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No. 4 Imperial Lane
With sharp, clear prose, reminiscent of Alan Hollinghurst and with the aura of Nick Hornby, in NO. 4 IMPERIAL LANE New York Times reporter Jonathan Weisman presents an incredible coming-of-age story that stretches across nations and decades, reminding us what it really means to come home.
Welcome to Brighton in 1988 and the University of Sussex, where kids sport Mohawks and light up to the otherworldly sounds of the Cocteau Twins, as conversation drifts from structuralism to Thatcher to the bloody Labour Students. Meet David Heller, an American studying abroad who's left the States to escape his own family still mourning the death of a daughter ten years later. To extend his stay, David has taken a job nursing Hans Bromwell. The son of a former MP, and playboy in his day, Hans was left paralyzed by a mysterious accident. When David moves into the Bromwell house, his life becomes quickly entwined with those of Hans, his alcoholic sister Elizabeth, and her beautiful fatherless daughter, as they navigate their new role as fallen aristocracy. As David befriends the Bromwells, the details behind the family's staggering fall from grace are exposed: How Elizabeth's love affair with a Portuguese physician carried the young English girl right into the bloody battlefields of colonial Africa, where an entire continent bellowed for independence, and a single event left a family broken forever.
"Weisman's prose is clear and evocative with plenty of detail but no unnecessary flourishes. A fresh, enlightening book, complex, emotionally resonant."
- Kirkus Reviews
Welcome to Brighton in 1988 and the University of Sussex, where kids sport Mohawks and light up to the otherworldly sounds of the Cocteau Twins, as conversation drifts from structuralism to Thatcher to the bloody Labour Students. Meet David Heller, an American studying abroad who's left the States to escape his own family still mourning the death of a daughter ten years later. To extend his stay, David has taken a job nursing Hans Bromwell. The son of a former MP, and playboy in his day, Hans was left paralyzed by a mysterious accident. When David moves into the Bromwell house, his life becomes quickly entwined with those of Hans, his alcoholic sister Elizabeth, and her beautiful fatherless daughter, as they navigate their new role as fallen aristocracy. As David befriends the Bromwells, the details behind the family's staggering fall from grace are exposed: How Elizabeth's love affair with a Portuguese physician carried the young English girl right into the bloody battlefields of colonial Africa, where an entire continent bellowed for independence, and a single event left a family broken forever.
"Weisman's prose is clear and evocative with plenty of detail but no unnecessary flourishes. A fresh, enlightening book, complex, emotionally resonant."
- Kirkus Reviews
352 pages, Hardcover
First published August 4, 2015
9 people are currently reading
667 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Weisman
2 books33 followersJonathan Weisman, the congressional editor and deputy Washington editor at the New York Times, is author of the novel No. 4 Imperial Lane and the upcoming memoir (((Semitism))): Being Jewish in America in the Age of Trump. His long journalism career has taken him to The Baltimore Sun, USA Today, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and New York Times, where he has covered Congress, presidential campaigns, the war in Afghanistan and the Obama White House.
(((Semitism))) chronicles the rise of bigotry, anti-Semitism and racism unleashed in the age of Trump. It details the creation of the Alt Right out of the GamerGate controversy and a new breed of bigots bred on the Internet. And it takes to task the Jewish community in the United States for a single-minded obsession with Israel that blinded it to the threat inside its borders.
No. 4 Imperial Lane was a Chautauqua Prize finalist, Amazon Best Book of the Month and Great Group Reads Pick at the Women’s National Book Association. The novel is based on true events: A young American in Thatcher's exhausted England goes to work for a quadriplegic nearing the end of life and his alcoholic sister. Through them, he traces a family's collapse, from aristocracy to elopement, the colonial wars of Portuguese Africa -- Guine and Angola -- South Africa, and the tragedy that brings them all together.
Jonathan lives in Washington, D.C., with his two daughters and fellow write Jennifer Steinhauer.
(((Semitism))) chronicles the rise of bigotry, anti-Semitism and racism unleashed in the age of Trump. It details the creation of the Alt Right out of the GamerGate controversy and a new breed of bigots bred on the Internet. And it takes to task the Jewish community in the United States for a single-minded obsession with Israel that blinded it to the threat inside its borders.
No. 4 Imperial Lane was a Chautauqua Prize finalist, Amazon Best Book of the Month and Great Group Reads Pick at the Women’s National Book Association. The novel is based on true events: A young American in Thatcher's exhausted England goes to work for a quadriplegic nearing the end of life and his alcoholic sister. Through them, he traces a family's collapse, from aristocracy to elopement, the colonial wars of Portuguese Africa -- Guine and Angola -- South Africa, and the tragedy that brings them all together.
Jonathan lives in Washington, D.C., with his two daughters and fellow write Jennifer Steinhauer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
July 29, 2015
Jonathan Weisman’s first novel, “No. 4 Imperial Lane,” starts down the worn path of innocents abroad but almost immediately veers off into unfamiliar territory. In one seductive chapter after another, we’re led through an extended elegy that expands from private sorrow to lost empire, a potentially ponderous scope that makes the novel’s gracefulness all the more remarkable.
Weisman is an economic policy reporter in Washington, which sounds like poisonous preparation for writing a poignant novel, but he understands the way money molds lives and nations, the way class persists in our allegedly classless era. Just as important, he’s developed an elegant style, a sympathetic understanding of characters and a facility with complicated plots.
The narrator of “No. 4 Imperial Lane” is David Heller, an American college student who comes to England in 1988 and promptly falls in love with. . . .
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/enterta...
Weisman is an economic policy reporter in Washington, which sounds like poisonous preparation for writing a poignant novel, but he understands the way money molds lives and nations, the way class persists in our allegedly classless era. Just as important, he’s developed an elegant style, a sympathetic understanding of characters and a facility with complicated plots.
The narrator of “No. 4 Imperial Lane” is David Heller, an American college student who comes to England in 1988 and promptly falls in love with. . . .
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/enterta...
October 11, 2015
How an economics journalist builds such a gift for prose is beyond me, but I won't question it, I'm just thankful Jonathan Weisman wrote this book. On its face, there's very little that's exciting or compelling about an unrealized American study abroad student and a rich English family, but over the course of this book they're drawn out in complete colors. We become much more interested in them over time. The slight of hand Weisman plays by starting the book out through David's eyes but then switching perspective for the majority of the book to Elizabeth's experience in Africa pays off beautifully.
The writing, arguably the best part of the book, isn't raw, exactly. In fact, it is very much in control. Weisman resembles more a talented race car driver behind the wheel of a powerful car rather than a teenager driving a car careening out of control. I don't mean to insinuate, however, that Weisman is lacking feeling. In fact this book of full of feeling. The writing here feels like what the inner monologue of an introvert with a vibrant inner life may sound like. A lot of writers, when they write about big, sweeping themes, betray themselves as extraverts. Each style can be done well. Weiseman happens to do the introvert version very well
The book is pegged around some major world events. And they are important. The book wouldn't be the same without its transnational components. But as a reader, you'll learn far more about the relationships between the main characters in this book than anything else. And stepping into historical fiction is often more about the fiction part than the history, for me anyway.
The writing, arguably the best part of the book, isn't raw, exactly. In fact, it is very much in control. Weisman resembles more a talented race car driver behind the wheel of a powerful car rather than a teenager driving a car careening out of control. I don't mean to insinuate, however, that Weisman is lacking feeling. In fact this book of full of feeling. The writing here feels like what the inner monologue of an introvert with a vibrant inner life may sound like. A lot of writers, when they write about big, sweeping themes, betray themselves as extraverts. Each style can be done well. Weiseman happens to do the introvert version very well
The book is pegged around some major world events. And they are important. The book wouldn't be the same without its transnational components. But as a reader, you'll learn far more about the relationships between the main characters in this book than anything else. And stepping into historical fiction is often more about the fiction part than the history, for me anyway.
April 13, 2021
I love the first paragraph of @Ron Charles, Washington Post book critic, review of this book:
(The book) starts down the worn path of innocents abroad but almost immediately vers off into unfamiliar territory. In one seductive chapter after another, we're led through an extended elegy that expands from private sorrow to a lost empire, a potentially ponderous scope that makes the novel gratefulness all the more remarkable.
All I can add to his wonderful reviews is while I found it a slow start expecting one type of novel, I was soon swept up in another type and I never looked back. A wonderful telling of two timelines and two family tragedies that end in the best way possible.
I loved the bond formed between Hans the caustic British paraplegic and David the young, big hearted American volunteer companion. It was beautiful to see the relationship grow throughout the book.
An unexpected, wonderful story!
(The book) starts down the worn path of innocents abroad but almost immediately vers off into unfamiliar territory. In one seductive chapter after another, we're led through an extended elegy that expands from private sorrow to a lost empire, a potentially ponderous scope that makes the novel gratefulness all the more remarkable.
All I can add to his wonderful reviews is while I found it a slow start expecting one type of novel, I was soon swept up in another type and I never looked back. A wonderful telling of two timelines and two family tragedies that end in the best way possible.
I loved the bond formed between Hans the caustic British paraplegic and David the young, big hearted American volunteer companion. It was beautiful to see the relationship grow throughout the book.
An unexpected, wonderful story!
May 7, 2016
My Junior Year Abroad, or How Portugal Lost Africa
The mismatched halves of my title reflect the contents of this schizophrenic book. American David Heller goes to Brighton to study at the radical University of Sussex in Thatcher-era Britain. Falling in love with an English girl, he takes an extra year off, and gets a job as caregiver to a quadriplegic named Hans Bromwell, the former playboy son of a minor aristocrat, fallen on hard times. While living with them at the address of the title, he gets to know Hans' sister Elizabeth and her nubile daughter Cristina. Elizabeth has stories of her own, about her impulsive marriage to a Portuguese doctor and her years with him in Africa, first in Guinea then Angola, stuck on the losing side as the countries fight for independence.
David Heller (like Weisman himself, I suppose) came to Britain a little after I left it. Having missed the heyday of student radicalism myself, I appreciated his description of life at Sussex, rightly described as the "Berkeley of Britain." But his love affair does not convince, and there was little to keep me reading about his underpaid job taking care of the bodily functions of a self-centered tyrant. Besides, I had read much the same story before, in Lorcan Roche's novel The Companion, and while knowing that the two would eventually forge some bond, I had no particular wish to find out how.
But then Elizabeth's stories begin, and the alternate chapters of the book get really quite interesting. I had read about the Portuguese colonial wars in Africa in The Land at the End of the World by António Lobo Antunes who, like the fictional João Gonçalves here, joined the army shortly after qualifying as a doctor; I imagine that Weisman has read this also. Lobo Antunes is more visceral, but Weisman, like the experienced journalist he is, gives a clearer overview of the entire conflict. But it is an odd one. While this is nominally Elizabeth's story of how a girl barely in her twenties could get plunged into a terrifying new life in a new language on a new continent, a lot of what Weisman tells are things that Elizabeth could not possibly have known.
Hence the schizophrenia I mentioned earlier. The book seems like two novels with no obvious connection between them. But of course there must be one, some link between Elizabeth's African tragedy and her present situation in Brighton, tending to her brother with a broken neck. The eventual revelation does the job, but it is not the kind of epiphany that retrospectively ties the whole novel together. Much of the book is tiresome, especially given "literary" devices like Elizabeth throwing in Shakespeare quotations almost every page. But those African chapters are good; they are the book Weisman should have been writing all along.
The mismatched halves of my title reflect the contents of this schizophrenic book. American David Heller goes to Brighton to study at the radical University of Sussex in Thatcher-era Britain. Falling in love with an English girl, he takes an extra year off, and gets a job as caregiver to a quadriplegic named Hans Bromwell, the former playboy son of a minor aristocrat, fallen on hard times. While living with them at the address of the title, he gets to know Hans' sister Elizabeth and her nubile daughter Cristina. Elizabeth has stories of her own, about her impulsive marriage to a Portuguese doctor and her years with him in Africa, first in Guinea then Angola, stuck on the losing side as the countries fight for independence.
David Heller (like Weisman himself, I suppose) came to Britain a little after I left it. Having missed the heyday of student radicalism myself, I appreciated his description of life at Sussex, rightly described as the "Berkeley of Britain." But his love affair does not convince, and there was little to keep me reading about his underpaid job taking care of the bodily functions of a self-centered tyrant. Besides, I had read much the same story before, in Lorcan Roche's novel The Companion, and while knowing that the two would eventually forge some bond, I had no particular wish to find out how.
But then Elizabeth's stories begin, and the alternate chapters of the book get really quite interesting. I had read about the Portuguese colonial wars in Africa in The Land at the End of the World by António Lobo Antunes who, like the fictional João Gonçalves here, joined the army shortly after qualifying as a doctor; I imagine that Weisman has read this also. Lobo Antunes is more visceral, but Weisman, like the experienced journalist he is, gives a clearer overview of the entire conflict. But it is an odd one. While this is nominally Elizabeth's story of how a girl barely in her twenties could get plunged into a terrifying new life in a new language on a new continent, a lot of what Weisman tells are things that Elizabeth could not possibly have known.
Hence the schizophrenia I mentioned earlier. The book seems like two novels with no obvious connection between them. But of course there must be one, some link between Elizabeth's African tragedy and her present situation in Brighton, tending to her brother with a broken neck. The eventual revelation does the job, but it is not the kind of epiphany that retrospectively ties the whole novel together. Much of the book is tiresome, especially given "literary" devices like Elizabeth throwing in Shakespeare quotations almost every page. But those African chapters are good; they are the book Weisman should have been writing all along.
September 30, 2016
"No. 4 Imperial Lane" tells two stories. One, the story of David Heller, an American studying abroad in Britain during the late 1980s. Thatcherism is alive and well, Heller is falling in love with one British girl after another, and the health of his employer, an aristocratic quadriplegic, is quickly declining. The other story is that of Elizabeth Bromwell, the sister of the quadriplegic. When she hastily marries a Portuguese doctor in the early 1970s, she finds herself whisked away to the African continent, smack dab in the middle of Portugal's colonial wars. Elizabeth tells this story to David over copious cigarettes and shots of vodka.
For me, the main issue of this book is that one of these stories feels so unnecessary. A boring and tedious accessory to the more interesting portion. Weisman would have done well to make this Elizabeth's story alone. Her chapters are truly interesting, alive, and captivating. As for David Heller, his domestic coming-of-age feels weak next to these tales of war and continental collapse. I really could hardly stand him as a narrator, mainly for his insufferable and juvenile perspective towards women. In some ways, maybe this is supposed to be understandable for his college age, but it serves to highlight Weisman's decidedly male perspective throughout the book. Still, the story of Portuguese Guinea and Angola in the 1970s, intertwined with the personal narrative of Elizabeth Bromwell, saves the book.
For me, the main issue of this book is that one of these stories feels so unnecessary. A boring and tedious accessory to the more interesting portion. Weisman would have done well to make this Elizabeth's story alone. Her chapters are truly interesting, alive, and captivating. As for David Heller, his domestic coming-of-age feels weak next to these tales of war and continental collapse. I really could hardly stand him as a narrator, mainly for his insufferable and juvenile perspective towards women. In some ways, maybe this is supposed to be understandable for his college age, but it serves to highlight Weisman's decidedly male perspective throughout the book. Still, the story of Portuguese Guinea and Angola in the 1970s, intertwined with the personal narrative of Elizabeth Bromwell, saves the book.
January 3, 2021
4.5 stars
Usually when I think of historical fiction, I think of immersion into a time long past. In this case, the story is set in my own lifetime, and yet I feel that I was as clueless about its circumstances as if it were in another time.
Set in 1988, it begins with an American college student living in England after his year of study abroad. He hires on as a caretaker of a quadriplegic man who lives with his sister and niece, an aristocratic family in its final stages of decline. We are soon drawn in to the sister’s tale of her life in the war torn Portugal colonies in Africa at the decline of its colonial dominance in the early 1970’s.
Sadly, I have to admit I knew next to nothing about these protracted wars. With rich, layered prose, Weismann makes us feel the heat and harshness of life midst the brutality of these wars in Guinee and Angola.
At the same time, we learn about the life of these characters in 1988 England, their struggles, triumphs and personal histories. They are beautifully cast as complex, compelling human beings with as many flaws as virtues. I ended up really caring about them all. It is a piece of extraordinary writing about love and loss and the sweep of history.
Usually when I think of historical fiction, I think of immersion into a time long past. In this case, the story is set in my own lifetime, and yet I feel that I was as clueless about its circumstances as if it were in another time.
Set in 1988, it begins with an American college student living in England after his year of study abroad. He hires on as a caretaker of a quadriplegic man who lives with his sister and niece, an aristocratic family in its final stages of decline. We are soon drawn in to the sister’s tale of her life in the war torn Portugal colonies in Africa at the decline of its colonial dominance in the early 1970’s.
Sadly, I have to admit I knew next to nothing about these protracted wars. With rich, layered prose, Weismann makes us feel the heat and harshness of life midst the brutality of these wars in Guinee and Angola.
At the same time, we learn about the life of these characters in 1988 England, their struggles, triumphs and personal histories. They are beautifully cast as complex, compelling human beings with as many flaws as virtues. I ended up really caring about them all. It is a piece of extraordinary writing about love and loss and the sweep of history.
June 21, 2015
Like many Americans, I’m woefully ill-informed about international politics, world history and geography. Therefore, it was a good thing I discovered the “Timeline” at the back of Jonathan Weissman’s thought-provoking novel, No. 4 Imperial Lane. This way, I went into the story knowing about the Salazar dictatorship in Portugal and the final years of that country’s colonization of Africa. I hate to admit it, but I’d never heard of Salazar and, heck, I didn’t even know Portugal had colonies in Africa.
The story goes back and forth in time, from 1980’s Brighton to Portuguese Guinea in the 1970’s, illustrating the tragic tale of Hans and Elizabeth Bromwell, the adult children of an English Lord who have fallen on hard times. Like Scheherazade, boozy middle-aged Elizabeth doles out their story, between shots of vodka, in nightly installments to David Heller, an erstwhile American college student hired to care for the irascible quadriplegic Hans. When I picked this book up, I was under the impression it would be more about the UK during the latter days of punk/early days of Brit-pop, but it actually focuses primarily on Elizabeth’s time in Africa as the young bride of a Portuguese doctor conscripted to work on the frontlines during the war in Guinea. At first I was put off because this sort of thing is of no interest to me, but gradually the drama drew me in and I found myself turning the pages anxiously in order to find the answers to the tale’s two central mysteries – What happened to Elizabeth’s husband? And what caused Hans grievous condition?
While it can be appreciated for the absorbing plot alone, it’s also both moving and thought-provoking. It examines family relationships and how they shape who we are and the paths we choose. The influence of parental neglect comes under particular scrutiny, as the plain young Elizabeth’s impetuous marriage and flight to Africa result from her feelings of rejection by her parents who dote over golden-boy Hans. And by prolonging his time in England and stealthily avoiding all contact with them, we learn that David is shunning his own parents, who shamefully neglected both of their sons after the death of their gifted eldest child, Rebecca. Somehow, Weissman seems to be conflating the strained relationships between his protagonists and their parents with the African nations’ rebellions against their European colonizers. As if the final days of Europe’s tenure in Africa was in part hastened by irresponsible, cruel stewardship and neglect. Not to mention that the Bromwell family’s slide into penury certainly parallels the fall of the mighty British Empire.
And even though the stories of both families are tragic, the book ends on a tentatively hopeful note. While this wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea, I ended up finding it engrossing and surprisingly poignant.
The story goes back and forth in time, from 1980’s Brighton to Portuguese Guinea in the 1970’s, illustrating the tragic tale of Hans and Elizabeth Bromwell, the adult children of an English Lord who have fallen on hard times. Like Scheherazade, boozy middle-aged Elizabeth doles out their story, between shots of vodka, in nightly installments to David Heller, an erstwhile American college student hired to care for the irascible quadriplegic Hans. When I picked this book up, I was under the impression it would be more about the UK during the latter days of punk/early days of Brit-pop, but it actually focuses primarily on Elizabeth’s time in Africa as the young bride of a Portuguese doctor conscripted to work on the frontlines during the war in Guinea. At first I was put off because this sort of thing is of no interest to me, but gradually the drama drew me in and I found myself turning the pages anxiously in order to find the answers to the tale’s two central mysteries – What happened to Elizabeth’s husband? And what caused Hans grievous condition?
While it can be appreciated for the absorbing plot alone, it’s also both moving and thought-provoking. It examines family relationships and how they shape who we are and the paths we choose. The influence of parental neglect comes under particular scrutiny, as the plain young Elizabeth’s impetuous marriage and flight to Africa result from her feelings of rejection by her parents who dote over golden-boy Hans. And by prolonging his time in England and stealthily avoiding all contact with them, we learn that David is shunning his own parents, who shamefully neglected both of their sons after the death of their gifted eldest child, Rebecca. Somehow, Weissman seems to be conflating the strained relationships between his protagonists and their parents with the African nations’ rebellions against their European colonizers. As if the final days of Europe’s tenure in Africa was in part hastened by irresponsible, cruel stewardship and neglect. Not to mention that the Bromwell family’s slide into penury certainly parallels the fall of the mighty British Empire.
And even though the stories of both families are tragic, the book ends on a tentatively hopeful note. While this wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea, I ended up finding it engrossing and surprisingly poignant.
June 4, 2015
I got a pre-release copy of this book and so enjoyed it. It's the story of an American college boy studying in England who takes a job caring for a quadriplegic in order to stay a bit longer. His experiences of England at that time, late 80's, the family he lives with and his charge are an interesting story, but the real meat of the book is the quad's sister's story. She blames herself for her brother's condition and most of the book is devoted to her story living in Africa as the wife of a Portuguese doctor sent there by the military as imperialism crumbles. The writing is exquisite and reminded me of Cutting For Stone and The Poisonwood Bible as I was drawn into that unfamiliar world.
August 14, 2015
An American student, in his need to escape from home, winds up becoming an important part in another family's life, with each of them having spent their younger years determined to escape from home! "Home." What does it really mean and, can one run away from home REALLY?
The novel using present and past to unfold the story of a quadriplegic, his sister and her daughter, and an American who helps care for the disabled brother. The past is revealed by Elizabeth, the sister, and deals with international warfare involving Portugal and many struggling African nations.
The novel using present and past to unfold the story of a quadriplegic, his sister and her daughter, and an American who helps care for the disabled brother. The past is revealed by Elizabeth, the sister, and deals with international warfare involving Portugal and many struggling African nations.
August 11, 2015
A coming-of-age story in the Edward St. Aubyn style. Witty and some underline worthy lines, though I never fully connected with the characters. It was a quick read.
December 15, 2015
Really a 4 1/2 for me. Very intelligent and well written novel with interwoven stories, some told in flashback, Surprisingly interesting portions set in Portuguese Africa. Emotionally resonant relationships between an American college student and the English family he comes to know.
May 12, 2016
An engaging story of love and loss. A couple fatefully drawn into the African wars of independence from the crumbling Portuguese empire. Sprinkled with quotes from Shakespeare, Yeats and others, age old wisdom that acknowledges the follies and youth and the lessons they inspire.
June 13, 2015
I really liked all the different stories. It was like reading 3 books at the same time.
January 22, 2019
Returning from the library with a stack of books it was hard to know which one to read first. I chose this one mostly because of my unfamiliarity with it and it’s size. Before getting situated I thought to read the first few pages in an effort to validate my choice. I was hooked into the story way before I remembered to sit down and lose myself in a new story. Jonathan Weisman has a way with words. I started off thinking this was a comedy with the musical references, descriptions of the fashions of the times, as well as the witty dialogue all of which had me laughing. Criss crossing over time and place with each character allowed ample time for expression I found the writing to be sensational and interesting . I was truly impressed, never bored, and eager to stay close to the story. No cheesing out at the end either. Bravo. Open it up, learn about the Portuguese colonization into the 1970s, the life of a quadriplegic, brother and sister loyalty, being the “little Jew” among the white anglos, and so much more. Weisman has definitely impressed me. No. 4 Imperial Lane will be in my thoughts for some time.
November 18, 2019
3.5 - I found this book a little confusing during the historical passages. I couldn’t quite track the political conflicts going on in Africa and the tie to Portugal. I’m guessing I paid little attention...... But what did grab me were the relationships; both in the back story and the present. The historic relationship of Elizabeth and her husband Jao was frustrating. I wanted to shake each of them at alternate times. Wake up to what you have! But they lived in a very stressful, somewhat dangerous situation and I can’t replicate that in my own life. The present relationships, on the other hand, grew rich and poignant with the passing of time. David, as caretaker to Hans, a quadriplegic, grew up in front of the reader. And Hans softened, making this part of the story very satisfying. And the scene near the end where we learn how everything came about was a stunner. I love it when I don’t see something coming. Decent read.
January 22, 2020
Among the many plot lines in this book are: a college-age American man living in England in 1988, an English aristocratic quadriplegic, the Portuguese Colonial War in Africa (late 60s, early 70s), the death of a sibling in childhood, wife-beating, and boy-meets-girl romance. Somehow, Weisman, who is American, manages to pull this off into a fairly compelling novel. David, the American boy, has an English girlfriend. In order to stay in the country, he needs to find a job. He is hired to assist in the care of Hans, a quadriplegic who lives with his sister Elizabeth and her daughter Cristina. We learn how Hans came to be paralyzed through stories that Elizabeth recounts to David each night. The stories of the revolution in Africa keep you on edge. David's romances seem trite and the weakest parts of the story.
April 23, 2024
This coming-of-age novel has two stories being told concurrently. One tells of the year in the 1980s a young American college student spends in England and his relationship with the small family he takes a job with, as caregiver to a paraplegic man. The other is the saga the man's sister relates to him, Scheherazade-like, during the empty hours of the night. The latter takes place in the 1970s and covers her adventures as she leaves her aristocratic family for Portugal, marriage, and then Africa, where Portugal's colonies are fighting for independence. The author is a journalist, and I found the story to be educational but also tender and engrossing.
March 14, 2019
"You are the joke of Europe, the last empire with nothing to show for it. London swings. Lisbon, what, languishes? You won't put up with that forever. At some point, the young people will want some decent live music."
He chuckled at that. Even in the worst of times, Africa bursts with musical joy. A nation devoid of such rapture was to be pitied.
~~festival in Guinea-Bissau
The year is 1988. David Heller is far from home. In an attempt to escape his grieving parents, he traveled to England as an exchange student at the University of Sussex. There he falls in love, and would rather do just about anything but leave Maggie and return to Georgia--and the shadow of his deceased sister. Seriously without funds-or a work visa-he takes a volunteer position as a live in aid for a quadriplegic.
He expects to work hard, be at Hans' beck and call for 14-16 hours per day, and otherwise spend as much time with Maggie as he can. What he doesn't expect is to be drawn into the fascinating and tragic history of Hans (and his sister Elizabeth). His evenings begin to be spiced with alcohol induced tales by Elizabeth. She slowly unfolds the story that took her from her family's upper-crust estate in England to the beaches of Portugal. There she fell madly in love with a Portuguese doctor, and traveled with him to the war-torn colony of Guinea-Bissau.
As David gets to know Hans better, Hans adds to story-quilt by revealing bundles of letters in the tallboy beside his bed. They consist of correspondence between Hans and Elizabeth while she was in Africa. The mystery deepens. When and how did Elizabeth return to England? How exactly did Hans become paralyzed? And where exactly does Elizabeth's exotic daughter fit into all this?
My two cents: I was pleasantly surprised by No. 4 Imperial Lane . Weisman knows how to weave prose, and the dialogue was well done. I did feel the plot dragged at times, and then felt a bit rushed at the end--but my gripe is not big enough to drag this offering below 4 star territory. Ultimately, what started as another college kid in England adventure turned into an intriguing tale of the waning days of the Portuguese empire in Africa, and a first hand look at the "winning hearts and minds" campaign which the Portuguese generals hoped would help them keep their colony. While this is fiction, I still appreciated the well-told look into time and place. Given 4.5 stars or a rating of "outstanding". Recommended to anyone who enjoys history, and especially to those who seek out non-American history!
"With Cabral and the PAIGC pushing in from their bases in Senegal and Guinea, it was time for Joao to join Spínola's war for hearts and minds. Not even Fulani territory could be taken for granted; the area north and east of Contuboel soon would be contested ground, an blank spot on the PAIGC's territorial map, surrounded on three sides, east, west, and north, by rebel-held territory. Dr. Gonçalves wasn't to fight for it. He was to minister to it. He was to roll back Cabral's gains without firing a shot, though he might administer some injections."
Further reading: The wiki article on the history of Portuguese imperialism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugu...
~~A well written research paper on the tactic of "Hearts and Minds" by Lieutenant Colonel Karl E. Nell of the United States army. http://pksoi.armywarcollege.edu/defau...
He chuckled at that. Even in the worst of times, Africa bursts with musical joy. A nation devoid of such rapture was to be pitied.
~~festival in Guinea-Bissau
The year is 1988. David Heller is far from home. In an attempt to escape his grieving parents, he traveled to England as an exchange student at the University of Sussex. There he falls in love, and would rather do just about anything but leave Maggie and return to Georgia--and the shadow of his deceased sister. Seriously without funds-or a work visa-he takes a volunteer position as a live in aid for a quadriplegic.
He expects to work hard, be at Hans' beck and call for 14-16 hours per day, and otherwise spend as much time with Maggie as he can. What he doesn't expect is to be drawn into the fascinating and tragic history of Hans (and his sister Elizabeth). His evenings begin to be spiced with alcohol induced tales by Elizabeth. She slowly unfolds the story that took her from her family's upper-crust estate in England to the beaches of Portugal. There she fell madly in love with a Portuguese doctor, and traveled with him to the war-torn colony of Guinea-Bissau.
As David gets to know Hans better, Hans adds to story-quilt by revealing bundles of letters in the tallboy beside his bed. They consist of correspondence between Hans and Elizabeth while she was in Africa. The mystery deepens. When and how did Elizabeth return to England? How exactly did Hans become paralyzed? And where exactly does Elizabeth's exotic daughter fit into all this?
My two cents: I was pleasantly surprised by No. 4 Imperial Lane . Weisman knows how to weave prose, and the dialogue was well done. I did feel the plot dragged at times, and then felt a bit rushed at the end--but my gripe is not big enough to drag this offering below 4 star territory. Ultimately, what started as another college kid in England adventure turned into an intriguing tale of the waning days of the Portuguese empire in Africa, and a first hand look at the "winning hearts and minds" campaign which the Portuguese generals hoped would help them keep their colony. While this is fiction, I still appreciated the well-told look into time and place. Given 4.5 stars or a rating of "outstanding". Recommended to anyone who enjoys history, and especially to those who seek out non-American history!
"With Cabral and the PAIGC pushing in from their bases in Senegal and Guinea, it was time for Joao to join Spínola's war for hearts and minds. Not even Fulani territory could be taken for granted; the area north and east of Contuboel soon would be contested ground, an blank spot on the PAIGC's territorial map, surrounded on three sides, east, west, and north, by rebel-held territory. Dr. Gonçalves wasn't to fight for it. He was to minister to it. He was to roll back Cabral's gains without firing a shot, though he might administer some injections."
Further reading: The wiki article on the history of Portuguese imperialism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugu...
~~A well written research paper on the tactic of "Hearts and Minds" by Lieutenant Colonel Karl E. Nell of the United States army. http://pksoi.armywarcollege.edu/defau...
December 8, 2020
I quickly fell headlong into this fantastic novel and thoroughly enjoyed every single bit of it from start to finish. Weisman creates characters that are so very human--mixtures of good and bad qualities and I really fell in love with all of them by the end. Refreshing style, engrossing plot, and and utterly satisfying read. The Audible version is top notch with an extremely talented reader.
December 19, 2020
3.5 stars. Several stories within the story, dwelling on themes of being an ex-pat, what it means to leave home, what is freedom, how trauma changes us, how far will family loyalty go. These themes are framed by a young man working as a volunteer carer for room and board for a paraplegic and his evolving relationships with the whole family.
October 31, 2017
I won a copy of this book during a Goodreads giveaway. I am under no obligation to leave a review or rating and do so voluntarily. So that others may also enjoy this book, I am paying it forward by donating it a local library.
January 8, 2022
This book was really surprising! So many characters and storylines in unique settings, yet it all came together. I got a little confused with some of the political parts, but didn’t take away from the main story.
May 24, 2018
More African/Portuguese war than 80s punk.
July 20, 2021
Enjoyed the personal narratives, but the long political benders lost me.
March 30, 2024
I almost cried multiple times 😭 such a beautiful story
August 5, 2015
Jonathan Weisman's first novel, No. 4 Imperial Lane, does not start out very well. In the first pages David Weller, an American student looking to prolong his stay in England, shows up as a volunteer to help take care of a quadriplegic, Hans Bromwell. His romantic notions of a Hawkings-like figure are instantly shattered when he discovers Hans is more like a "grumbling skull attached to a lifeless body" (a description from later in the book) living in a room that "smelled of shit and vapor rub. A bag of urine hung off the bed, the catheter tube snaking up and under the blanket." And that is hardly the most unpleasant aspect of the book that features cold parents, thankless children and loveless marriages all set in backdrop of Hans' horrific wasting away, brutal colonial wars and tropical diseases.
But while unwell and unpleasant are descriptions of the subjects of much of this book the book itself is outstanding. In fact, it is three excellent books that come together to make something even better. The first is the decline of Hans' upper-class British family, which never made the adjustment to modernity and meritocracy and finds itself having sold its ancestral property and forced to sell of antique furniture piece by piece to support themselves and the care they need for Hans' quadriplegia. The second, told in flashbacks, is the decline and fall of the Portuguese Empire, focused particularly on Portuguese Guine's (later Guinea-Bissau) war of independence and then Angola's war of independence. By itself, this makes for an interesting historical novel about a huge set of events I had barely ever registered (Portugal controlled Guine for over 500 years before being forcefully ejected, one of the last places it controlled in an empire that even as late as the mid-twentieth century still spanned the globe and required a large fraction of Portugal's national income and manpower to control). Connecting these first two books, and providing their emotional center, is Hans' sister Elizabeth who marries a Portuguese doctor at the age of twenty-one, with their main connection being their love of Shakespeare and their mutual inexperience, and follows him to the African wars. Finally, the third book, the most fragmentary, is a coming of age story of an American college student in England.
These three sets of stories are skillfully woven together, both in terms of a plot that moves along and comes together in the end, and also thematically in the similarities and juxtapositions between the end of the Portuguese empire, the end of the Bromwell family's dynasty, and the end of the British empire (not depicted in the book, but clearly understood and noted). But there are also surprising redemptions, promises of change, and hopes for the future--much of it in David, the young American college student, but also a beautiful half Portuguese, half English teenager named Cristina.
No. 4 Imperial Lane is powerful, moving and as insightful about the grand sweep of history as it is about dynamics of families. It's not War and Peace, but much of it effectively employs a similar method that shifts from high political history, to ground-level descriptions of the fighting and other events of that history, to the relationships of the families caught in their sweep. And although the events depicted in No. 4 Imperial Lane are much closer to us in time than the Napoleonic wars, they are considerably more alien and difficult to imagine.
But while unwell and unpleasant are descriptions of the subjects of much of this book the book itself is outstanding. In fact, it is three excellent books that come together to make something even better. The first is the decline of Hans' upper-class British family, which never made the adjustment to modernity and meritocracy and finds itself having sold its ancestral property and forced to sell of antique furniture piece by piece to support themselves and the care they need for Hans' quadriplegia. The second, told in flashbacks, is the decline and fall of the Portuguese Empire, focused particularly on Portuguese Guine's (later Guinea-Bissau) war of independence and then Angola's war of independence. By itself, this makes for an interesting historical novel about a huge set of events I had barely ever registered (Portugal controlled Guine for over 500 years before being forcefully ejected, one of the last places it controlled in an empire that even as late as the mid-twentieth century still spanned the globe and required a large fraction of Portugal's national income and manpower to control). Connecting these first two books, and providing their emotional center, is Hans' sister Elizabeth who marries a Portuguese doctor at the age of twenty-one, with their main connection being their love of Shakespeare and their mutual inexperience, and follows him to the African wars. Finally, the third book, the most fragmentary, is a coming of age story of an American college student in England.
These three sets of stories are skillfully woven together, both in terms of a plot that moves along and comes together in the end, and also thematically in the similarities and juxtapositions between the end of the Portuguese empire, the end of the Bromwell family's dynasty, and the end of the British empire (not depicted in the book, but clearly understood and noted). But there are also surprising redemptions, promises of change, and hopes for the future--much of it in David, the young American college student, but also a beautiful half Portuguese, half English teenager named Cristina.
No. 4 Imperial Lane is powerful, moving and as insightful about the grand sweep of history as it is about dynamics of families. It's not War and Peace, but much of it effectively employs a similar method that shifts from high political history, to ground-level descriptions of the fighting and other events of that history, to the relationships of the families caught in their sweep. And although the events depicted in No. 4 Imperial Lane are much closer to us in time than the Napoleonic wars, they are considerably more alien and difficult to imagine.
August 11, 2015
Set in 1988 England, David is an American studying abroad for a year. He is leaving a family which has suffered a tragedy with the death of his older sister. While in England he meets Maggie and decides to extend his stay another year. He gets a position at No. 4 Imperial Lane caring for a quadriplegic (Hans). Also living at the residence is Hans sister Elizabeth and her daughter.
The story of this family is related during the course of the novel. Elizabeth meets a Doctor from Portugal while on holiday and has a whirlwind courtship and, much to the displeasure of both families, gets married. A significant portion of the book follows Elizabeth and her husband as he travels through Africa discharging his military obligations on behalf of the Portuguese empire. At times this story serves as a history of the decline of the empire as much as a novel.
Elizabeth and the Doctor have a daughter but their relationship becomes increasingly frayed. He is short tempered and abusive, perhaps due to the pressures of the wars. Eventually as the empire crumbles, they flee to South Africa. Elizabeth's father sends Hans to check in on her as he senses the family turmoil. The story progresses with a confrontation at that point.
In the meantime, David has split up with Maggie, fallen in love with Elizabeth's daughter, dealt with the declining health of Hans, and received the increasing pleas from his parents to return home to Chicago. This all is tied up by the end of the novel.
This is a terrific book. A page turner that is hard to put down. The history lesson is an added bonus. Mr Weisman is a first time author who hopefully has many more novels to come.
The story of this family is related during the course of the novel. Elizabeth meets a Doctor from Portugal while on holiday and has a whirlwind courtship and, much to the displeasure of both families, gets married. A significant portion of the book follows Elizabeth and her husband as he travels through Africa discharging his military obligations on behalf of the Portuguese empire. At times this story serves as a history of the decline of the empire as much as a novel.
Elizabeth and the Doctor have a daughter but their relationship becomes increasingly frayed. He is short tempered and abusive, perhaps due to the pressures of the wars. Eventually as the empire crumbles, they flee to South Africa. Elizabeth's father sends Hans to check in on her as he senses the family turmoil. The story progresses with a confrontation at that point.
In the meantime, David has split up with Maggie, fallen in love with Elizabeth's daughter, dealt with the declining health of Hans, and received the increasing pleas from his parents to return home to Chicago. This all is tied up by the end of the novel.
This is a terrific book. A page turner that is hard to put down. The history lesson is an added bonus. Mr Weisman is a first time author who hopefully has many more novels to come.
February 1, 2016
This is a complicated novel, but one worth reading for its ultimate payoff. The story begins with David Heller, an American import on a year abroad in England. After falling in love with a British girl, he tries to see if he can find a way to extend his stay in the UK and ends up working as a meagerly paid volunteer with the Bromwell family and, particularly with Hans, a quadrapalegic.
This once upper crust family (now down on their heels, living in Brighton, and selling off their furniture piece by piece) has a very interesting story to tell, one that rests with Hans's alcoholic sister, Elizabeth, and her time living in Africa. As the stories of the Bromwells' lives unwind and entwine with David's own sorrows over the death of his sister at a young age, the history of Portuguese colonization of Africa comes to the fore.
This is a novel about many things: Britain's fading aristocracy, the price of war, the lingering effects of colonization, the costs of empire-building, and the personal toll that loneliness, illness, and death have upon a family. The book can be hard to read in parts, but it's fascinating, too.
The political setting (the decline of colonial Africa and the birth of some African nation-states) is a complicated one, and Author Jonathan Weisman possesses a deft touch intertwining facts with fiction. He's had plenty of experience explaining political events as a journalist, but nonfiction sometimes becomes more real with a fictional setting in which to place the importance of those events. That he provides well in this book, where he saves the most important question (how Hans befell his fate) for a very satisfying ending.
This once upper crust family (now down on their heels, living in Brighton, and selling off their furniture piece by piece) has a very interesting story to tell, one that rests with Hans's alcoholic sister, Elizabeth, and her time living in Africa. As the stories of the Bromwells' lives unwind and entwine with David's own sorrows over the death of his sister at a young age, the history of Portuguese colonization of Africa comes to the fore.
This is a novel about many things: Britain's fading aristocracy, the price of war, the lingering effects of colonization, the costs of empire-building, and the personal toll that loneliness, illness, and death have upon a family. The book can be hard to read in parts, but it's fascinating, too.
The political setting (the decline of colonial Africa and the birth of some African nation-states) is a complicated one, and Author Jonathan Weisman possesses a deft touch intertwining facts with fiction. He's had plenty of experience explaining political events as a journalist, but nonfiction sometimes becomes more real with a fictional setting in which to place the importance of those events. That he provides well in this book, where he saves the most important question (how Hans befell his fate) for a very satisfying ending.
June 10, 2015
The danger of reviewing a book after reading the reviews of others is redundancy. I try to make mine purely subjective, original, and not an echo of someone else's thoughts. The problem here is, I should not have read the other reviews since there is an almost universal consensus with this book, and although I'd like to be original, I find I must repeat what others have already said -- this is really two novels in one, one far more successful in concept and thought and far less intriguing than the other. There have been several books lately about coming of age in the late 80's in Thatcher's England, which is nothing new. David, an American student at the "Berkeley of Britain" (i.e., left wing university of Sussex) finds a way to extend his stay (due to an infatuation), and takes on the chores of playing caretaker to Hans, a quadriplegic in Brighton. Elizabeth, Hans's sister, also lives in the house, cooking extravagant foodie dishes for her brother, and Scheherazade-like, regaling David with her family's history most notably, in Portuguese Colonial Africa during the time of upheaval and rebellion. Those were the most riveting portions of the book, when it truly came alive. Weisman's experience as a political writer is evident here in the unorthodox choice of both Brighton and of Angola, and wisely provides a timeline for the historical events against which the story is placed.
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