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Time Out of Joint: The Fate of a Family: Historical Novel
What was it like to live through the most tumultuous period in recent European history?History comes alive!What was it like to live through the most tumultuous period in recent European history? This book shows how an ordinary German family, the van Dornbachs, goes from prosperity to poverty as Hitler and the Nazi party come to dominate Germany. Beautiful young Grethe leaves for Amsterdam and Paris to live the Bohemian life. Brilliant young Siegfried seeks business success in Kentucky and Shanghai, but comes to a tragic end. Their parents and younger brother, left in Germany, do their best to try to survive the storm.
We experience life in the tobacco industry of Kentucky in the 1920s, see how the student radicals of Paris coped with the movements sweeping through Europe in those years, and how the political and economic events of the 1930s and 1940s devastated everyday life. The shadow that was cast over the whole of Europe affected each member of the Dornbach family in a different way.
˃˃˃ An authentic accountBased on and inspired by authentic documents and correspondence brought out of Germany by the author’s father just after Kristallnacht, the pogrom of November 1938, the book provides a searing personalized account of the events of that period.
˃˃˃ A happy ending?Chapters near the end of the book depict life in the south of France under German occupation. As the book ends we find ourselves in wartime London, in a hostel for refugee children who have been able to escape from Europe on a Kindertransport train. The children are in turn affected by the trauma they have undergone having been obliged to leave their homes and families, not knowing if they will ever see them again. The story of one particular child depicts the unique way he copes with his experiences. An epilogue describes subsequent events and what eventually became of the various protagonists.
˃˃˃ A vivid accountAnyone who is interested in history, and likes a vivid account of what it was like to live through it, should read this book.
Scroll up and grab a copy today.
We experience life in the tobacco industry of Kentucky in the 1920s, see how the student radicals of Paris coped with the movements sweeping through Europe in those years, and how the political and economic events of the 1930s and 1940s devastated everyday life. The shadow that was cast over the whole of Europe affected each member of the Dornbach family in a different way.
˃˃˃ An authentic accountBased on and inspired by authentic documents and correspondence brought out of Germany by the author’s father just after Kristallnacht, the pogrom of November 1938, the book provides a searing personalized account of the events of that period.
˃˃˃ A happy ending?Chapters near the end of the book depict life in the south of France under German occupation. As the book ends we find ourselves in wartime London, in a hostel for refugee children who have been able to escape from Europe on a Kindertransport train. The children are in turn affected by the trauma they have undergone having been obliged to leave their homes and families, not knowing if they will ever see them again. The story of one particular child depicts the unique way he copes with his experiences. An epilogue describes subsequent events and what eventually became of the various protagonists.
˃˃˃ A vivid accountAnyone who is interested in history, and likes a vivid account of what it was like to live through it, should read this book.
Scroll up and grab a copy today.
383 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 8, 2014
34 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 21, 2023
A gently paced recount of an ordinary family in extraordinary times. We know the horror is coming, but the focus is resolutely on the thoughts and preoccupations of a gentle, loving couple, steeped in their Hamburg Jewish community, full of hope for their three wonderful children who are growing up in Hamburg, Germany at a time of global financial unrest which leads to political turmoil and the ascent of the Nazi Party. These facts are observed and interpreted through the eyes of the cultured, music loving Van Dornbach family and the reader wants desperately to shout at the eternally hopeful matriarch Hedda, to open her eyes and see the impending doom, but knows that they will have to respectfully live alongside her, a faithful witness to her stoic endurance. The knowledge that the story is based on the lives of a real family makes the inevitable ending, all the more poignant.
June 29, 2024
This is the story of a German Jewish family in Hamburg. They caught in the events unfolding in the beginning of the century and the eventual rise of the Nazi State. Not very different from other Jewish family histories that relate the unfortunate events of the 20th century. However, the style really kills the whole story. Long thought-sequences where each protagonist tell us in detail what you think, long dialogues with didactic overtones and a very unconvincing conclusion. The story is - as usual - interesting but the treatment of the story is not very professional.
September 10, 2015
Haunting story
It is just so hard to imagine how many people such as those in Germany could become so filled with hate and treat other human beings so badly though in today's world we are beginning to see more and more of this. I have read many books about life in Germany before and during WWII but not about what happened AFTER the war. How did people treat each. other after all the awful stuff that happened was exposed to the world? This is a good, thought provoking story about ordinary people caught up in terrible times.
It is just so hard to imagine how many people such as those in Germany could become so filled with hate and treat other human beings so badly though in today's world we are beginning to see more and more of this. I have read many books about life in Germany before and during WWII but not about what happened AFTER the war. How did people treat each. other after all the awful stuff that happened was exposed to the world? This is a good, thought provoking story about ordinary people caught up in terrible times.
October 3, 2014
2.5 stars. While the story is interesting, I could not get into the style of the writing. I found it annoying and the "thoughts" were a rehash of what had taken place in the past as well as the present. The story is important, but unfortunately, I did not enjoy the format of how it was told.
September 2, 2014
Very well done! The format is a little difficult at first but soon flows easily into a deeply emotional telling.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews