUT THE PANDEMIC (first one was The Sentence by Louise Erdrich) and BOTH were fantastic even though I was a bit fussy about it because DO WE HAVE TO RELIVE THIS ALREADY, MY AUTHOR FRIENDS?? But the parallel between these two stories of escape and survivor's guilt is SO EXTRAORDINARY AND HEARTBREAKING. So, pandemic silver lining, maybe: global disasters give authors something really big and horrible and universal to extract beautiful musings from??? (And also lots of time in their houses???)
March 11, 2023
Julian is 24 years old living in Brooklyn working part time at a bookstore. His girlfriend leaves him. The bookstore closes and he’s asking his parents for rent money. The answer is a loud no.
Is it a coincidence that his 93-year-old grandmother, Maime, calls from LA. It’s decided. He will go there to figure out a job and his life goals. And soon after he gets there, the pandemic starts with everyone in lockdown.
Maime has his attention and talked about her childhood. Her Jewish father wrote piano compositions in Vienna and was also teaching. Then family had to leave. The Germans took their money, paintings, piano and then their house. The father had connections which helped them start over in LA. It wasn’t easy for Maime who was 11 years old.
The author presents a series of stories that Maime told Julian. His depression and anxiety went away as he heard about the struggles that were in the past with Jews and Blacks trying to make sense of unfair rules.
I was captivated especially by the first two parts. I loved Maime as she was positive and caring in so many ways. She felt real along with her caretaker, Agatha with the voice that was fitting. Julian was the lucky boy and finally realized what a soft life he had. I wish the author gave him more of a motivational push.
Then Maime’s past got complicated and I was trying to keep up with a series of people she remembered. I thought for sure I could predict the end but it was something unexpected.
My thanks to Henry Holt & Co. and LibraryThing for providing me with a printed copy to read.
Is it a coincidence that his 93-year-old grandmother, Maime, calls from LA. It’s decided. He will go there to figure out a job and his life goals. And soon after he gets there, the pandemic starts with everyone in lockdown.
Maime has his attention and talked about her childhood. Her Jewish father wrote piano compositions in Vienna and was also teaching. Then family had to leave. The Germans took their money, paintings, piano and then their house. The father had connections which helped them start over in LA. It wasn’t easy for Maime who was 11 years old.
The author presents a series of stories that Maime told Julian. His depression and anxiety went away as he heard about the struggles that were in the past with Jews and Blacks trying to make sense of unfair rules.
I was captivated especially by the first two parts. I loved Maime as she was positive and caring in so many ways. She felt real along with her caretaker, Agatha with the voice that was fitting. Julian was the lucky boy and finally realized what a soft life he had. I wish the author gave him more of a motivational push.
Then Maime’s past got complicated and I was trying to keep up with a series of people she remembered. I thought for sure I could predict the end but it was something unexpected.
My thanks to Henry Holt & Co. and LibraryThing for providing me with a printed copy to read.
April 11, 2023
I highly recommend a review by Professor Priscilla Gilman, which originally appeared in the Boston Globe, published in March 9, 2023. I do so because, honestly, I could not say it better myself. My only additions would be that this charmer of a light-but-moving novel so reminded me of the relationship that I had with my beloved maternal grandparents that it brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion; that for generations such as our children’s and our grandchildren’s, this comedic yet poignant reminder of both the plight of refugees from Europe in WWII —-in this case many of the creatives mentioned in Colm Toíbín’s The Magician and Julie Ottinger’s The Flight Portfolio—and the plight of all those sequestered and isolated during the COVID pandemic are worth remembering; and that the audio version, read by Jessie Vilinsky, was adorable. I loved this.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/03/0...
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/03/0...
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