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Love and Treasure
A spellbinding new novel of contraband masterpieces, tragic love, and the unexpected legacies of forgotten crimes, Ayelet Waldman’s Love and Treasure weaves a tale around the fascinating, true history of the Hungarian Gold Train in the Second World War.
In 1945 on the outskirts of Salzburg, victorious American soldiers capture a train filled with unspeakable piles of fine gold watches; mountains of fur coats; crates filled with wedding rings, silver picture frames, family heirlooms, and Shabbat candlesticks passed down through generations. Jack Wiseman, a tough, smart New York Jew, is the lieutenant charged with guarding this treasure—a responsibility that grows more complicated when he meets Ilona, a fierce, beautiful Hungarian who has lost everything in the ravages of the Holocaust. Seventy years later, amid the shadowy world of art dealers who profit off the sins of previous generations, Jack gives a necklace to his granddaughter, Natalie Stein, and charges her with searching for an unknown woman—a woman whose portrait and fate come to haunt Natalie, a woman whose secret may help Natalie to understand the guilt her grandfather will take to his grave and to find a way out of the mess she has made of her own life.
A story of brilliantly drawn characters—a suave and shady art historian, a delusive and infatuated Freudian, a family of singing circus dwarfs fallen into the clutches of Josef Mengele, and desperate lovers facing choices that will tear them apart—Love and Treasure is Ayelet Waldman’s finest novel to a sad, funny, richly detailed work that poses hard questions about the value of precious things in a time when life itself has no value, and about the slenderest of chains that can bind us to the griefs and passions of the past.
This eBook edition includes a Reading Group Guide.
In 1945 on the outskirts of Salzburg, victorious American soldiers capture a train filled with unspeakable piles of fine gold watches; mountains of fur coats; crates filled with wedding rings, silver picture frames, family heirlooms, and Shabbat candlesticks passed down through generations. Jack Wiseman, a tough, smart New York Jew, is the lieutenant charged with guarding this treasure—a responsibility that grows more complicated when he meets Ilona, a fierce, beautiful Hungarian who has lost everything in the ravages of the Holocaust. Seventy years later, amid the shadowy world of art dealers who profit off the sins of previous generations, Jack gives a necklace to his granddaughter, Natalie Stein, and charges her with searching for an unknown woman—a woman whose portrait and fate come to haunt Natalie, a woman whose secret may help Natalie to understand the guilt her grandfather will take to his grave and to find a way out of the mess she has made of her own life.
A story of brilliantly drawn characters—a suave and shady art historian, a delusive and infatuated Freudian, a family of singing circus dwarfs fallen into the clutches of Josef Mengele, and desperate lovers facing choices that will tear them apart—Love and Treasure is Ayelet Waldman’s finest novel to a sad, funny, richly detailed work that poses hard questions about the value of precious things in a time when life itself has no value, and about the slenderest of chains that can bind us to the griefs and passions of the past.
This eBook edition includes a Reading Group Guide.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2014
170 people are currently reading
6149 people want to read
About the author
Ayelet Waldman
30 books40.3k followersAyelet Waldman is the author of A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life, Love and Treasure, Red Hook Road and The New York Times bestseller Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities and Occasional Moments of Grace. Her novel Love and Other Impossible Pursuits was made into a film starring Natalie Portman. Her personal essays and profiles of such public figures as Hillary Clinton have been published in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Vogue, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Her radio commentaries have appeared on "All Things Considered" and "The California Report."
You can follow Ayelet on Facebook and Twitter.
Love and Treasure is available for purchase here.
You can follow Ayelet on Facebook and Twitter.
Love and Treasure is available for purchase here.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 697 reviews
April 19, 2014
The subjects s and themes of this book are usually winners for me: WW11, art theft and victims and survivors of the holocaust. This book had all of these and more, but ended up disappointing me greatly. There are three separate sections. The first part engaged me and I cared about the main characters and the subject matter. So far, so good. However, it was downhill from there. The madcap action of Part 2 was frankly unbelievable. But, it was still a readable 3-star book. Part 3, narrated by a parody of a psychoanalyst, was so ludicrous and strayed so far from from the main themes and characters that I lost all interest in the book. We learned at great length about 2 of the characters introduced in the earlier parts of the book, but we already knew 90% of their story. And introducing a ridiculous caricature of a psychoanalyst to tell their story? I was cringing and reading with only one eye waiting for the torture to end.
If Ms. Waldman had stuck with her research on the Gold Train and the stories set up in Part 1 and not delved into the history of Psychoanalysis as it was practiced in those days this would have been a much more cohesive and engaging book and much less disappointing for this reader.
If Ms. Waldman had stuck with her research on the Gold Train and the stories set up in Part 1 and not delved into the history of Psychoanalysis as it was practiced in those days this would have been a much more cohesive and engaging book and much less disappointing for this reader.
February 23, 2014
3.5 What first attracted me this book was the mention of the Hungarian Jews, most of the Holocaust books I have read seemed to be of the German or Polish Jews. That this takes place after the Americans have liberated the camps was also a plus. The 42 car gold train, as it came to be known ended up in Hungary and was put into the control of the Americans and for the purpose of this story into the protection of a young American Jewish officer, named Jack Wiseman. The cars of course filled with the possessions of the Hungarian Jews sent to the camps and many to their deaths. What happened to the Jewish people that survived the camps, but no longer had any place to call home, no where to go?
This is a generational novel and though it starts with Jack and then on to his granddaughter, the storyline actually follows a peacock necklace that Jack takes from the warehouse. The story is divided into three parts, each part interesting in its own way, following history and the rightful owner of this necklace. The last part even lets us into the thought processes of an eminent psychiatrist. A story well told of guilt, love, new beginnings and forgiveness.
In the last part of the book Jack ridden with guilt over taking the necklace realizes,
"The wealth of the Jews of Hungary, of all of Europe, was to be found not in the laden boxcars of the Gold Train but in the grandmothers and mothers and daughters themselves, in the doctors and lawyers, the grain dealers and psychiatrists, the writers and artists and artists who had created a culture of sophistication, of intellectual and artistic achievement. And that wealth, everything of real value, was but all extinguished."
As with all the best novels, this one has pointed me toward further reading. In the acknowledgements, the author mentions the guidance of Ronald Zweig, and his book The Gold Train: The Destruction of the Jews and the Looting of Hungary.
I read in the Wiki, that a settlement agreement of this gold train by the United States took place on September 30, 2005. So many years later.
ARC from publisher.
This is a generational novel and though it starts with Jack and then on to his granddaughter, the storyline actually follows a peacock necklace that Jack takes from the warehouse. The story is divided into three parts, each part interesting in its own way, following history and the rightful owner of this necklace. The last part even lets us into the thought processes of an eminent psychiatrist. A story well told of guilt, love, new beginnings and forgiveness.
In the last part of the book Jack ridden with guilt over taking the necklace realizes,
"The wealth of the Jews of Hungary, of all of Europe, was to be found not in the laden boxcars of the Gold Train but in the grandmothers and mothers and daughters themselves, in the doctors and lawyers, the grain dealers and psychiatrists, the writers and artists and artists who had created a culture of sophistication, of intellectual and artistic achievement. And that wealth, everything of real value, was but all extinguished."
As with all the best novels, this one has pointed me toward further reading. In the acknowledgements, the author mentions the guidance of Ronald Zweig, and his book The Gold Train: The Destruction of the Jews and the Looting of Hungary.
I read in the Wiki, that a settlement agreement of this gold train by the United States took place on September 30, 2005. So many years later.
ARC from publisher.
August 9, 2016
I always like to learn about the Holocaust through historical fiction. Here we have the Hungarian gold train which I knew nothing about and will definitely research further. The Americans seized it before the Russians could get hold of it, and promptly began to pilfer from it.
The book is divided into 3 separate and distinct time periods. Each section had a strong, progressive, interesting female character. Jack, the young American soldier who stole a peacock necklace from the train, was my favorite character, followed up in Book 2 by his granddaughter who tries to return the stolen piece to a descendent of whoever it belonged to. Book 3 was where I went to sleep, literally. It didn't seem to fit in with the flow of the previous sections, although it eventually made sense. But that and an unresolved storyline are the reasons I went from 4 stars to 3.
A first reads book I won, thank you goodreads.
The book is divided into 3 separate and distinct time periods. Each section had a strong, progressive, interesting female character. Jack, the young American soldier who stole a peacock necklace from the train, was my favorite character, followed up in Book 2 by his granddaughter who tries to return the stolen piece to a descendent of whoever it belonged to. Book 3 was where I went to sleep, literally. It didn't seem to fit in with the flow of the previous sections, although it eventually made sense. But that and an unresolved storyline are the reasons I went from 4 stars to 3.
A first reads book I won, thank you goodreads.
July 20, 2015
I've always been intrigued by Ayelet Waldman. I've read several of her books and usually wanted to like them more than I eventually did. So I was really happy to see her step up into a new realm and go for something very different. It's perhaps her most successful novel, too.
If you're like me, you've read a lot of WWII novels, a lot of holocaust novels, and sometimes I avoid them because there have already been so many. But I love the approach Waldman takes. It's not about either the war or the holocaust directly, but the several connected stories in different time periods center around the Hungarian Gold Train, a shipment of valuable property once owned by the Jews of Hungary and confiscated by the government. After the war, the US guards the property, specifically under the guard of Jack, one of the central characters of the novel.
Also featured in the stories are Natalie, Jack's granddaughter, who is fulfilling his last wish of returning one of the pieces from the gold train to a rightful owner. The stories cover a hundred years and several countries. They are connected without being too close. The prose is different as we move to different places and times. And each section is successful on its own, something that rarely happens in this kind of book.
If you're like me, you've read a lot of WWII novels, a lot of holocaust novels, and sometimes I avoid them because there have already been so many. But I love the approach Waldman takes. It's not about either the war or the holocaust directly, but the several connected stories in different time periods center around the Hungarian Gold Train, a shipment of valuable property once owned by the Jews of Hungary and confiscated by the government. After the war, the US guards the property, specifically under the guard of Jack, one of the central characters of the novel.
Also featured in the stories are Natalie, Jack's granddaughter, who is fulfilling his last wish of returning one of the pieces from the gold train to a rightful owner. The stories cover a hundred years and several countries. They are connected without being too close. The prose is different as we move to different places and times. And each section is successful on its own, something that rarely happens in this kind of book.
January 2, 2018
Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IGwA...
My favorite book of 2017!
A heartbreaking novel about loss that intertwines several charming love stories. The historical passages are beautifully portrayed, there are tons of amazing twists, and don't make me start on that Part III because it's truly fucking amazing.
My favorite book of 2017!
A heartbreaking novel about loss that intertwines several charming love stories. The historical passages are beautifully portrayed, there are tons of amazing twists, and don't make me start on that Part III because it's truly fucking amazing.
April 14, 2015
I have read a fair number of books about WWII and the Holocaust but I have never read anything about The Hungarian Gold Train. In fact I didn't know anything about it . Ayelet Waldman has educated me by telling this story about the Hungarian Jews during and after the war and what happens to their possessions that were taken from them .
Then she reveals some things that I never really knew with regard to how the Allies , yes the Allies including the U.S. took these stolen possessions and a harder to face fact about how some of the Displaced Persons , the holocaust survivors were treated after the war .
Captain Jack Wiseman is charged with managing the contents of the train after it arrived near Salzburg. He falls in love with a young woman from Hungary who has lost her family , her home and then he loses her to Israel . He takes a pendant from a box of jewelry that was confiscated from the Jews in her hometown . Years later just before his death he asks his granddaughter Natalie to find the rightful owner or her heirs . You can see where this is going - a past and present story that we find in so many contemporary novels . As usual I loved the story from the past more then the current day story . I fell in love with Jack and wish his story had continued.
His granddaughter, Natalie , estranged from her cheating husband, moves quickly to try to satisfy her grandfather's wish . She meets a man who helps her look for the owner of the pendant since he is looking for the painting of a woman who is wearing the pendant . This section felt a little too contrived and predictable and didn't hold for me the substance of Jack and Ilona's story in the first section.
The last section , told by the psychiatrist of the woman named Nina, I felt was a failed attempt to tie it all together. I couldn't wait to get through it . I'm still giving it 3 stars because of Jack's story and for telling some history I didn't know about .
October 2, 2014
This is a solid effort by Ayelet Waldman, who has written a couple of previous novels that I haven't read. She has chosen a subject -- unearthing the stories of those lost in the Holocaust -- that has too often been taken up by mediocre (or worse) writers and riddled with melodrama and cliché. Waldman does better. She centers the novel on the historical "Hungarian Gold Train," crammed with millions of dollars worth of gold, jewels, furs, and household goods that have been "collected" from the Jews of Hungary. When the train, on its way to Germany in 1945, is intercepted by the victorious Allies near Salzburg, Austria, a promise is made to return the goods to their rightful owners or heirs but the impracticality of the task, not to mention that the brass have quarters to furnish, doom that intention and most of the items simply disappear in the fog of post-war Europe.
The novel's primary protagonists are Jack Wiseman, who as a young American soldier is put in charge of the contents of the train, and his granddaughter Natalie, who he asks just before his death to find the rightful owner of a pendant he himself impulsively pilfered. The story is told in three parts: Jack's stewardship of the confiscated goods in 1945; Natalie's present-day search in Europe and Israel for an heir of the pendant's owner; and an entertaining narration by a Viennese psychoanalyst of his treatment of a headstrong young Jewish woman in 1913.
Waldman covers a lot of ground and the plot threads are not all equally well executed. In particular, two love stories are clichéd and unconvincing and the grandfather/granddaughter relationship is toothache-inducing. But she eschews the simplistic good/evil paradigm so common in fiction about the Holocaust and takes a more realistic view of a complex moral universe. Bottom line: this is well-written, absorbing history with some distracting sentimentality.
The novel's primary protagonists are Jack Wiseman, who as a young American soldier is put in charge of the contents of the train, and his granddaughter Natalie, who he asks just before his death to find the rightful owner of a pendant he himself impulsively pilfered. The story is told in three parts: Jack's stewardship of the confiscated goods in 1945; Natalie's present-day search in Europe and Israel for an heir of the pendant's owner; and an entertaining narration by a Viennese psychoanalyst of his treatment of a headstrong young Jewish woman in 1913.
Waldman covers a lot of ground and the plot threads are not all equally well executed. In particular, two love stories are clichéd and unconvincing and the grandfather/granddaughter relationship is toothache-inducing. But she eschews the simplistic good/evil paradigm so common in fiction about the Holocaust and takes a more realistic view of a complex moral universe. Bottom line: this is well-written, absorbing history with some distracting sentimentality.
June 17, 2022
The Holocaust And Feminism In A Contemporary American Novel
Ayelet Waldman's novel "Love and Treasure" (2014) has a shifting focus in its character, settings and stories. The novel attains whatever unity it has through an object -- a small pendant in the shape of peacock with a locket and a photograph inside. The pendant has insignificant monetary value, but Waldman uses its origin and passage from hand-to-hand over a 100 year history to tell the story of the Jewish community of Hungary and its fate during the Holocaust. Another unifying thread of the book, also inanimate, is the Hungarian Gold Train. At the close of WW II the possessions that were taken from the Hungarian Jewish community during the Holocaust were put on a train and shipped to the Allies, represented by the United States Army, in Salzburg, where its contents were subjected to extensive looting. The New York Times review of Waldman's book by Catherine Taylor begins with the observation that in a Federal court case in 2005, Hungarian survivors of the Holocaust settled for a payment of $21 million to Jewish Social Service Agencies for the loss of the valuables on the Gold Train.
If there is a single main character in Waldman's book, it probably would be Jack Wiseman, a retired classics professor at Columbia. When the novel opens, Wiseman is dying at his home in Maine and receives a visit from his beloved granddaughter Natalie, newly divorced and an attorney. On his deathbed, Wiseman asks Natalie to find a person entitled to the mysterious pendant with the peacock which he has kept hidden in a drawer since the late 1940s. The rest of this novel is the result.
The book is in three sections that are separate in time and characters. The first and most convincing section takes place in Salzburg in 1945-46. Jack Wiseman is a young Army officer charged with guarding the Gold Train which is looted by American military brass, among others. Jack falls in love with a Holocaust survivor Ilona Jakab who is involved in the movement to smuggle survivors into Palestine, against the policy of Britain and America. Wiseman becomes involved in this effort at substantial risk to himself through his love for Ilona. Guiltily, he also takes the locket, thinking it had been Ilona's.
The second section takes place in Budapest and in Israel in 2013. Natalie has travelled to find the owner of the pendant. She becomes involved romantically with an Israeli purveyor of Holocaust art. The pair discover a good deal of information about the pendant and its possible owners. In the process of doing so, the pair discover a painting by a neglected Jewish artist who died during the Holocaust. The painting and the artist are not integrated well into the main story. There is also a range of other characters together with a portrait of Budapest during years of WW II. The book emphasizes the continuing prevalence of anti-Semitism in the countries of the eastern bloc.
The third and final section of the book goes back in time to Budapest in 1913. It introduces a new character, a practitioner of the new discipline of psychoanalysis who narrates a case history of his treatment of a young woman, introduced in the prior section of the novel, with whom he not so subtly falls in love. The young woman is intelligent and ambitious with dreams of becoming a doctor against the wishes of her parents who have arranged a prosperous match for her. The peacock pendant and its origins are explained in this section of the story which also includes an excellent historical portrayal of Jewish Budapest in the last pre-WW I days of the Austria-Hungarian empire.
Waldman writes well and with a great deal of convincing detail. She is at her best in small scenes and in the portrayal of places. The three sections of the book are separate and of mixed merit, but they come together, however precariously, by interweaving of characters, by the unifying figure of the pendant, and by variations on the theme of love which run through each of the sections.
The narrative flowed through the three disparate sections and held my attention.
With its strengths, the book left me dissatisfied. Most of the characters are unconvincing and much of the plot is contrived. The main problem with the book is the sense of deja vu. Several reviewers have commented on the similarity of this book to many contemporary books and films. The issue, however, is deeper. The broad themes of the book, indicated in the title of this review, are the Holocaust and feminism, although other themes also could be identified. Each of these two themes is difficult to treat in a novel because each comes with a welter a fixed and strong responses. Waldman offers a great deal of information about the Holocaust and its horrors and tragedies and about the Gold Train. Beyond some facts and details, the book says little about the Holocaust that has not been said many times. Waldman's treatment of the Holocaust relies upon and reinforces preconceived responses rather than offering new insights or perspectives. Justified as the responses are, Waldman's treatment does not make for a good novel.
With feminism, the situation is much the same as Waldman relies on the preconceptions which contemporary readers are likely to bring to the subject. Each of the woman characters in the book is in search of herself and of attaining independence as a woman. The feminist components of the novel become strongest in the final section of the book but they are included all along. Here again, the book leaves little room for doubt about its direction and goal. It relies on ideas about feminism which were present earlier of course but which came into their own in the last third of the Twentieth Century. The actions in the book conform to a preexisting pattern of expectations about feminism rather than developing or perhaps challenging these expectations.
Finally, these two broad themes, the Holocaust and feminism, are not well tied together. There is a suggestion of a commonality underlying the two -- that is understanding the horror of the Holocaust and welcoming the development of feminism. If so, the commonality is not developed. The suggestion that the two themes are related and the failure to explain the relationship, together with the nature of the themes themselves, made this novel disjointed and unsuccessful for me.
I enjoyed reading the many reader reviews of this novel which helped me try to understand and to see it from different perspectives. I read the book and wrote this review in October 2014 and continued to brood about both. I was prompted to revisit this review in 2017, three years after writing it and found that the review was overly restrained and did not do my feelings justice. In short, I found the book arrogant and chauvinistic.
Robin Friedman
Ayelet Waldman's novel "Love and Treasure" (2014) has a shifting focus in its character, settings and stories. The novel attains whatever unity it has through an object -- a small pendant in the shape of peacock with a locket and a photograph inside. The pendant has insignificant monetary value, but Waldman uses its origin and passage from hand-to-hand over a 100 year history to tell the story of the Jewish community of Hungary and its fate during the Holocaust. Another unifying thread of the book, also inanimate, is the Hungarian Gold Train. At the close of WW II the possessions that were taken from the Hungarian Jewish community during the Holocaust were put on a train and shipped to the Allies, represented by the United States Army, in Salzburg, where its contents were subjected to extensive looting. The New York Times review of Waldman's book by Catherine Taylor begins with the observation that in a Federal court case in 2005, Hungarian survivors of the Holocaust settled for a payment of $21 million to Jewish Social Service Agencies for the loss of the valuables on the Gold Train.
If there is a single main character in Waldman's book, it probably would be Jack Wiseman, a retired classics professor at Columbia. When the novel opens, Wiseman is dying at his home in Maine and receives a visit from his beloved granddaughter Natalie, newly divorced and an attorney. On his deathbed, Wiseman asks Natalie to find a person entitled to the mysterious pendant with the peacock which he has kept hidden in a drawer since the late 1940s. The rest of this novel is the result.
The book is in three sections that are separate in time and characters. The first and most convincing section takes place in Salzburg in 1945-46. Jack Wiseman is a young Army officer charged with guarding the Gold Train which is looted by American military brass, among others. Jack falls in love with a Holocaust survivor Ilona Jakab who is involved in the movement to smuggle survivors into Palestine, against the policy of Britain and America. Wiseman becomes involved in this effort at substantial risk to himself through his love for Ilona. Guiltily, he also takes the locket, thinking it had been Ilona's.
The second section takes place in Budapest and in Israel in 2013. Natalie has travelled to find the owner of the pendant. She becomes involved romantically with an Israeli purveyor of Holocaust art. The pair discover a good deal of information about the pendant and its possible owners. In the process of doing so, the pair discover a painting by a neglected Jewish artist who died during the Holocaust. The painting and the artist are not integrated well into the main story. There is also a range of other characters together with a portrait of Budapest during years of WW II. The book emphasizes the continuing prevalence of anti-Semitism in the countries of the eastern bloc.
The third and final section of the book goes back in time to Budapest in 1913. It introduces a new character, a practitioner of the new discipline of psychoanalysis who narrates a case history of his treatment of a young woman, introduced in the prior section of the novel, with whom he not so subtly falls in love. The young woman is intelligent and ambitious with dreams of becoming a doctor against the wishes of her parents who have arranged a prosperous match for her. The peacock pendant and its origins are explained in this section of the story which also includes an excellent historical portrayal of Jewish Budapest in the last pre-WW I days of the Austria-Hungarian empire.
Waldman writes well and with a great deal of convincing detail. She is at her best in small scenes and in the portrayal of places. The three sections of the book are separate and of mixed merit, but they come together, however precariously, by interweaving of characters, by the unifying figure of the pendant, and by variations on the theme of love which run through each of the sections.
The narrative flowed through the three disparate sections and held my attention.
With its strengths, the book left me dissatisfied. Most of the characters are unconvincing and much of the plot is contrived. The main problem with the book is the sense of deja vu. Several reviewers have commented on the similarity of this book to many contemporary books and films. The issue, however, is deeper. The broad themes of the book, indicated in the title of this review, are the Holocaust and feminism, although other themes also could be identified. Each of these two themes is difficult to treat in a novel because each comes with a welter a fixed and strong responses. Waldman offers a great deal of information about the Holocaust and its horrors and tragedies and about the Gold Train. Beyond some facts and details, the book says little about the Holocaust that has not been said many times. Waldman's treatment of the Holocaust relies upon and reinforces preconceived responses rather than offering new insights or perspectives. Justified as the responses are, Waldman's treatment does not make for a good novel.
With feminism, the situation is much the same as Waldman relies on the preconceptions which contemporary readers are likely to bring to the subject. Each of the woman characters in the book is in search of herself and of attaining independence as a woman. The feminist components of the novel become strongest in the final section of the book but they are included all along. Here again, the book leaves little room for doubt about its direction and goal. It relies on ideas about feminism which were present earlier of course but which came into their own in the last third of the Twentieth Century. The actions in the book conform to a preexisting pattern of expectations about feminism rather than developing or perhaps challenging these expectations.
Finally, these two broad themes, the Holocaust and feminism, are not well tied together. There is a suggestion of a commonality underlying the two -- that is understanding the horror of the Holocaust and welcoming the development of feminism. If so, the commonality is not developed. The suggestion that the two themes are related and the failure to explain the relationship, together with the nature of the themes themselves, made this novel disjointed and unsuccessful for me.
I enjoyed reading the many reader reviews of this novel which helped me try to understand and to see it from different perspectives. I read the book and wrote this review in October 2014 and continued to brood about both. I was prompted to revisit this review in 2017, three years after writing it and found that the review was overly restrained and did not do my feelings justice. In short, I found the book arrogant and chauvinistic.
Robin Friedman
April 22, 2014
This is a phenomenal book. It embraces so many topics: the Hungarian Gold Train, the Holocaust, women's suffrage, love, family and friendship. And weaving it all together is one beautiful peacock pendant.
I am a huge fan and admirer of Ayelet Waldman. This book is completely different from her other work, and it is clearly a work straight from her heart. I can't imagine the amount of research that went into the writing of this fantastic novel. And the characters are all so well-honed that you almost expect them to walk right off of the pages. Great book!
I will admit that I liked the first two parts better than the last which was told by a psychiatrist. But the third part had its own redeeming qualties.
I am a huge fan and admirer of Ayelet Waldman. This book is completely different from her other work, and it is clearly a work straight from her heart. I can't imagine the amount of research that went into the writing of this fantastic novel. And the characters are all so well-honed that you almost expect them to walk right off of the pages. Great book!
I will admit that I liked the first two parts better than the last which was told by a psychiatrist. But the third part had its own redeeming qualties.
December 9, 2014
I only picked this up because of Ayelet Waldman's snit fit at not being included in the NY times Notable books of the year. I don't know why I do this because it never works out for me (see also: James Wood's pout about The Emperor's Children). This is probably OK if you need something easy but still want to feel intelligent. I mean, look: the main character's name is Jack Wiseman. And he is a Wise Man. That's how literature works, right? (No.) It's fine if that's what you're into, but it damn sure isn't notable.
March 15, 2014
As a piece of historical fiction, particularly one that deals with lesser discussed aspects of history related to WWII, this is an impressive book. On the other hand, as a piece of original fiction which simply serves as a worthwhile read in itself, history interests aside, I'm less comfortable recommending it.
My largest concern with the book is that it seems incredibly derivative of The White Hotel, though Waldman's work is far more concerned with art. The structure especially reminds me of Thomas' work, a few large separate parts coming from narrators and protagonists of different genders, backgrounds, interests, and experiences, with Freudian psychology as a centerpiece of one (and coming from the analyst), even though Waldman's work is certainly less experimental (or shocking) and sticks to straight prose. Odd as it is, because of that association, the book ended up coming across as formulaic when I reached the third part of the novel where psychology comes in, and I lost considerable interest because of it--and, I suppose I have to say, I lost some amount of respect for the work as well.
As an entertaining read, associations with Thomas aside, there were other issues. Waldman's handle of history and intrigue is admirable, but her writing of romance and familial relationships verged on the sentimental whenever conflict wasn't central to a scene. In fact, the first very short part was so incredibly sentimental that I probably wouldn't have read beyond its brief dozen pages if I hadn't received the book through a first reader program and been expected to write a review. After that first part, the book did pick up, but sentimentality and romance were still serious downfalls within the work, partly because they were simply overly sentimental, and partly because they were just not as well-written as other portions--most portions--of the novel.
And yet. There is material worth admiring here. Waldman's handling of history regarding Hungarian Jews in the aftermath of World War II, and Hungarian women in the years preceding World War I, is graceful and clever, as is the intricate way in which she connected numerous sub-plots and characters across a full century of time. For the most part, the book is well-written, if occasionally over-written (a good example being the first part, which I think the book would be stronger without).
In the end, I don't see myself recommending this book on to any but readers specifically interested in aspects of history dealt with in the novel, such as Hungarian Jews, the Gold Train, and/or the state of Hungary directly following World War II. I truly wanted to like this book, and I'm sure I would have liked it more had I not read and appreciated D.M. Thomas' The White Hotel in the past...but, of course, I did read that work, and the associations are impossible to ignore.
My largest concern with the book is that it seems incredibly derivative of The White Hotel, though Waldman's work is far more concerned with art. The structure especially reminds me of Thomas' work, a few large separate parts coming from narrators and protagonists of different genders, backgrounds, interests, and experiences, with Freudian psychology as a centerpiece of one (and coming from the analyst), even though Waldman's work is certainly less experimental (or shocking) and sticks to straight prose. Odd as it is, because of that association, the book ended up coming across as formulaic when I reached the third part of the novel where psychology comes in, and I lost considerable interest because of it--and, I suppose I have to say, I lost some amount of respect for the work as well.
As an entertaining read, associations with Thomas aside, there were other issues. Waldman's handle of history and intrigue is admirable, but her writing of romance and familial relationships verged on the sentimental whenever conflict wasn't central to a scene. In fact, the first very short part was so incredibly sentimental that I probably wouldn't have read beyond its brief dozen pages if I hadn't received the book through a first reader program and been expected to write a review. After that first part, the book did pick up, but sentimentality and romance were still serious downfalls within the work, partly because they were simply overly sentimental, and partly because they were just not as well-written as other portions--most portions--of the novel.
And yet. There is material worth admiring here. Waldman's handling of history regarding Hungarian Jews in the aftermath of World War II, and Hungarian women in the years preceding World War I, is graceful and clever, as is the intricate way in which she connected numerous sub-plots and characters across a full century of time. For the most part, the book is well-written, if occasionally over-written (a good example being the first part, which I think the book would be stronger without).
In the end, I don't see myself recommending this book on to any but readers specifically interested in aspects of history dealt with in the novel, such as Hungarian Jews, the Gold Train, and/or the state of Hungary directly following World War II. I truly wanted to like this book, and I'm sure I would have liked it more had I not read and appreciated D.M. Thomas' The White Hotel in the past...but, of course, I did read that work, and the associations are impossible to ignore.
April 24, 2014
I sat down to read Ayelet Waldman's new book with excitement. (I had the day free). I finished it in 2 readings. The story was 'flowing'.....for 'most' of the book. MUCH I enjoyed!!!!!
I felt lost though towards the end --(during a story about psychiatric healing). For me --I felt, well, disconnected, disjointed. (less interested during this section).
The characters of Jack Weisman, and his granddaughter, Natalie, were each strong. Plus -- their relationship was deeply heart-felt!
Natalie says THIS about her Grandfather (Jack Weisman):
"He was generous without ever letting you even notice he was giving you something". (isn't that beautiful?) Communicates a thousand words?
There was another section ---I read a 'few' times. It touched me to a core! It was one of those ***AWWWWWWWWWWW**** moments. (a time of realization for Natalie). I could relate to the experience myself.
It was a conversation between Natalie & Amitai (Amitai, being the man Natalie will fall in love with):
The Conversation goes like this: (please forgive me....its in 'part'). Its on page 225 in the book. ---It continues to be great on page 226. I'll share a 'part' of it.
"This obsession has been a useful container for my grief for my grandfather. And I guess even my marriage.
"You've known that all along"?
"Yes, I suppose so. But I think what I didn't understand until now is that all my life, my experience of the Holocaust has been the very same thing: a useful container for feelings. Here was this colossal, unprecedented tragedy that, by virtue of my religion, I was free to adopt as my own. Because of the Holocaust, I was permitted -- no entitled --to feel all the pain that my blessed and comfortable life had spared me. But it was never my tragedy. Collectively, as a Jew, yes, But personally? No."
Many Congrats to the author. I've enjoyed every book I've read by her.
I felt lost though towards the end --(during a story about psychiatric healing). For me --I felt, well, disconnected, disjointed. (less interested during this section).
The characters of Jack Weisman, and his granddaughter, Natalie, were each strong. Plus -- their relationship was deeply heart-felt!
Natalie says THIS about her Grandfather (Jack Weisman):
"He was generous without ever letting you even notice he was giving you something". (isn't that beautiful?) Communicates a thousand words?
There was another section ---I read a 'few' times. It touched me to a core! It was one of those ***AWWWWWWWWWWW**** moments. (a time of realization for Natalie). I could relate to the experience myself.
It was a conversation between Natalie & Amitai (Amitai, being the man Natalie will fall in love with):
The Conversation goes like this: (please forgive me....its in 'part'). Its on page 225 in the book. ---It continues to be great on page 226. I'll share a 'part' of it.
"This obsession has been a useful container for my grief for my grandfather. And I guess even my marriage.
"You've known that all along"?
"Yes, I suppose so. But I think what I didn't understand until now is that all my life, my experience of the Holocaust has been the very same thing: a useful container for feelings. Here was this colossal, unprecedented tragedy that, by virtue of my religion, I was free to adopt as my own. Because of the Holocaust, I was permitted -- no entitled --to feel all the pain that my blessed and comfortable life had spared me. But it was never my tragedy. Collectively, as a Jew, yes, But personally? No."
Many Congrats to the author. I've enjoyed every book I've read by her.
December 24, 2013
In May, 1945, a train rolled into the station in Werfen, Austria and was seized by American authorities. It has already meandered across central Europe, been seized by the French, and stopped occasionally to unload containers onto trucks. What arrived at Werfen was a 42-car train filled with belongings looted from Hungarian Jews, including jewelry, art, furniture, china, crystal, and cash.
Ayelet Waldman puts a young Jewish officer named Jack Wiseman as the American in charge of guarding and taking inventory of these belongings, the owners of which had mostly perished in Auschwitz. He falls for a Hungarian concentration camp survivor, a relationship made even more affecting by the fact that he is counting the personal belongings of people from her town, perhaps even her family.
Jack leaves his granddaughter a necklace taken from the train, and she wants to return it to a member of the family it was taken from. Natalie’s attempt to do this highlights the problems in finding out what belonged to who—a major US reason for not returning the riches to the families of their original owners. Who was still alive? Where were they?
This is my first go-round with Ayelet Waldman and I enjoyed it from start to finish. She’s a good stylist and the story is fascinating. I suspect that the number of hits on sites for “Hungarian Gold Train” are going to soar after this novel comes out.
Amazing, isn’t it? We can still be shocked by what happened in Europe during those five years of war. Heartwrenching is that the Hungarian Jews almost escaped the Final Solution—they were sent to their deaths barely a year before the Nazis surrendered.
Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader
Ayelet Waldman puts a young Jewish officer named Jack Wiseman as the American in charge of guarding and taking inventory of these belongings, the owners of which had mostly perished in Auschwitz. He falls for a Hungarian concentration camp survivor, a relationship made even more affecting by the fact that he is counting the personal belongings of people from her town, perhaps even her family.
Jack leaves his granddaughter a necklace taken from the train, and she wants to return it to a member of the family it was taken from. Natalie’s attempt to do this highlights the problems in finding out what belonged to who—a major US reason for not returning the riches to the families of their original owners. Who was still alive? Where were they?
This is my first go-round with Ayelet Waldman and I enjoyed it from start to finish. She’s a good stylist and the story is fascinating. I suspect that the number of hits on sites for “Hungarian Gold Train” are going to soar after this novel comes out.
Amazing, isn’t it? We can still be shocked by what happened in Europe during those five years of war. Heartwrenching is that the Hungarian Jews almost escaped the Final Solution—they were sent to their deaths barely a year before the Nazis surrendered.
Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader
July 1, 2014
The writing is insipid and lame, almost insulting to the story it tells and the history it attempts to bring to life. Very sad. Realized at the end that she is the wife of Michael Chabon.
February 24, 2014
I’m a sucker for a good WWII story, and lately I’ve found some wonderful novels that tell tales of immediately after the war; Ayelet Waldman’s “Love and Treasure” is one (“Jacob’s Oath”, by Martin Fletcher and “City of Women”, by David Gillham, are two others.)
What really stands out about “Love and Treasure”, which is part love story/party mystery, is the absence of romanticism about the Jewish Holocaust survivors. Waldman gives us a viewpoint on the Displaced Persons (DPs), Israel, and Zionism that is rare in fiction. I found these unusual perspectives refreshing, interesting and brave.
There are three stories being told here:
First: set in 1945-46, is of Jack, an American Army officer task to guard the Hungarian Gold Train full of stolen treasures from Hungary’s Jews. He meets and falls in love with a young woman Ilona, who has recently been released from a concentration camp.
Second: set in present-day is of Jack’s granddaughter, Natalie, as she tries to honor his death wish to find the owner of a necklace pilfered from the Hungarian Gold Train.
Third: set in Budapest in 1913 and narrated by psychiatrist, Dr. Zobel, who’s patient, Nina, and her friend Gizella, are connected with the necklace. This section was my favorite; I loved Dr. Zobel’s narrative tone and voice, his antiquated and wrong-headed views of women, and his total unreliability as a narrator. Here Waldman really demonstrates her considerable writing skills. I was sorry to read the last of the well-meaning doctor.
A brief Epilogue in 1948 provides a little more insight into Jack’s actions.
I found each story compelling and interesting, exploring pieces of history and politics that I didn’t know about – something essential to a good historical fiction novel. Missing and stolen art and treasure from WWII is a hot topic right now with the movie “Monuments Men” in theaters. “Love and Treasure” piqued my interest in many areas! My curiosity was aroused enough to do further research on: the Hungarian Gold Train, Bruno Schultz, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Max Ernst, the Kielce, Poland pogrom, the Yad Vashem museum, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the Hungarian Suffrage movement, Dwarfism, and Agnodike.
For other readers whose interest in missing art will be inspired by this story, I highly recommend the award-winning documentary, “The Rape of Europa”, for an in-depth (and surprisingly suspenseful) look at the WWII theft of art by the Germans and the Russians.
What really stands out about “Love and Treasure”, which is part love story/party mystery, is the absence of romanticism about the Jewish Holocaust survivors. Waldman gives us a viewpoint on the Displaced Persons (DPs), Israel, and Zionism that is rare in fiction. I found these unusual perspectives refreshing, interesting and brave.
There are three stories being told here:
First: set in 1945-46, is of Jack, an American Army officer task to guard the Hungarian Gold Train full of stolen treasures from Hungary’s Jews. He meets and falls in love with a young woman Ilona, who has recently been released from a concentration camp.
Second: set in present-day is of Jack’s granddaughter, Natalie, as she tries to honor his death wish to find the owner of a necklace pilfered from the Hungarian Gold Train.
Third: set in Budapest in 1913 and narrated by psychiatrist, Dr. Zobel, who’s patient, Nina, and her friend Gizella, are connected with the necklace. This section was my favorite; I loved Dr. Zobel’s narrative tone and voice, his antiquated and wrong-headed views of women, and his total unreliability as a narrator. Here Waldman really demonstrates her considerable writing skills. I was sorry to read the last of the well-meaning doctor.
A brief Epilogue in 1948 provides a little more insight into Jack’s actions.
I found each story compelling and interesting, exploring pieces of history and politics that I didn’t know about – something essential to a good historical fiction novel. Missing and stolen art and treasure from WWII is a hot topic right now with the movie “Monuments Men” in theaters. “Love and Treasure” piqued my interest in many areas! My curiosity was aroused enough to do further research on: the Hungarian Gold Train, Bruno Schultz, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Max Ernst, the Kielce, Poland pogrom, the Yad Vashem museum, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the Hungarian Suffrage movement, Dwarfism, and Agnodike.
For other readers whose interest in missing art will be inspired by this story, I highly recommend the award-winning documentary, “The Rape of Europa”, for an in-depth (and surprisingly suspenseful) look at the WWII theft of art by the Germans and the Russians.
October 20, 2014
Adjectives to describe this: incongruous and tedious. And for the last third of the book: cringe-worthy. What a disappointment. I generally enjoy historical fiction and especially WWII and the Holocaust historical fiction. The first part,narrated by Jack, a young U.S. soldier in Salzburg in 1945, was pretty good. Jack is responsible for inventorying a train of goods stolen from Jewish people. As one of the few Jewish Allied soldiers, Jack is deeply touched by these household items, jewelry and other items and is determined that they are properly protected and looked after. This section was interesting; particularly as it is based on the true story of the Hungarian Gold Train, and Jack is a likable character. However, I found a few words to be so out of character that I had to stop and reread a sentence, particularly how he describes a young woman he meets and is attracted to. His words just don't track with how the author has described him. The second part, narrated by Jack's granddaughter in present-day, started the downhill slide. It just didn't come together -- the (again) incongruous connection of Natalie with a stranger she barely knows... just not believable and the story seemed frenzied and leaning towards a commentary instead of fiction. And finally, the third section narrated by a psychoanalyst living in 1913 Salzburg was hard to read. Finally, I skipped through it just to get to the end. Disappointing considering the many positive reviews I've read about this novel.
April 5, 2014
Ayelet Waldman’s “Love and Treasure” opens with a grim, fantastical image that seems lifted from some perverted children’s story: a train of more than 40 boxcars filled with household goods — carpets, linens, cameras, dishes, paintings, vases, radios, watches, purses, teapots, candlesticks and much more.
Where did it all come from?
Why is the train chugging through the Austrian countryside?
Why are all these items sorted and labeled with German efficiency?
We’ve had 70 years’ experience with the varied grotesqueries of the Holocaust, but the U.S. soldiers who stop this train in Salzburg in 1945 are baffled. Adopting the euphemistic style of the Final Solution, a civil servant explains to them that “to help with the war effort . . . the valuables had been collected from the Jews of Hungary by the commissioner for Jewish Affairs.” How generous of those patriotic Jews.
Waldman is a wonderfully imaginative writer, but she’s drawn the central event of her absorbing new novel directly from history. The Hungarian Gold Train, as it came to be called, carried a trove of stolen goods worth millions of dollars....
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/enterta...
Where did it all come from?
Why is the train chugging through the Austrian countryside?
Why are all these items sorted and labeled with German efficiency?
We’ve had 70 years’ experience with the varied grotesqueries of the Holocaust, but the U.S. soldiers who stop this train in Salzburg in 1945 are baffled. Adopting the euphemistic style of the Final Solution, a civil servant explains to them that “to help with the war effort . . . the valuables had been collected from the Jews of Hungary by the commissioner for Jewish Affairs.” How generous of those patriotic Jews.
Waldman is a wonderfully imaginative writer, but she’s drawn the central event of her absorbing new novel directly from history. The Hungarian Gold Train, as it came to be called, carried a trove of stolen goods worth millions of dollars....
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/enterta...
October 6, 2013
It usually takes me a day or so to process my feelings about some titles. The thing I like about L&T (and other books of Ayelet's)is that she does not condescend to her readers. I wish i could be more specific, but I do not want to get into spoilers. Suffice to say, this is my favorite of her (non mystery) books. It deals with Right and Wrong on many different levels, and what makes a good person. She is not afraid to tackle subjects that other authors might back away from. And when she does she is as tenacious as a....pick your metaphor. Actually it's my favorite of all her books, but I wish she would write another mystery.
Just got to chapter 7. This is excellent so far. The first two chapters in Maine set well. (And had me imagining a Waldman/Stephen King collaboration.) The focus on post holocaust eastern europe is something unique to me in fiction. And welcome. (I've put aside Mark Twain's autobiography for this.)
Finished today. This is my favorite of all of Ayelet's books. I wish it had been longer. She is an absolutely fearless author
Just got to chapter 7. This is excellent so far. The first two chapters in Maine set well. (And had me imagining a Waldman/Stephen King collaboration.) The focus on post holocaust eastern europe is something unique to me in fiction. And welcome. (I've put aside Mark Twain's autobiography for this.)
Finished today. This is my favorite of all of Ayelet's books. I wish it had been longer. She is an absolutely fearless author
September 7, 2013
Terrific story. This novel reminded me of Christopher Bohjalian's books--which is a very good thing.
July 17, 2016
On the Trail of the Peacock Pendant
Ayelet Waldman's new book begins in Red Hook, Maine, the setting of her novel Red Hook Road, but the two could hardly be more different. For whereas she had previously confined herself to two families in the same setting over a period of a very few years, she travels in this one to Salzburg, Budapest, and Israel, at various periods over a hundred-year span. By the same token, though, it is a stretch to call Love and Treasure a novel; it is essentially a trilogy of novellas, each with different characters, but linked by a single object and common themes. The object is an enameled Jugendstil pendant in the shape of a peacock. Although only of modest value, it plays an important role in the lives of the people who people who possess it, and provides a focus for the novelist's inquiry into the lives of Hungarian Jews both before and after the Holocaust.
In the prologue, Jack Wiseman, an old man dying of cancer, entrusts the pendant to his recently-divorced granddaughter Natalie. Immediately, we plunge into the first and by far the best of the novellas, set in Salzburg, Austria, in 1945. Jack, as a young lieutenant in the US Army, is entrusted with the administration of the box-car loads of valuable goods brought out of Hungary on the "Gold Train"—items that he realizes have all been "donated" by Hungarian Jews prior to their exile or extermination. I have no doubt that this is based on truth—not only the train itself, but the horrifying revelation of what happened to its contents, and indeed the exposure of continuing anti-Semitism on both sides even after the War was over. Set in a jurisdiction almost overrun by the sheer numbers of refugees, survivors, and other displaced persons, the story was disturbing, informative and gripping. Even more so as Jack falls passionately in love with one of the survivors, a fiery redhead named Ilona Jakab. It is a surprisingly muscular piece of writing building to a powerful finale. Had I stopped the reading then, I would have given the book five stars.
But the other two sections are not quite of this standard. The second novella returns us to the present day when Natalie is in Budapest, keeping her promise to track down the original owner of her grandfather's pendant. It is less interesting because the laborious process of searching archives is inherently less compelling, but also because it is more difficult to buy into the romance story in this episode. Natalie pairs up with an Israeli art dealer named Amitai Shasho, virile, polished, and wealthy—everything a hero should be—except that he is essentially a Holocaust profiteer, and thus a difficult man for me to trust. He will change towards the end of the novella, but I never really got over my initial disapproval.
The third section is rather more successful, taking us back to Budapest, but now in 1913. It works because Waldman has so perfectly captured the narrative voice of a Freudian psychoanalyst, Imré Zobel, describing his work with a nineteen-year-old Jewish girl named Nina S. It is a perfect parody of Freud's own literary style, with the added deliciousness of a narrator who, if not actually unreliable, is certainly self-deceiving. But it takes us away from any of the characters whom we have met earlier, and although it fills in some interesting back-story, it is essentially a stand-alone piece.
I mentioned Waldman's themes. Chief among them is anti-Semitism, seen in an historical context and in some unexpected places; Waldman both makes a strong case for Zionism, and reveals disturbing patterns of discrimination within the Zionist ideal. Almost equally strong is her concern for women's rights and the historical suffragist movement. And as always, she writes very freely about sex. I was reminded of two other novels in particular. One is The Glass Room by Simon Mawer, which also looks at the twentieth century in Eastern Europe through the history of a single artifact. The other was The White Hotel by D. H. Thomas, in its multi-sectional structure and use of psychoanalysis, though Waldman's book is neither so adventurous in its writing nor so strongly focused on the Holocaust. But you might call it a peri-Holocaust novel, and this I did find interesting. If only it had maintained a stronger focus.
Ayelet Waldman's new book begins in Red Hook, Maine, the setting of her novel Red Hook Road, but the two could hardly be more different. For whereas she had previously confined herself to two families in the same setting over a period of a very few years, she travels in this one to Salzburg, Budapest, and Israel, at various periods over a hundred-year span. By the same token, though, it is a stretch to call Love and Treasure a novel; it is essentially a trilogy of novellas, each with different characters, but linked by a single object and common themes. The object is an enameled Jugendstil pendant in the shape of a peacock. Although only of modest value, it plays an important role in the lives of the people who people who possess it, and provides a focus for the novelist's inquiry into the lives of Hungarian Jews both before and after the Holocaust.
In the prologue, Jack Wiseman, an old man dying of cancer, entrusts the pendant to his recently-divorced granddaughter Natalie. Immediately, we plunge into the first and by far the best of the novellas, set in Salzburg, Austria, in 1945. Jack, as a young lieutenant in the US Army, is entrusted with the administration of the box-car loads of valuable goods brought out of Hungary on the "Gold Train"—items that he realizes have all been "donated" by Hungarian Jews prior to their exile or extermination. I have no doubt that this is based on truth—not only the train itself, but the horrifying revelation of what happened to its contents, and indeed the exposure of continuing anti-Semitism on both sides even after the War was over. Set in a jurisdiction almost overrun by the sheer numbers of refugees, survivors, and other displaced persons, the story was disturbing, informative and gripping. Even more so as Jack falls passionately in love with one of the survivors, a fiery redhead named Ilona Jakab. It is a surprisingly muscular piece of writing building to a powerful finale. Had I stopped the reading then, I would have given the book five stars.
But the other two sections are not quite of this standard. The second novella returns us to the present day when Natalie is in Budapest, keeping her promise to track down the original owner of her grandfather's pendant. It is less interesting because the laborious process of searching archives is inherently less compelling, but also because it is more difficult to buy into the romance story in this episode. Natalie pairs up with an Israeli art dealer named Amitai Shasho, virile, polished, and wealthy—everything a hero should be—except that he is essentially a Holocaust profiteer, and thus a difficult man for me to trust. He will change towards the end of the novella, but I never really got over my initial disapproval.
The third section is rather more successful, taking us back to Budapest, but now in 1913. It works because Waldman has so perfectly captured the narrative voice of a Freudian psychoanalyst, Imré Zobel, describing his work with a nineteen-year-old Jewish girl named Nina S. It is a perfect parody of Freud's own literary style, with the added deliciousness of a narrator who, if not actually unreliable, is certainly self-deceiving. But it takes us away from any of the characters whom we have met earlier, and although it fills in some interesting back-story, it is essentially a stand-alone piece.
I mentioned Waldman's themes. Chief among them is anti-Semitism, seen in an historical context and in some unexpected places; Waldman both makes a strong case for Zionism, and reveals disturbing patterns of discrimination within the Zionist ideal. Almost equally strong is her concern for women's rights and the historical suffragist movement. And as always, she writes very freely about sex. I was reminded of two other novels in particular. One is The Glass Room by Simon Mawer, which also looks at the twentieth century in Eastern Europe through the history of a single artifact. The other was The White Hotel by D. H. Thomas, in its multi-sectional structure and use of psychoanalysis, though Waldman's book is neither so adventurous in its writing nor so strongly focused on the Holocaust. But you might call it a peri-Holocaust novel, and this I did find interesting. If only it had maintained a stronger focus.
March 2, 2014
While the promotional material for Ayelet Waldman’s “Love and Treasure” bills it as a novel, the more accurate descriptor for this excellent and gripping work of fiction would be linked stories. Yes, the books several parts are connected – though they leap about in time, all tie back to the tragic destruction of Hungary’s Jewish community in the closing days of World War II, the soon to be defeated Nazi’s near final act of spite and evil as they sent the last mostly intact Jewish community of Central Europe into the ovens. The linchpin is the Hungarian Gold Train, literally an entire train of assets despoiled from Hungary’s Jews (worth anywhere from $1-4 billion in today’s dollars), which was seized by the US Army. Its contents were never returned. This however isn’t a history book, but a work of fine fiction, so we see the train through the eyes of Waldman’s finely rendered characters. Nor is Wadman’s fiction bound by time and space; instead her stories dances through history, each with its own unique place and voice.
The book’s first section gives the reader an elderly retired college professor at a bus station awaiting the arrival of granddaughter, Natalie, who has come to visit him in Maine. From these very first present day pages, Waldman’s gift for rendering description, particularly when presenting her characters’ inner life are on full display. “As the bus disgorged its first passengers, Jack got momentarily lost in contemplation of the disembarking soldiers, home on leave from the very ancient battlefields as in the book he was reading, from Babylon to Bactria, their camouflage fatigues the color of ash and dust, the pattern jagged, like the pixels of a computer screen.” Jack drafts his granddaughter into a mission by which he hopes to expatiate a wrong action committed many years ago when he was nominally in charge of the contents of the gold train.
From their book shifts into another story about Jack encountering the gold train as a young soldier and how, through that encounter, he fell in love. Setting off themes that will run through all the sections of this fine book, Waldman leaves the reader to ponder issues of right and wrong, of whether we exist in a world of moral absolutes and, if not, how we choose. More than anything, however, these are stories of longing and of love, hopeful stories about our efforts to find a path to happiness. This section in particular gives the reader a ground eye view of events that, because of their vastness and complexity, we usually prefer to observe from 10,000 feet. By keeping our feet planted on the ground, Waldman makes sure our heart remains always up in the air.
Shifting back to the present, in the next story Natalie journeys to Europe in order to try and accomplish her grandfather’s seemingly impossible request. There she encounters yet another character, Amitai, beset by ethical ambiguity. By the nature of these stories, we know romance will bloom, but Waldman does so subtly and in a way that brings her characters fully to life. Natalie’s journey isn’t just an effort of love on her grandfather’s behalf, but also a flight from a life in emotional turmoil. Amitai, on the other hand, believes his life wholly together though through Natalie he recognizes the way his work finding looted Holocaust art and profiting from its sale on behalf of distant heirs who knew neither the original owners nor that the art even existed, leaves him deeply compromised.
The last story, however, is perhaps the greatest surprise. I won’t ruin it with any revelation, but by style and period it takes to book in a wholly surprising and deeply satisfying direction. Often such shifts in a book can leave a reader jarred, even reeling, but Waldman’s subtle talents keep us wholly fixed to the page. Any of these sections could easily stand on their own as a fine story, but the last one would surely stand out as the best.
While we all believe we understand history, it remains for the best fiction an undiscovered country which talented authors can take readers to explore. It is a place that is, perhaps, best explored through the doorway of fine fiction. Waldman here does extraordinary work: she sheds new light on our past and our present, all through the eyes of characters that are at once peculiar and familiar. “Love and Treasure” should be added to the list of any book club. It will surely find readers shoving it into the hands of friends and strangers alike, urging them to dive into its pages. Yes, it is that good.
The book’s first section gives the reader an elderly retired college professor at a bus station awaiting the arrival of granddaughter, Natalie, who has come to visit him in Maine. From these very first present day pages, Waldman’s gift for rendering description, particularly when presenting her characters’ inner life are on full display. “As the bus disgorged its first passengers, Jack got momentarily lost in contemplation of the disembarking soldiers, home on leave from the very ancient battlefields as in the book he was reading, from Babylon to Bactria, their camouflage fatigues the color of ash and dust, the pattern jagged, like the pixels of a computer screen.” Jack drafts his granddaughter into a mission by which he hopes to expatiate a wrong action committed many years ago when he was nominally in charge of the contents of the gold train.
From their book shifts into another story about Jack encountering the gold train as a young soldier and how, through that encounter, he fell in love. Setting off themes that will run through all the sections of this fine book, Waldman leaves the reader to ponder issues of right and wrong, of whether we exist in a world of moral absolutes and, if not, how we choose. More than anything, however, these are stories of longing and of love, hopeful stories about our efforts to find a path to happiness. This section in particular gives the reader a ground eye view of events that, because of their vastness and complexity, we usually prefer to observe from 10,000 feet. By keeping our feet planted on the ground, Waldman makes sure our heart remains always up in the air.
Shifting back to the present, in the next story Natalie journeys to Europe in order to try and accomplish her grandfather’s seemingly impossible request. There she encounters yet another character, Amitai, beset by ethical ambiguity. By the nature of these stories, we know romance will bloom, but Waldman does so subtly and in a way that brings her characters fully to life. Natalie’s journey isn’t just an effort of love on her grandfather’s behalf, but also a flight from a life in emotional turmoil. Amitai, on the other hand, believes his life wholly together though through Natalie he recognizes the way his work finding looted Holocaust art and profiting from its sale on behalf of distant heirs who knew neither the original owners nor that the art even existed, leaves him deeply compromised.
The last story, however, is perhaps the greatest surprise. I won’t ruin it with any revelation, but by style and period it takes to book in a wholly surprising and deeply satisfying direction. Often such shifts in a book can leave a reader jarred, even reeling, but Waldman’s subtle talents keep us wholly fixed to the page. Any of these sections could easily stand on their own as a fine story, but the last one would surely stand out as the best.
While we all believe we understand history, it remains for the best fiction an undiscovered country which talented authors can take readers to explore. It is a place that is, perhaps, best explored through the doorway of fine fiction. Waldman here does extraordinary work: she sheds new light on our past and our present, all through the eyes of characters that are at once peculiar and familiar. “Love and Treasure” should be added to the list of any book club. It will surely find readers shoving it into the hands of friends and strangers alike, urging them to dive into its pages. Yes, it is that good.
October 6, 2014
I love this genre of literature, and there were pieces of this book I liked a great deal. I'm a sucker for tracing a piece of jewelery or treasure through its past owners. I was fascinated to learn more about the Hungarian Gold Train. I even nodded at the "little people" or 'dwarfs/dwarves" in the Holocaust meme, which has so recently been all over the social media. However, I found the three parts disjointed. I didn't really get to know or like the characters, and the third part took too long to tell the story. I got so impatient with the psychotherapy of the necklace owner that I skipped ahead to finish. So where did the portraits come from? Nothing tied together and the characters didn't link up.
Joyce Carol Oates compliments the author for not being afraid to create characters for whom the unresolvable isn't resolved. Sure, that is true of life, but in literature the aha's and chills come, for me, when things connect. It never happened for me in this book.
I did love the nehmeta (closing lesson maybe?) "The wealth of the Jews of Hungary, of all of Europe, was to be found not in the laden boxcars of the Gold Train but in the grandmothers and mothers and daughters themselves, in the doctors and lawyers, the grain dealers and psychiatrists, the writers and artists and artists who had created a culture of sophistication, of intellectual and artistic achievement. And that wealth, everything of real value, was but all extinguished."
Joyce Carol Oates compliments the author for not being afraid to create characters for whom the unresolvable isn't resolved. Sure, that is true of life, but in literature the aha's and chills come, for me, when things connect. It never happened for me in this book.
I did love the nehmeta (closing lesson maybe?) "The wealth of the Jews of Hungary, of all of Europe, was to be found not in the laden boxcars of the Gold Train but in the grandmothers and mothers and daughters themselves, in the doctors and lawyers, the grain dealers and psychiatrists, the writers and artists and artists who had created a culture of sophistication, of intellectual and artistic achievement. And that wealth, everything of real value, was but all extinguished."
March 26, 2018
It is difficult to write a negative review, but I did not find anything attractive in this book unfortunately. I did not know that it was about the Holocaust and by the wife of Michael Chabon. Otherwise I would not start it. One has to be extremely talented to dare to write about the Holocaust and succeed. I do not think it is the case here. The book consists of three, very loosely connected novellas. The first was quite predictable and didactic, but not too bad. The second was worse, and the third did not have any impact on me whatsoever. There are many characters but none of them are well developed. It is readable, posing some interesting questions, but does not quite reach the bar for me.
June 30, 2014
"Love and Treasure" is really a story about how we as humans cope when things seem incredibly hopeless. It is also the story of priorities and whether or not those things that we treasure are really all that meaningful in the face of danger. I had been wanting to try some of Waldman's books for awhile and so I was happy to be a part of this tour. This was a great and powerful book to start with.
The book opens on Jack, an old man, and his beloved granddaughter. Jack is convinced that she worries much too much about him as he is dying from cancer. He has one request for her, which is to find the owner of a necklace with mysterious beginnings. Natalie, the granddaughter, takes her job very seriously and is determined to put together the pieces of her grandfather's mystery; she only hopes that she can do it in time! The story is told from both the past and the present perspectives and when they meet, it makes for a fantastic collision that I really enjoyed reading.
I really enjoy reading both fiction and non-fiction about World War II and I love when I find books that shed new perspectives on events during that war. I hadn't read much about the Hungarian Gold Train and found the historical details that Waldman wove into this book about that to be absolutely fascinating. You can see what so many people during that time were going through with getting all of their worldly possessions taken away. It is hard to imagine how they must have felt during that time period.
This book had a lot of drama and nice pacing that kept me wanting to read more about Jack's time over in Europe during World War II. There is mystery and romance alongside a healthy dose of drama and intrigue throughout the book. This book only made me more anxious to read more by Waldman in the future!
The book opens on Jack, an old man, and his beloved granddaughter. Jack is convinced that she worries much too much about him as he is dying from cancer. He has one request for her, which is to find the owner of a necklace with mysterious beginnings. Natalie, the granddaughter, takes her job very seriously and is determined to put together the pieces of her grandfather's mystery; she only hopes that she can do it in time! The story is told from both the past and the present perspectives and when they meet, it makes for a fantastic collision that I really enjoyed reading.
I really enjoy reading both fiction and non-fiction about World War II and I love when I find books that shed new perspectives on events during that war. I hadn't read much about the Hungarian Gold Train and found the historical details that Waldman wove into this book about that to be absolutely fascinating. You can see what so many people during that time were going through with getting all of their worldly possessions taken away. It is hard to imagine how they must have felt during that time period.
This book had a lot of drama and nice pacing that kept me wanting to read more about Jack's time over in Europe during World War II. There is mystery and romance alongside a healthy dose of drama and intrigue throughout the book. This book only made me more anxious to read more by Waldman in the future!
September 17, 2016
This was good enough. I didn't like all the details - things that rang false, anachronistic, sometimes pedantic and overstuffed with research, but I put these aside and paid more attention to the story itself, and that's sort of rare for me (I tend to discount the story and worry the details). I also admire Waldman's extensive research and I'm sure the novel is as notable as many other books reviewed in the Times last year (Waldman took issue with that). That said, I thought the novel had a sort of problem that I'm not sure how to articulate. (It's been a few weeks since I read it but I'll try to capture what I wrote in my head 3 times.) To wit, the subject matter is most certainly moral and ethical - the Holocaust, stolen treasure, reparations, Jewish identity, etc. - but the characters' responses to moral quandaries and complicated moral situations was always .... predictable. That is, I didn't really see them caught in any morasses of ethical indecision and no one ever did anything complex or unexpected. If it seems like the character will probably be sad, then she's sad; if this seems like an event which will make him mad, then he's mad; if that looks like a bad person, he's bad. It's not that the plot didn't contain a few twists, but that there wasn't anything deeper than the surface. It just didn't challenge my own ethical comfort zone or moral sensibilities and this predictability left the novel and the characters seeming flat, and superficial. Ooh those sound like words of condemnation, but it's was still a well written "story"-story (or three interlocked stories.)
July 12, 2014
The subjects of the this story...The Holocaust, WWII, The Hungarian Gold Train, the reclamation of stolen treasures/art...set the stage for an intriguing read. However, this book was a disappointment & the story fell flat for me. The opening chapters captured my attention, however as I plowed along, the story become tedious. The story dragged and at times became quite mundane. I'm not sure if I enjoyed Ayelet Waldman's writing style. I definitely expected more from this book given the media hype.
2.5 stars
2.5 stars
July 5, 2014
The person who wrote this book must have ADD. It consists of three very loosely connected stories. I absolutely do not recommend. This is not a well researched book. It did introduce me to life of post Holocaust. Survivors and the continuing despair of their complete absence of alternatives or a land that welcomed them. Not an author I recommend
February 6, 2018
I found this book to be an interesting read, perfectly structured for episodic treatment—I.e., a car book—as I read it aloud to my husband over several travel trips. The historical settings were spread over the 20th century and early 21st, tracing a beautiful but ill-fated pendant through several hands. It also appeared in a disturbing surreal painting, and therein lies the source of my discontent. Perhaps I simply failed to properly connect the dots, but the circumstances surrounding the painting of the portrait remain vague. Maybe intentionally? If so, why? To mirror the visual effect of surrealism???
July 26, 2021
confesso que ainda estou em dúvida da minha nota. o livro parece ter muita pesquisa, principalmente de assuntos que honestamente não conheço, por isso estou tão em dúvida.
quanto a escrita, demorei anos (literalmente) para conseguir engatar e passar da primeira parte do livro. depois disso, senti que alguns comentários foram muito desnecessários e que a ordem das partes poderia ser alterada para um impacto maior. pensei que sairia totalmente apaixonada, e não aconteceu.
talvez eu não tenha a maturidade suficiente para esse livro, por isso quero relê-lo daqui uns anos :)
quanto a escrita, demorei anos (literalmente) para conseguir engatar e passar da primeira parte do livro. depois disso, senti que alguns comentários foram muito desnecessários e que a ordem das partes poderia ser alterada para um impacto maior. pensei que sairia totalmente apaixonada, e não aconteceu.
talvez eu não tenha a maturidade suficiente para esse livro, por isso quero relê-lo daqui uns anos :)
August 9, 2021
Tökéletes könyv. Izgalmas maga a három cselekményszál, mely az egy nyakékben fonódik össze, fordulatos a történet, jó a szöveg. Mindezeken túl olyan kérdéseket vet fel a Holokauszt, a túlélés, a felelősség kapcsán, melyek szerintem fontos és gyakorlatilag megválaszolhatatlan kérdések. Ha ebben a témában kellene könyvet ajánlanom, ezt a művet választanám, pedig egyik cselekményszál sem a háború idején játszódik.
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