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Gaglow
Sarah is an actress and a single mother, living in a tiny flat in Camden Town, when she hears that Gaglow, the grand German estate seized from her family before the War, is to be returned to them. As Sarah pesters her father about Gaglow, so a rich and complex picture of life there begins to emerge, as Esther Freud depicts the family's intimacies, its tragedies and the powerful ties that bind them.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
14 people are currently reading
257 people want to read
About the author
Esther Freud
35 books276 followersEsther Freud was born in London in 1963. As a young child she travelled through Morocco with her mother and sister, returning to England aged six where she attended a Rudolf Steiner school in Sussex.
In 1979 she moved to London to study Drama, going on to work as an actress, both in theatre and television, and forming her own company with fellow actress/writer Kitty Aldridge - The Norfolk Broads.
Her first novel Hideous Kinky, was published in 1992 and was shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and made into a film starring Kate Winslet. In 1993, after the publication of her second novel, Peerless Flats, she was named by Granta as one of the Best of Young Novelists under 40.
She has since written seven novels, including The Sea House, Love Falls and Lucky Break. She also writes stories, articles and travel pieces for newspapers and magazines, and teaches creative writing, in her own local group and at the Faber Academy.
Her most recent book, Mr Mac and Me, was published in September 2014. She lives in London with her husband, the actor David Morrissey, and their three children.
In 1979 she moved to London to study Drama, going on to work as an actress, both in theatre and television, and forming her own company with fellow actress/writer Kitty Aldridge - The Norfolk Broads.
Her first novel Hideous Kinky, was published in 1992 and was shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and made into a film starring Kate Winslet. In 1993, after the publication of her second novel, Peerless Flats, she was named by Granta as one of the Best of Young Novelists under 40.
She has since written seven novels, including The Sea House, Love Falls and Lucky Break. She also writes stories, articles and travel pieces for newspapers and magazines, and teaches creative writing, in her own local group and at the Faber Academy.
Her most recent book, Mr Mac and Me, was published in September 2014. She lives in London with her husband, the actor David Morrissey, and their three children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
December 16, 2011
Three sisters in the time preceding and during World War I in Germany find common ground in their disdain for their mother and love of their brother. In a parallel story in the present day, three half-sisters in England find common ground in their love for and frustration with their father, among other things. These stories are told in alternating chapters. In the center of them all, looming like a shadow, is a grand home in the German countryside, Gaglow.
Gaglow is given as payment of a debt to the German girls' father. This form of payment is complicated by the fact that the family is Jewish and were therefore not supposed to own land; property was OK, but fields and such, not so. This edifice is a dream palace for one of the girls and her mother, something of a prison to the other two girls, who find it dowdy and overwhelming. When in the present time it is discovered that Gaglow has been inherited by the family of the half-sisters, one of them also evinces, sight unseen, a passion for this place.
The characters here are sharply drawn and the prose and plot development are masterful. Does this sound like damning with faint praise? I'm afraid that is so. The odd thing about this book is that, while the subject matter would seem to suggest warmth, caring and loving or tragedy, sadness, and grief, the reader is kept at perpetual arm's length from any emotional involvement. In the end, the deaths and loves and births and joys feel more like a laundry list of things happening to some distant relation than something in which we have been invited to participate. How odd.
I doubt this was Freud's intention, this icy distance. I suspect she set out to write a book about people we would end up caring deeply about. But something in her prose and her descriptions seems to work against this ever happening, though I am a bit stumped to say exactly what it is. But this feeling of uninvolvement, as if this is all being seen in dumb show behind a pane of glass, is pervasive and inescapable. It's a true shame, because in every other way this is a masterful book (though I found the predictability of the alternating chapters a bit dull). This is the first of her books I have read and the pure talent she displays will certainly make it worth my while to look further. I wanted to like this book and its characters, but in the end found I could not. Maybe next time.
Gaglow is given as payment of a debt to the German girls' father. This form of payment is complicated by the fact that the family is Jewish and were therefore not supposed to own land; property was OK, but fields and such, not so. This edifice is a dream palace for one of the girls and her mother, something of a prison to the other two girls, who find it dowdy and overwhelming. When in the present time it is discovered that Gaglow has been inherited by the family of the half-sisters, one of them also evinces, sight unseen, a passion for this place.
The characters here are sharply drawn and the prose and plot development are masterful. Does this sound like damning with faint praise? I'm afraid that is so. The odd thing about this book is that, while the subject matter would seem to suggest warmth, caring and loving or tragedy, sadness, and grief, the reader is kept at perpetual arm's length from any emotional involvement. In the end, the deaths and loves and births and joys feel more like a laundry list of things happening to some distant relation than something in which we have been invited to participate. How odd.
I doubt this was Freud's intention, this icy distance. I suspect she set out to write a book about people we would end up caring deeply about. But something in her prose and her descriptions seems to work against this ever happening, though I am a bit stumped to say exactly what it is. But this feeling of uninvolvement, as if this is all being seen in dumb show behind a pane of glass, is pervasive and inescapable. It's a true shame, because in every other way this is a masterful book (though I found the predictability of the alternating chapters a bit dull). This is the first of her books I have read and the pure talent she displays will certainly make it worth my while to look further. I wanted to like this book and its characters, but in the end found I could not. Maybe next time.
June 10, 2013
This was a book club selection. I'm not particularly wild about books that jump from the present to the past & back again. Books with that premise have to be absolutely engrossing to keep my attention. This book wasn't engrossing in the least. I didn't relate or like any of the characters and I found the book rather dull & plodding. I hate to say that I didn't finish another book from the book club, but I have to admit that I didn't finish the book. It just didn't keep my interest.
September 17, 2009
Eh. Disappointing in the end. Every book of hers that I've read is a pleasant enough read but isn't weighty enough to make much of an impression.
September 13, 2010
Interesting book which held my interest.....but the vendetta inspired by the Nanny toward the Mother seemed bizarre.....just did not ring true to me....
March 20, 2016
Interesting enough story set in two time periods about two sections of the same family... left me with a lot of ponderings. I've read a lot of Freud's books and I really like her writing. This was good but I don't think it was my favourite. There are some of the usual traits in here: the relationship between mothers and daughters, well-written children; the usual single hippy mother; although this one has only just given birth, whereas her other mothers tend to have walking and talking kids.
The modern day is in London with out of work actress Sarah who is heavily pregnant, and then with her little baby, Sonny. She's sitting for a painting her father is doing and he mentions that this family home, Gaglow, in Germany has been returned to the family. It was taken off them in world war II as they were Jewish as far as I can understand.
The historical bit is in Germany just before, during and after the first world war. This was the most interesting bit for me. They're a well-to-do family, the father going into some kind of depressive decline at the thought of war, the son off to be a solider and the three younger sisters having to muddle on through the war. The girls have this tutor, Schu-Schu who is such an evil monster. She spends all her time looking down her nose at the mother, and making the girls hate their own mother. Binu, the eldest of the three girls, takes to this the most, coming across as a little poison child. Eva, the youngest of the three, is goaded into all this behavour by her older sister, but when alone with her mother comes to love her again. The wierd thing about the whole story is that the eldest, the son, ends up marrying the tutor after the war, horrifying the whole family. They go to Jersusalem, he dies, and the mother goes over there and brings the tutor back to live with her. ALL three daughters refuse to ever see her again. Such a turn about of attitudes. Strange.
The modern day is in London with out of work actress Sarah who is heavily pregnant, and then with her little baby, Sonny. She's sitting for a painting her father is doing and he mentions that this family home, Gaglow, in Germany has been returned to the family. It was taken off them in world war II as they were Jewish as far as I can understand.
The historical bit is in Germany just before, during and after the first world war. This was the most interesting bit for me. They're a well-to-do family, the father going into some kind of depressive decline at the thought of war, the son off to be a solider and the three younger sisters having to muddle on through the war. The girls have this tutor, Schu-Schu who is such an evil monster. She spends all her time looking down her nose at the mother, and making the girls hate their own mother. Binu, the eldest of the three girls, takes to this the most, coming across as a little poison child. Eva, the youngest of the three, is goaded into all this behavour by her older sister, but when alone with her mother comes to love her again. The wierd thing about the whole story is that the eldest, the son, ends up marrying the tutor after the war, horrifying the whole family. They go to Jersusalem, he dies, and the mother goes over there and brings the tutor back to live with her. ALL three daughters refuse to ever see her again. Such a turn about of attitudes. Strange.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 1, 2016
I absolutely enjoyed reading this Esther Freud book. After 'Hideous Kinky', I would say this is the book that matches that standard.
When reading about the Second World War, the 'other side', is not usually focused on. We know what happened to the British, French and Indians. (Disclaimer: This is just my opinion and reflects my access to books and my reading pattern only. If you have had a different experience, feel free to contradict.) There are so many books - fiction and non fiction- in popular culture which touch upon that. But this was the first novel that looked at what happened to a family on the other side of the yet to be built wall. I loved the normality of it but soon that disappears as war changes everything it touches.
Gaglow appears to be a character itself in the book. It's an estate but more than that it is a small piece of heaven - and later haven - for the Belgards who happen to be German and Jewish. The story does not touch about any of the painful emigration to the UK but rather covers the almost innocent beginnings of this war. The story mostly focuses on Eva, the youngest of the three Belgard sisters, and her descendants.
There is this palpable feeling of loss of heritage that Gaglow stands for - a way of life, a certain innocence and a particular kind of beauty. Alternative chapters are narrated by Sarah Linder, Eva's granddaughter and a third person narration from Eva's perspective, it seems like the story starts at two ends of an emotional spectrum and then joins in the middle. There is much healing in this union.
Read because you like novels about the Second World War.
When reading about the Second World War, the 'other side', is not usually focused on. We know what happened to the British, French and Indians. (Disclaimer: This is just my opinion and reflects my access to books and my reading pattern only. If you have had a different experience, feel free to contradict.) There are so many books - fiction and non fiction- in popular culture which touch upon that. But this was the first novel that looked at what happened to a family on the other side of the yet to be built wall. I loved the normality of it but soon that disappears as war changes everything it touches.
Gaglow appears to be a character itself in the book. It's an estate but more than that it is a small piece of heaven - and later haven - for the Belgards who happen to be German and Jewish. The story does not touch about any of the painful emigration to the UK but rather covers the almost innocent beginnings of this war. The story mostly focuses on Eva, the youngest of the three Belgard sisters, and her descendants.
There is this palpable feeling of loss of heritage that Gaglow stands for - a way of life, a certain innocence and a particular kind of beauty. Alternative chapters are narrated by Sarah Linder, Eva's granddaughter and a third person narration from Eva's perspective, it seems like the story starts at two ends of an emotional spectrum and then joins in the middle. There is much healing in this union.
Read because you like novels about the Second World War.
May 23, 2013
From the first page, I felt as though I would not hate this book. Most of the time I either Love a book or I HATE it. This book was really a faster read than I expected it to be. At times, I stopped to wonder about what the whole point of the book was. And the ending was confusing to say the least. It didn't seem to end. I felt as though the author had nothing else to say so she placed a period at the end of the sentence and shut the cover! I can, however, see how family histories can be distorted by the telling of them over several generations. Sarah, our main character in modern times, is told the story of Shu-Shu the nanny who was thought to be a gypsy woman who put a curse on the family because she thought her wedding to the only son, Emmanuel, wasn't lavish enough. In reality, it seems she was just a woman who had cared for the the daughters of the household and married the only son after his return from the war and a Russian prison...mindful that she wasn't really welcomed by the family, she and Emmanuel moved to Jerusalem and when he died, his mother went to the funeral and brought Shu-Shu back to Germany to live out her days with the mother. I gathered there was no curse. All-in-all, I didn't hate the book and certainly didn't resent the time it took to read it.
May 26, 2014
"Summer at Gaglow" gives the reader a glimpse into pre-WWI Germany with its many nuances of class and culture. Gaglow itself is the country home that represents the loss of civility for the Belgard’s, a wealthy Jewish family. The family made up of an eccentric mother, proper father, duty-bound son, and three daughters, the youngest being Eva. The book also tells a parallel modern-day story of Eva’s granddaughter Sarah and her search for her own identity leading her back to the pivotal family home where she can re-connect the dots between past and present. Ultimately, the books falls short of its lofty goals and presents flattened characters that remain caricatures of what they could have become. It is a lovely read but the plot lacks the staying power to remain with the reader after the close of the last page.
October 23, 2020
I had a little difficulty getting into this one, even as I was initially attracted to a big part of the story taking place during World War I. It's a time period that doesn't seem draw a lot of attention in novels or historical fiction, and the fact that a lot of it also took place in Germany seemed like it would be interesting.
Unfortunately, I didn't really find any of the characters particularly likeable or engaging.
The novel divides itself between the WWI story, and the story of the grand daughter of one of he young daughters of that leg of the story to the current time (the best that I could tell).
The stories didn't really seem that strongly linked together, except for a few vague themes like the difficulty of being the "outsider" in a family situation, or couples drawn together against the wishes or approval of their families in some cases.
Unfortunately, I didn't really find any of the characters particularly likeable or engaging.
The novel divides itself between the WWI story, and the story of the grand daughter of one of he young daughters of that leg of the story to the current time (the best that I could tell).
The stories didn't really seem that strongly linked together, except for a few vague themes like the difficulty of being the "outsider" in a family situation, or couples drawn together against the wishes or approval of their families in some cases.
April 20, 2012
Summer at Gaglow tells two related stories from two different time periods, connected by family ties and the German country estate, Gaglow, of the title. Freud tells of the World War One experiences of three Jewish sisters -- Bina, Martha and Eva -- living in Germany with their governess, their parents and their brother, Emanuel. Alternate chapters are narrated by Sarah, a new single mother living in late-twentieth-century London. Sarah's father, Michael, is the son of Eva. He is a painter and has fathered, with two other women, two other daughters, who are Sarah's half-sisters.
Freud writes well, and although I found the early chapters a bit slow, I soon became absorbed in the stories in this book. I look forward to trying some of Freud's other novels.
Freud writes well, and although I found the early chapters a bit slow, I soon became absorbed in the stories in this book. I look forward to trying some of Freud's other novels.
December 10, 2015
The story of a family through time.This book balances really well the experiences of the family during WWI and the experiences of their children and grandchildren today. I really enjoyed this book, it was a quick easy read and quite engaging though I did sometimes find that the plot lagged in certain areas and I found the WWI chapters more interesting than those involving Sarah. I also was disappointed that the book builds up to Sarah visiting Gaglow before it is sold but this doesn't happen until the last chapter and there's just some description about the estate now and that is where it finishes, I would have liked to have read more about her experience there, but that might just be me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 22, 2012
Lots that is interesting in this book, in particular details of the experience of World War I from the German perspective, and also the sections on the modern day character sitting for a painting by her father, presumably based on the writer's own experiences with her father, Lucian Freud. Overall it feels a little slight, and not as deeply engaging as its subject matter suggests, and also I found the ending rather abrupt and unsatisfying. The "twist" is obvious ages beforehand, and everything else just seems to be left hanging.
September 2, 2010
I stayed up too late reading this book. I wanted to give the character Brina a good shake. She was more destructive to the family than the war.It was the tale of four generations of a German Jewish family. It was a story of family ties and a house that bound them even after the family had scattered across Europe.
February 12, 2016
In de serie 'boeken voor de zomer met 'zomer' in de titel': de moeite waard. De rest van het oeuvre verkennen bleek niet zo'n nodige uitstap. Hoe 'Zomer in Gaglow' aanspreekt omwille van zijn connectie over generaties heen, zozeer herhaalt het thema zich in andere boeken (bv. liefdesval). Desondanks is één werk van Freud lezen (ook over generaties heen?) niet overbodig.
September 6, 2009
A beautiful, delicate book about families, loss and redemption. The tale moves back and forth from World War I Germany to modern England, with a country home called Gaglow the emotional anchor for two different generations. Esther Freud's writing is evocative but powerful.
December 9, 2011
I'm probably more interested in what I assume are the semi- autobiographical details of the author's famous family - she's the daughter of painter Lucian Freud and the great granddaughter of Sigmund - than I was in the plot. Very readable though.
April 1, 2014
Reminded me of Jane Austen, a tad slow in the first half, occasionally interrupted by modern-day offshoot chapters that never quite seemed relevant. Even the ending failed to deliver conclusive closure. The book does leave a general feeling of contentment.
June 20, 2018
Very ordinary and plain, a kind of sub-par Barbara Trapido where everything is laid out on a picnic blanket of story for the reader to see. Its foreshadowing is cunning like Baldric's plans, and I'm not interested in finishing.
May 19, 2010
very good book
April 19, 2013
interesting flip flop from past to present, all the family secrets weren't revealed though
November 3, 2013
Very atmospheric and a pleasant read. Especially loved learning about the painter's process as I have always been a fan of Lucian Freud's art.
August 20, 2016
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14157797
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14157797
September 1, 2024
This is Freud’s third novel, first published in Britain as “Gaglow” (1997) and later published in the United States as “Summers in Gaglow” (1998). It tells the story of the Belgard family in two different time periods, the even numbered chapters reveal the present time in London, the odd numbered chapters occur in Berlin at the outbreak of World War I.
The story in the present focuses on Sarah Linder, now in her late twenties, an out of work actress who is pregnant and has an “on again off again” relationship with her boyfriend. Sarah agrees to sit for her father who is a painter and while she does, learns about the history of her family and about Gaglow, the large country estate in East Germany where the family spent their summers. The property was seized by the Nazis at the beginning of the war, but has been rediscovered after the fall of the Berlin Wall and Sarah is fascinated by the possibility it may be returned to them.
In the second storyline set in 1914, readers are introduced to the Belgards, a wealthy Jewish family living in Berlin. Wolfe, the father is a wealthy grain merchant and he and his wife Marianna have four children, Emanuel the oldest and only son, and three daughters, Bina, Martha and Eva. Sarah Linder is Eva’s great granddaughter and it is through her that Sarah learns so much about Gaglow. The sisters love their older brother deeply and dote on him, giving him all their attention, while they gang up on their mother and mock her behind her back, aided and abetted by their strict nanny and governess Fraulein Schulze. It is through Sarah's conversations with Eva that she uncovers a long held secret.
When war is declared, Emanuel is called to defend his country, becomes a soldier and later a prisoner of war. At home, Wolfe is forced to provide grain for the Nazi soldiers without his usual profit and loses his wealth. As the war rages on, the family endures a life of reduced circumstances, one very different from their life before the conflict.
This novel is very well written. Freud writes in a way that brings the reader into the time and space she describes, with even transitions between the two time periods even thought they are years apart. Whether it is describing Sarah's life in the present time, or her great grandmother’s childhood during World War I, Freud skillfully provides the small vivid details that keep the reader engaged. She richly describes her characters, provides an interesting story line and complements it all with even pacing.
It proved to be a very good read, one which I enjoyed and would recommend.
The story in the present focuses on Sarah Linder, now in her late twenties, an out of work actress who is pregnant and has an “on again off again” relationship with her boyfriend. Sarah agrees to sit for her father who is a painter and while she does, learns about the history of her family and about Gaglow, the large country estate in East Germany where the family spent their summers. The property was seized by the Nazis at the beginning of the war, but has been rediscovered after the fall of the Berlin Wall and Sarah is fascinated by the possibility it may be returned to them.
In the second storyline set in 1914, readers are introduced to the Belgards, a wealthy Jewish family living in Berlin. Wolfe, the father is a wealthy grain merchant and he and his wife Marianna have four children, Emanuel the oldest and only son, and three daughters, Bina, Martha and Eva. Sarah Linder is Eva’s great granddaughter and it is through her that Sarah learns so much about Gaglow. The sisters love their older brother deeply and dote on him, giving him all their attention, while they gang up on their mother and mock her behind her back, aided and abetted by their strict nanny and governess Fraulein Schulze. It is through Sarah's conversations with Eva that she uncovers a long held secret.
When war is declared, Emanuel is called to defend his country, becomes a soldier and later a prisoner of war. At home, Wolfe is forced to provide grain for the Nazi soldiers without his usual profit and loses his wealth. As the war rages on, the family endures a life of reduced circumstances, one very different from their life before the conflict.
This novel is very well written. Freud writes in a way that brings the reader into the time and space she describes, with even transitions between the two time periods even thought they are years apart. Whether it is describing Sarah's life in the present time, or her great grandmother’s childhood during World War I, Freud skillfully provides the small vivid details that keep the reader engaged. She richly describes her characters, provides an interesting story line and complements it all with even pacing.
It proved to be a very good read, one which I enjoyed and would recommend.
March 5, 2025
2 and 1/2 stars.
Set in pre-war WWI with Sarah's grandmother, and alternating with Sarah's life in London, she learns from her father about Gaglow, his family's grand East German country estate that was seized before the war. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the estate will now come back to them. She tries to learn all about her father's three sisters.
There's no delineation between eras, or generations etc., so one chapter was when the three daughters, Bina (16), Martha (14?) and Eva were young (Eva the youngest at 11) and the next chapter Sarah is meeting her grandmother Eva when she was an old woman with her father Michael and then back to the past. It mostly stays in the past in the later chapters it seems.
I don't want to call this book boring, but to me it wasn't very interesting -- past or present. I skimmed through the last 40 pages.
I must have looked at this title who knows how many times and I kept seeing Glasglow like Scotland and I kept saying to myself, but it's set in Germany not Scotland. How your eyes can trick you into seeing one thing when it says another.
Set in pre-war WWI with Sarah's grandmother, and alternating with Sarah's life in London, she learns from her father about Gaglow, his family's grand East German country estate that was seized before the war. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the estate will now come back to them. She tries to learn all about her father's three sisters.
There's no delineation between eras, or generations etc., so one chapter was when the three daughters, Bina (16), Martha (14?) and Eva were young (Eva the youngest at 11) and the next chapter Sarah is meeting her grandmother Eva when she was an old woman with her father Michael and then back to the past. It mostly stays in the past in the later chapters it seems.
I don't want to call this book boring, but to me it wasn't very interesting -- past or present. I skimmed through the last 40 pages.
I must have looked at this title who knows how many times and I kept seeing Glasglow like Scotland and I kept saying to myself, but it's set in Germany not Scotland. How your eyes can trick you into seeing one thing when it says another.
April 25, 2020
The past catching up to, and maybe rescuing, the present is both a theme and the structure of this novel. Switching back and forth between limited omniscient and first person is sometimes a little tricky for a reader. I imagine it's much more difficult for the writer. Very well told. Just the right thing. I'm starting The Sea House now.
October 25, 2021
The main draw of this novel is the old-time writing style remininscent of norah lofts and elizabeth bowen.The author has some storytelling talent but this one falls into the category of mediocre.If only there were some real dramatic plotlines going on.I'm still a fan of ms. freud and her novels are missing from most used bookstores.
June 8, 2024
I wanted to stay with the family in Germany and didn’t see how jumping back and forth to another generation in another time and place added anything to the story. I wanted to know if Schu Schu followed him since she disappeared when the news of his capture came. I never liked her. Turning children away from their mother with ridiculous made up lies. What was her motivation?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 15, 2024
This started off with promise and suggested an intriguing plot but I soon became bored with the bland descriptions of the minutia of daily life and the lack of action. It reminded me a little of Jane Austen but without the cleverness, wit and depth of character development. I found the dialogue especially bland and the romantic element akin to soap opera.
April 20, 2025
Pre-loved gift from a friend sadly wasn’t re-loved over a fortnight of bedtimes. Alternating chapters about the German-Jewish residents of the titular Gaglow in 1914 and a London descendant 75 years later didn’t quite connect, with one another or with me
April 29, 2021
An undemanding story from a point of view we don't often hear. Well-written, but not very stirring.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews