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Hannah #1
Хана
През лятото на 1882 година малката Хана среща Тадеуш — златокос, прекрасен като млад бог.
Тогава тя познава за пръв път любовта, предателството, насилието. Години по-късно малкото момиче се е превърнало в известна жена, ръководеща истинска империя от предприятия и магазини за козметика. Преди това жаждата за приключения я е отвела в Австралия, Лондон, Париж, Виена. През цялото време Хана пази спомена за Тадеуш, когото търси из целия свят, за да се опита да осъществи своята първа любов.
Прототип на героинята е известната „императрица“ на козметичната индустрия Елена Рубинщайн. „Императрицата“ е заглавието и на книгата продължение, която „Златорог“ също подготвя.
Книгата е бестселър в десетки страни, от Америка до Япония.
Тогава тя познава за пръв път любовта, предателството, насилието. Години по-късно малкото момиче се е превърнало в известна жена, ръководеща истинска империя от предприятия и магазини за козметика. Преди това жаждата за приключения я е отвела в Австралия, Лондон, Париж, Виена. През цялото време Хана пази спомена за Тадеуш, когото търси из целия свят, за да се опита да осъществи своята първа любов.
Прототип на героинята е известната „императрица“ на козметичната индустрия Елена Рубинщайн. „Императрицата“ е заглавието и на книгата продължение, която „Златорог“ също подготвя.
Книгата е бестселър в десетки страни, от Америка до Япония.
476 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
4 people are currently reading
181 people want to read
About the author
Paul-Loup Sulitzer
76 books40 followersPaul Loup Karl Sulitzer was a French financier and author. Before he turned seventeen, he was already a self-made millionaire. Sulitzer used his financial experience and knowledge in his books, which often related to the business world.
Many of his books were ghost-written by Loup Durand.
Many of his books were ghost-written by Loup Durand.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 4, 2019
Прекрасна история за силата на човешкия дух.
Хана е еврейско момиче, което загубва баща си и брат си, напуска майка си и тръгва да търси себе си по широкия свят, но и в преследването на един мъж. Започвайки живота си от нулата, Хана успява да изгради световна империя и да се мери с най- големите. В дългия и труден път, който успява да извърви с гордо вдигната глава, Хана успява и да планира с най- малки подробности големи части от бъдещето си.
За мен като читател остана неизяснен моралният момент за прошката и изкуплението. Как успя да прости предателството Хана и точно в кой момент се случи това, на мен ми убягна.
"Животът и смъртта се гледат винаги в лицето. Няма друг начин да се живее."
"Карането на кола и правенето на любов са двете упражнения, в които мъжете винаги са убедени, че са неотразими".
Хана е еврейско момиче, което загубва баща си и брат си, напуска майка си и тръгва да търси себе си по широкия свят, но и в преследването на един мъж. Започвайки живота си от нулата, Хана успява да изгради световна империя и да се мери с най- големите. В дългия и труден път, който успява да извърви с гордо вдигната глава, Хана успява и да планира с най- малки подробности големи части от бъдещето си.
За мен като читател остана неизяснен моралният момент за прошката и изкуплението. Как успя да прости предателството Хана и точно в кой момент се случи това, на мен ми убягна.
"Животът и смъртта се гледат винаги в лицето. Няма друг начин да се живее."
"Карането на кола и правенето на любов са двете упражнения, в които мъжете винаги са убедени, че са неотразими".
October 10, 2024
Lu quand j'étais adolescente et encore fascinée aujourd'hui par le personnage d'Hannah des décennies plus tard.
April 20, 2023
J' ai adoré le style de ce roman inspiré de faits réels et bien documenté.
Dès les premières pages, on est attiré par la force de caractère d'Hannah qui, grâce sa détermination, son courage et sa persévérance, arrive à son désir de réussite sociale et d'amour.
Dès les premières pages, on est attiré par la force de caractère d'Hannah qui, grâce sa détermination, son courage et sa persévérance, arrive à son désir de réussite sociale et d'amour.
January 13, 2021
Ser mujer en 1900 no es fácil y menos si te dedicas a los negocios. Hannah Newman es una joven de origen polaco que tras emprender en el mundo de la cosmética en Australia y Europa da el salto a Estados Unidos con su marido escritor para ampliar su empresa. Conoceremos algunas de sus aventuras y desventuras de la vida de esta inteligente mujer tanto a nivel empresarial como a nivel personal. Paul-Loup Sulitzer, inspirándose en Helena Rubinstein, nos novela su vida disfrazándola como Hannah.
No es un libro que esperará que me enganchase, pero la forma de ser el personaje inspira y anima a querer saber más de ella. Hannah es una mujer de mucho carácter, constante, alegre, con gran inteligencia y luchadora. En el ámbito personal, aunque ayude mucho a la gente, dando por ejemplo empleo principalmente a mujeres siempre que es posible, al centrarse tanto es sus negocios deja de lado las relaciones familiares, lo que le costará elegir entre su negocio o su familia, aunque no sepa vivir sin ninguno.
Con Hannah viviremos algunos momentos más importares del siglo XX y como la afectaron, contando de manera divertida su forma de enfrentarse a un sociedad patriarcal, el cambio en la moda, las guerras mundiales o las mejoras automovilísticas y el nacimiento del cine en Hollywood. También veremos como acabará relacionándose con grandes figuras de la época.
He echado de menos que nos nos cuenten más detalladamente como es la vida de esta mujer antes de 1900, solo algunas anécdotas contadas a lo largo del libro nos permiten obtener una idea de como tuvo que luchar.
No es un libro que esperará que me enganchase, pero la forma de ser el personaje inspira y anima a querer saber más de ella. Hannah es una mujer de mucho carácter, constante, alegre, con gran inteligencia y luchadora. En el ámbito personal, aunque ayude mucho a la gente, dando por ejemplo empleo principalmente a mujeres siempre que es posible, al centrarse tanto es sus negocios deja de lado las relaciones familiares, lo que le costará elegir entre su negocio o su familia, aunque no sepa vivir sin ninguno.
Con Hannah viviremos algunos momentos más importares del siglo XX y como la afectaron, contando de manera divertida su forma de enfrentarse a un sociedad patriarcal, el cambio en la moda, las guerras mundiales o las mejoras automovilísticas y el nacimiento del cine en Hollywood. También veremos como acabará relacionándose con grandes figuras de la época.
He echado de menos que nos nos cuenten más detalladamente como es la vida de esta mujer antes de 1900, solo algunas anécdotas contadas a lo largo del libro nos permiten obtener una idea de como tuvo que luchar.
July 27, 2022
CE LIVRE EST TOUT CE QU'UN LIVRE DOIT ÊTRE ET MÊME PLUS!!!!
September 3, 2023
Translated by Christine Donougher, this is one of those sprawling novels that cover many years, taking the heroine from childhood to old age; a book to get lost in and enjoy. It’s narrated from an omniscient point-of-view.
It begins in Poland in 1882. Hannah is a seven-year-old Jew. While playing in the fields with her brother Yasha and a friend Taddeuz, a young Polish Catholic, she learns of the attack by Cossacks on her village. Then the pogrom reaches them; Hannah hides but her brother is burned to death and Taddeuz betrays her by running away.
She was a precocious child and her father Reb Nathan taught her to read and talked of the wonders of the universe. ‘There was between the two of them an extraordinary closeness that she would know with no other man’ (p5). ‘He would declare: Nothing in the world is more mysterious than a little girl’ (p5). Her father was killed in the raid.
The drayman Mendel Visoker was twenty-four when he discovered Hannah alone in the fields and took her home. She was traumatised, but did not cry. A phrase Mendel uses is: ‘One of two things is possible…’ which Hannah hijacks several times in the narrative, to comic effect.
The years passed and Hannah continued her learning in several languages, borrowing books from Mendel when he visited. She would always be of diminutive stature and had enchanting grey eyes. When she was fourteen Mendel agreed to take her to a relative of the village rabbi in Warsaw as Hannah was plainly stifled in the little village. She stayed in the Klotz household; the woman Dobbe was the power in the marriage, Pinchos was ‘only a suggestion of a husband’. There are many amusing and colourful character descriptions in the book; this one stands out: ‘The couple were nearly sixty and had never had any children. In fact, they had not spoken to each other for some thirty-odd years, united in one of those silent bonds of well-maintained hatred that only a perfect marriage can achieve’ (p77). ‘She was truly colossal, as tall as Mendel, and the look she shot him would have terrified a lesser man. Her small keen eyes were tucked away beneath heavy eyelids that fell, like the rest of her face, in folds’ (p77). However, Dobbe is no match for the wilful Hannah.
While working in the Klotz shop, Hannah sets about improving things and strikes a deal with Dobbe to earn a percentage of the takings. Eventually, she strikes out on her own, achieving considerable success – until she is attacked and robbed. Mendel learns of this and metes out his own revenge but is then on the run and arrested, sent to Siberia. Hannah is given his boat-ticket to Australia, where she is taken in by the Mackenna family. ‘… this sudden immersion in a real family came as something new and surprising; she had not experienced the same since she was seven… Their average height alone was impressive… She felt like a fox terrier invited to share a meal with an assembly of St Bernards’ (p206).
Hannah was a quick study and soon turned her hand to developing scented cream lotions. She scoured much of Australia for the ingredients and quickly understood commerce: ‘she knew that the less cream she included in each pot the more highly priced – and prized – the contents would be’ (p284). All the time she desired to find and reunite with her childhood love, Taddeuz…
‘She was not going to remain in Australia for twenty years, and she was already getting old, nearly eighteen. Taddeuz would not wait half a century for her, nor would Mendel, in the event he had not already escaped…’ (p292).
By the turn of the century, Hannah is a rich and successful woman, head of a cosmetics empire with establishments in London, Paris and Vienna. And yet she seems unfulfilled unless she can find Taddeuz…
This is a completely engrossing novel with a wonderful and memorable heroine in Hannah and plenty of other fascinating characters, not least Mendel, her protector who possesses an unrequited love for her.
The book ends on a reasonably high note; however, there appears to be a sequel, The Empress, dubbed Hannah Tome 2, but it is hard to come by. I’m quite content to leave Hannah at the end of this book.
Apparently, Sulitzer used a ghost writer for many of his books: Loup Durand. I don’t know if Durand wrote this one.
Sulitzer is a French financier, and was a self-made millionaire by the age of seventeen.
It has been postulated that Hannah’s story is a fictional account of Helena Rubinstein. True, both originally came from Poland, and both took the cosmetics and fashion industries by storm at the start of the twentieth century. Quite a number of authors have used real larger-than-life people as templates for their fiction. Whatever the story behind the book, that should not detract from a well-told and affecting tale.
It begins in Poland in 1882. Hannah is a seven-year-old Jew. While playing in the fields with her brother Yasha and a friend Taddeuz, a young Polish Catholic, she learns of the attack by Cossacks on her village. Then the pogrom reaches them; Hannah hides but her brother is burned to death and Taddeuz betrays her by running away.
She was a precocious child and her father Reb Nathan taught her to read and talked of the wonders of the universe. ‘There was between the two of them an extraordinary closeness that she would know with no other man’ (p5). ‘He would declare: Nothing in the world is more mysterious than a little girl’ (p5). Her father was killed in the raid.
The drayman Mendel Visoker was twenty-four when he discovered Hannah alone in the fields and took her home. She was traumatised, but did not cry. A phrase Mendel uses is: ‘One of two things is possible…’ which Hannah hijacks several times in the narrative, to comic effect.
The years passed and Hannah continued her learning in several languages, borrowing books from Mendel when he visited. She would always be of diminutive stature and had enchanting grey eyes. When she was fourteen Mendel agreed to take her to a relative of the village rabbi in Warsaw as Hannah was plainly stifled in the little village. She stayed in the Klotz household; the woman Dobbe was the power in the marriage, Pinchos was ‘only a suggestion of a husband’. There are many amusing and colourful character descriptions in the book; this one stands out: ‘The couple were nearly sixty and had never had any children. In fact, they had not spoken to each other for some thirty-odd years, united in one of those silent bonds of well-maintained hatred that only a perfect marriage can achieve’ (p77). ‘She was truly colossal, as tall as Mendel, and the look she shot him would have terrified a lesser man. Her small keen eyes were tucked away beneath heavy eyelids that fell, like the rest of her face, in folds’ (p77). However, Dobbe is no match for the wilful Hannah.
While working in the Klotz shop, Hannah sets about improving things and strikes a deal with Dobbe to earn a percentage of the takings. Eventually, she strikes out on her own, achieving considerable success – until she is attacked and robbed. Mendel learns of this and metes out his own revenge but is then on the run and arrested, sent to Siberia. Hannah is given his boat-ticket to Australia, where she is taken in by the Mackenna family. ‘… this sudden immersion in a real family came as something new and surprising; she had not experienced the same since she was seven… Their average height alone was impressive… She felt like a fox terrier invited to share a meal with an assembly of St Bernards’ (p206).
Hannah was a quick study and soon turned her hand to developing scented cream lotions. She scoured much of Australia for the ingredients and quickly understood commerce: ‘she knew that the less cream she included in each pot the more highly priced – and prized – the contents would be’ (p284). All the time she desired to find and reunite with her childhood love, Taddeuz…
‘She was not going to remain in Australia for twenty years, and she was already getting old, nearly eighteen. Taddeuz would not wait half a century for her, nor would Mendel, in the event he had not already escaped…’ (p292).
By the turn of the century, Hannah is a rich and successful woman, head of a cosmetics empire with establishments in London, Paris and Vienna. And yet she seems unfulfilled unless she can find Taddeuz…
This is a completely engrossing novel with a wonderful and memorable heroine in Hannah and plenty of other fascinating characters, not least Mendel, her protector who possesses an unrequited love for her.
The book ends on a reasonably high note; however, there appears to be a sequel, The Empress, dubbed Hannah Tome 2, but it is hard to come by. I’m quite content to leave Hannah at the end of this book.
Apparently, Sulitzer used a ghost writer for many of his books: Loup Durand. I don’t know if Durand wrote this one.
Sulitzer is a French financier, and was a self-made millionaire by the age of seventeen.
It has been postulated that Hannah’s story is a fictional account of Helena Rubinstein. True, both originally came from Poland, and both took the cosmetics and fashion industries by storm at the start of the twentieth century. Quite a number of authors have used real larger-than-life people as templates for their fiction. Whatever the story behind the book, that should not detract from a well-told and affecting tale.
September 21, 2025
Inspiré très librement d’Helena Rubenstein, le personnage d’Hanna est extrêmement attachant et son histoire complètement fascinante bien qu’assez peu crédible.
J’ai pris beaucoup de plaisir à lire ce roman de facture assez classique sur une sujet qui l’était bien moins à l’époque de son écriture : une success story féminine.
J’avais un apriori très négatif sur Paul Loup Sulitzer … j’ai été très agréablement surprise.
En revanche je suis restée sur ma fin, le roman se termine abruptement quand Hannah retrouve enfin son amour d’enfance, et se lance à la conquête du marché américain ; transformant cette folle biographie palpitante en simple roman d’amour dont on ne saura jamais «s’ils vécurent heureux et eurent beaucoup d’enfants».
« Je n'étais pas encore allée à Londres, Paris ou Vienne, en ce temps-là; et même à Varsovie, je n'avais guère poussé que des reconnaissances dans les beaux quartiers. J'étais sans expérience. Mais je découvrais pourtant les vertus commerciales du snobisme, et les deux seules façons qu'il y a de réussir dans le négoce : soit en vendant beaucoup et peu cher des choses dont tout le monde a besoin, soit en déterminant avec le plus grand soin sa clientèle et en persuadant à celle-ci d'acheter, hors de prix, des choses dont elle n'a strictement aucun besoin... »
J’ai pris beaucoup de plaisir à lire ce roman de facture assez classique sur une sujet qui l’était bien moins à l’époque de son écriture : une success story féminine.
J’avais un apriori très négatif sur Paul Loup Sulitzer … j’ai été très agréablement surprise.
En revanche je suis restée sur ma fin, le roman se termine abruptement quand Hannah retrouve enfin son amour d’enfance, et se lance à la conquête du marché américain ; transformant cette folle biographie palpitante en simple roman d’amour dont on ne saura jamais «s’ils vécurent heureux et eurent beaucoup d’enfants».
« Je n'étais pas encore allée à Londres, Paris ou Vienne, en ce temps-là; et même à Varsovie, je n'avais guère poussé que des reconnaissances dans les beaux quartiers. J'étais sans expérience. Mais je découvrais pourtant les vertus commerciales du snobisme, et les deux seules façons qu'il y a de réussir dans le négoce : soit en vendant beaucoup et peu cher des choses dont tout le monde a besoin, soit en déterminant avec le plus grand soin sa clientèle et en persuadant à celle-ci d'acheter, hors de prix, des choses dont elle n'a strictement aucun besoin... »
May 1, 2023
Lu environ la moitié.
Je n'ai pas été conquise par l'histoire de ce personnage. Même si Hannah a un fort caractère et un désir de réussite, les personnages et les situations qui jalonnent son parcours me semblent incohérents
De plus, un mot revient régulièrement (trop) dans ce livre : andrinople (rouge andrinople, plus exactement), si quelqu'un le lit en entier et peut me dire combien de fois on le retrouve.
Je n'ai pas été conquise par l'histoire de ce personnage. Même si Hannah a un fort caractère et un désir de réussite, les personnages et les situations qui jalonnent son parcours me semblent incohérents
De plus, un mot revient régulièrement (trop) dans ce livre : andrinople (rouge andrinople, plus exactement), si quelqu'un le lit en entier et peut me dire combien de fois on le retrouve.
November 23, 2018
Rythme soutenu! Époustouflant l'ingéniosité de cette femme, et quelle créativité pour arriver à ses fins. "Il y a toujours 1000 solutions à 1 problème!" Lecture facile, à prendre en vacances.
Le Tome 2 est plus 'ardu' question finances ...
Le Tome 2 est plus 'ardu' question finances ...
December 20, 2023
On est pris par l'histoire de cette jeune fille à la volonté de fer
Cependant, le livre traîne un peu en longueur, se répète sur la fin et on retrouve quand même quelques clichés d'une femme écrite par un homme..
Cependant, le livre traîne un peu en longueur, se répète sur la fin et on retrouve quand même quelques clichés d'une femme écrite par un homme..
October 30, 2017
Une relecture des plus agréables. Certains livres ne vieillissent pas.
It's been a while. Still very good.
It's been a while. Still very good.
November 8, 2017
Много добра романизирана биогра��ия.
December 19, 2017
Based on the life of Helena Rubinstein, the legendary cosmetic queen. Great read. Really well done.
April 3, 2018
My favorite book! Such an inspiring story based on the life of Helena Rubinstein .
Highly recommend it! I have read it 4 times in 2 languages
Highly recommend it! I have read it 4 times in 2 languages
Read
September 16, 2021I like Sulitzer but I prefer his other works.
July 15, 2023
J'ignore dans quelle mesure cette simili biographie est proche de la réalité, mais la vie de cette très jeune femme, en plus à cette époque, est extraordinaire et l'auteur raconte admirablement.
September 8, 2023
I enjoyed the book a whole lot; however, my enthusiasm was somewhat dampened when, about halfway in, I found out via the internet that the story is a piece of fiction very loosely based on the life of Helena Rubinstein. The cover of the version I read features a photo of HR, and below the picture it says outright that the book is a biographical novel about her life. That's misrepresentation on the publisher's part, and misrepresentation is not okay.
As for the author, he doesn't use HR's name (I was expecting the main character to change her name from Hannah to Helena somewhere along the way, which would explain the title, but no: she's just Hannah), so unless he was in on it along with the publisher, I guess all he's guilty of is being so strongly inspired by a true story that someone who knows said story would recognise its skeleton in the book, but find the flesh and skin replaced.
As for the author, he doesn't use HR's name (I was expecting the main character to change her name from Hannah to Helena somewhere along the way, which would explain the title, but no: she's just Hannah), so unless he was in on it along with the publisher, I guess all he's guilty of is being so strongly inspired by a true story that someone who knows said story would recognise its skeleton in the book, but find the flesh and skin replaced.
June 6, 2016
Certainement pas une grande plume, mais une saga passionnante et une héroïne comme on n'en fait plus.
Encore une lecture d'adolescence. Lol.
Il faut savoir que je vivais en Afrique à l'époque et la seule librairie de tout Kinshasa se faisait livrer les bestsellers du moment. Donc, du mainstream, de la littérature de plage, de la chick-lit, des romans de gare... Quoi qu'il en soit, fort heureusement, c'était aussi l'époque des sagas. Qui dit saga, dit roman historique sur plusieurs générations de personnages, dit beaucoup de faits documentés, dit "on apprend plein de choses". Ouf!
Encore une lecture d'adolescence. Lol.
Il faut savoir que je vivais en Afrique à l'époque et la seule librairie de tout Kinshasa se faisait livrer les bestsellers du moment. Donc, du mainstream, de la littérature de plage, de la chick-lit, des romans de gare... Quoi qu'il en soit, fort heureusement, c'était aussi l'époque des sagas. Qui dit saga, dit roman historique sur plusieurs générations de personnages, dit beaucoup de faits documentés, dit "on apprend plein de choses". Ouf!
July 31, 2012
Sujet type de cet auteur:La réussite semée d’embûches, ici d'une jeune femme. Comme c'était mon premier livre de lui, je ne savais pas que c'était un schéma répétitif.
Quoi qu'il en soit, je me suis laissée emporter par les aventures de cette pauvre jeune fille juive. Il parait que le livre est librement inspiré de l'histoire de Héléna Rubinstein mais peu importe, au fond.
Quoi qu'il en soit, je me suis laissée emporter par les aventures de cette pauvre jeune fille juive. Il parait que le livre est librement inspiré de l'histoire de Héléna Rubinstein mais peu importe, au fond.
October 21, 2024
Тая книга я добавям само, за да кажа, че я мразя.
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