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Lifelines
It’s 1971 when Louise leaves Oregon for Düsseldorf, a city grappling with its nation’s horrific recent history, to study art. Soon she’s embroiled in a scene dramatically different from the one at home, thanks in large part to Dieter, a mercurial musician. Their romance ignites quickly, but life gets in the way: an unplanned pregnancy, hasty marriage, the tense balance of their creative ambitions, and—finally, fatally—a family secret that shatters Dieter, and drives Louise home.
But in 2008 she’s headed to Dieter’s mother’s funeral. She never returned to Germany, and has since remarried, had another daughter, and built a life in Oregon. As she flies into the heart of her past, she reckons with the choices she made, and the ones she didn’t, just as her family—current and former—must consider how Louise’s life has shaped their own, for better and for worse.
Exquisitely balanced, expansive yet wonderfully intimate, Lifelines explores the indelible ties of family; the shape art, history, and nationality give to our lives; and the ways in which we are forever evolving, with each step we take, with each turn of the Earth.
But in 2008 she’s headed to Dieter’s mother’s funeral. She never returned to Germany, and has since remarried, had another daughter, and built a life in Oregon. As she flies into the heart of her past, she reckons with the choices she made, and the ones she didn’t, just as her family—current and former—must consider how Louise’s life has shaped their own, for better and for worse.
Exquisitely balanced, expansive yet wonderfully intimate, Lifelines explores the indelible ties of family; the shape art, history, and nationality give to our lives; and the ways in which we are forever evolving, with each step we take, with each turn of the Earth.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published June 18, 2019
33 people are currently reading
2530 people want to read
About the author
Heidi Diehl
4 books41 followersFiction writer Heidi Diehl is based in Brooklyn. She earned her BA in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College and her MFA in Creative Writing-Fiction from Brooklyn College, where she has worked as an adjunct lecturer in the Department of English since 2010.
Her writing has been published in such literary journals as Witness, Story Quarterly, Crazyhorse, Slice, and the Colorado Review. She also has been awarded fellowships at the MacDowell Colony, Vermont Studio Center, and the Norman Mailer Writers Colony.
Her writing has been published in such literary journals as Witness, Story Quarterly, Crazyhorse, Slice, and the Colorado Review. She also has been awarded fellowships at the MacDowell Colony, Vermont Studio Center, and the Norman Mailer Writers Colony.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
May 24, 2019
It took me a long time to finish this novel, alternately losing interest and then gaining curiosity again. A domestic and historical drama, it’s also a concept novel about artists and their mediums (music, painting, photography) and art’s intersection with life, including heritage, memory, time, and the spatial world. The title also points to the novel’s blended German and American families, and links latent and unresolved secrets and lies that divide them. The family’s odious skeletons symbolically mirror Germany’s shame from the events of WW II. However, the “secret” or misapprehensions that broke a marriage apart never gripped me the way the author intended.
The story alternates between the 1970s and 2008, from Düsseldorf, Germany to Eugene, Oregon, with a finale in Berlin. Louise is the mother of 35 year-old Elke, her daughter with her first husband, Dieter, a musician, who she met while in art school in 1970s Düsseldorf. They were so young when they met and had a baby, and the marriage essentially ended when Louise returned to the states to care for her ailing mother, and never returned to Germany. Both Louise and Dieter were carrying a heavy emotional burden that they couldn’t reconcile.
Back in Eugene, Louise met Richard, a photographer and urban planner, who she has now been married to for thirty years. Their avant-garde musician daughter, Margot, is now the age that Louise was when she lived in Germany. As the novel begins, Elke asks Louise to accompany her to Düsseldorf to attend her grandmother’s funeral. This sets up an awkward reunion with Louise and Dieter, who she hasn’t seen since Elke’s high school graduation in Eugene.
Meanwhile, Louise expects Richard to stay home and snap the recurring timed photo of a visual project she has been working on for decades on their property. He's concerned that their marriage is threatened by the unfolding of a distant history that he didn’t share, and a fraught memory that they did. Meanwhile, Margot is on a European music tour with her techno music band, another event for Louise and Elke to visit together.
The author develops her characters well, but there are too many events and issues that she attempts to integrate. Instead of a seamless story of life and the difficulties reconciling the past and present (and Germany’s past and present), I felt that the narrative meandered. Her exploration of conceptual music and art was fascinating, and I saw how the elements applied to the themes, but she spread herself too thin.
In her story, Diehl embraces the concept of “desire lines” or desire paths. These are the visible lines or paths that have resulted from people who make shortcuts or freewheeling tracks through the designed or natural landscape. Our lines give feedback to the land and to the community, and also reveal where people refuse to tread. These ideas fit squarely with Diehl’s themes in LIFELINES. The civil disobedience of desire lines mirrors the intractable messiness of living, despite our desire to control our own narratives, or lifelines.
“Spatial nudges: a notch in the hedge, a line in the grass…Years and years together. They’d given each other that.” These concepts are intrepid, but got buried for me as a reader, because I was also balancing all the elements of avant-garde music and ongoing, multiple threads. Heidi Diehl is a lovely and thoughtful writer (and is nothing like the witty, sardonic Meg Wolitzer, which she is wrongfully compared to). She may have made some missteps here, but I will keep an eye out for her next novel. Not bad for such an ambitious debut.
The story alternates between the 1970s and 2008, from Düsseldorf, Germany to Eugene, Oregon, with a finale in Berlin. Louise is the mother of 35 year-old Elke, her daughter with her first husband, Dieter, a musician, who she met while in art school in 1970s Düsseldorf. They were so young when they met and had a baby, and the marriage essentially ended when Louise returned to the states to care for her ailing mother, and never returned to Germany. Both Louise and Dieter were carrying a heavy emotional burden that they couldn’t reconcile.
Back in Eugene, Louise met Richard, a photographer and urban planner, who she has now been married to for thirty years. Their avant-garde musician daughter, Margot, is now the age that Louise was when she lived in Germany. As the novel begins, Elke asks Louise to accompany her to Düsseldorf to attend her grandmother’s funeral. This sets up an awkward reunion with Louise and Dieter, who she hasn’t seen since Elke’s high school graduation in Eugene.
Meanwhile, Louise expects Richard to stay home and snap the recurring timed photo of a visual project she has been working on for decades on their property. He's concerned that their marriage is threatened by the unfolding of a distant history that he didn’t share, and a fraught memory that they did. Meanwhile, Margot is on a European music tour with her techno music band, another event for Louise and Elke to visit together.
The author develops her characters well, but there are too many events and issues that she attempts to integrate. Instead of a seamless story of life and the difficulties reconciling the past and present (and Germany’s past and present), I felt that the narrative meandered. Her exploration of conceptual music and art was fascinating, and I saw how the elements applied to the themes, but she spread herself too thin.
In her story, Diehl embraces the concept of “desire lines” or desire paths. These are the visible lines or paths that have resulted from people who make shortcuts or freewheeling tracks through the designed or natural landscape. Our lines give feedback to the land and to the community, and also reveal where people refuse to tread. These ideas fit squarely with Diehl’s themes in LIFELINES. The civil disobedience of desire lines mirrors the intractable messiness of living, despite our desire to control our own narratives, or lifelines.
“Spatial nudges: a notch in the hedge, a line in the grass…Years and years together. They’d given each other that.” These concepts are intrepid, but got buried for me as a reader, because I was also balancing all the elements of avant-garde music and ongoing, multiple threads. Heidi Diehl is a lovely and thoughtful writer (and is nothing like the witty, sardonic Meg Wolitzer, which she is wrongfully compared to). She may have made some missteps here, but I will keep an eye out for her next novel. Not bad for such an ambitious debut.
June 1, 2024
3.5*. This was a family story set approximately 30 years apart. I enjoyed the structure of chapters told from different perspectives in the 2 time periods. This was slow moving without a lot of action but the pacing felt right. It list a half star because the ending felt rushed and squished after such a long drawn out story.
June 18, 2019
Last year I read a book about swimming and Berlin and hydrology and the nuances in the German language, and it was like it had been written just for me.
Lifelines by Heidi Diehl is about the German psyche (their collective grief and shame), Düsseldorf, and urban planning. Another book written just for me?
Lifelines is also about music and art, the 1970s, what is expressed and what is left unsaid, and how we fit into our environment.
Moving between Düsseldorf in 1971 and Oregon in 2008, the story follows Louise, who arrives in Germany to study art. In Düsseldorf, Louise meets Dieter, a mercurial musician, and they soon begin a relationship. However, an unplanned pregnancy, their hasty marriage, and the tense balance between Louise's art and Dieter's music, takes a toll, driving Louise and baby Elke back to America.
By 2008, Louise has remarried, to an urban planner named Richard, whose research interest is desire lines. When news comes of Dieter’s mother’s death, Elke asks Louise to accompany her to Germany for the funeral. It's Louise's first visit to Germany since she left Dieter, and the trip forces her to reflect on the choices she made.
I enjoyed so many elements of this novel. Although I haven't been to Düsseldorf, the story sparked my own memories of being a foreigner living in Germany - the unwritten rules at the public swimming pool; the cordoned off grass in parks; the alien (but delicious) bread; the small dish on shop counters for your change - I could go on, but needless to say Diehl has nailed the detail in this book, creating an authentic and seamless sense of time and place.
Without spoilers, Diehl examines the collective grief of Germans living in the decades after WWII. This was finely done, her observations astute. What particularly impressed me was how she captured the fact that this grief is an ever-present thing, humming in the background even for those not alive during the War.
I was acutely aware of this when I was living (briefly) in Germany in the eighties, and it's something I have observed each time I have visited since. Much has been written in novels about the inter-generational trauma of the Holocaust from a Jewish perspective, however less often do we read about it from a German perspective. Diehl captures the complexities of their shame.
Diehl layers a number of themes in this story. There is much to be said about whether we lead with our heart or our head, and the parallel stories of Richard's 'desire lines' research and Louise's ongoing art projects provide a wonderful vehicle for this. Diehl also draws attention to the burden of secrets - how carrying information effects us in different ways, and how knowing particular things comes with a sometimes unwanted responsibility.
Lifelines is engaging, interesting and written with such insight and sensitivity. I'll look forward to more from Diehl in the future.
I received my copy of Lifelines from the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
4/5 An impressive debut.
Lifelines by Heidi Diehl is about the German psyche (their collective grief and shame), Düsseldorf, and urban planning. Another book written just for me?
Lifelines is also about music and art, the 1970s, what is expressed and what is left unsaid, and how we fit into our environment.
Moving between Düsseldorf in 1971 and Oregon in 2008, the story follows Louise, who arrives in Germany to study art. In Düsseldorf, Louise meets Dieter, a mercurial musician, and they soon begin a relationship. However, an unplanned pregnancy, their hasty marriage, and the tense balance between Louise's art and Dieter's music, takes a toll, driving Louise and baby Elke back to America.
By 2008, Louise has remarried, to an urban planner named Richard, whose research interest is desire lines. When news comes of Dieter’s mother’s death, Elke asks Louise to accompany her to Germany for the funeral. It's Louise's first visit to Germany since she left Dieter, and the trip forces her to reflect on the choices she made.
I enjoyed so many elements of this novel. Although I haven't been to Düsseldorf, the story sparked my own memories of being a foreigner living in Germany - the unwritten rules at the public swimming pool; the cordoned off grass in parks; the alien (but delicious) bread; the small dish on shop counters for your change - I could go on, but needless to say Diehl has nailed the detail in this book, creating an authentic and seamless sense of time and place.
Without spoilers, Diehl examines the collective grief of Germans living in the decades after WWII. This was finely done, her observations astute. What particularly impressed me was how she captured the fact that this grief is an ever-present thing, humming in the background even for those not alive during the War.
"You can't compare terrible with terrible. It's different. It's easier to be an American."
"Maybe," she said. "It's all I know."
"And being German is all I know. We have to pretend we don't have any history, when actually we have too much history."
I was acutely aware of this when I was living (briefly) in Germany in the eighties, and it's something I have observed each time I have visited since. Much has been written in novels about the inter-generational trauma of the Holocaust from a Jewish perspective, however less often do we read about it from a German perspective. Diehl captures the complexities of their shame.
"You'll hear the denial in the way people talk," Dieter continued. "They say, after what happened, or before it ended. They can't even say the real words."
Diehl layers a number of themes in this story. There is much to be said about whether we lead with our heart or our head, and the parallel stories of Richard's 'desire lines' research and Louise's ongoing art projects provide a wonderful vehicle for this. Diehl also draws attention to the burden of secrets - how carrying information effects us in different ways, and how knowing particular things comes with a sometimes unwanted responsibility.
...wearing down a path better suited to their needs. Footsteps caused erosion; Richard liked how direct it was. Unconsciously, people were more assertive than they ever could be in the rest of their lives.
Lifelines is engaging, interesting and written with such insight and sensitivity. I'll look forward to more from Diehl in the future.
I received my copy of Lifelines from the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
4/5 An impressive debut.
June 24, 2019
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Life Lines” is an extraordinary novel but I’m never going to be able to give this book a review worthy of its excellence. A young American, Louise, moves to Germany to study art and meets & marries Dieter, a German musician in the early 1970’s. The story follows their paths where lines are crossed and what was once wonderful becomes unbearable. Love is like that. Nothing in life follows a straight linear line…it’s a broken path where we stumble to the proverbial finish line. We all do our best. I loved this book because it really presented a realistic image of Germany where people remain haunted by history that they would prefer to forget. So too does this marriage haunt our couple. Even though they part, and Louise remarries, their lives intersect through the children born of both marriages. The book often refers to desire paths which are, in life, created as a consequence of erosion. Think of well-worn path where people veer off the sidewalk to make a shortcut. This book reflects lives intersected by desire lines and love that intersects, erodes, and eventually realigns. A new path is formed. At one point, the author writes: “She remembered what her father had taught her, to look back occasionally, to see what the going would look like as opposed to the coming.” The author, Heidi Diehl’s debut novel is terrific and a deeply reflective look at life. Beautifully written by a new author who observes life lines with profound and mesmerizing words. #family #booksofinstagram #idratherbereading #modernmrsdarcy #summerstooshort #bookstagram #familydynamics #bookworm #book #books #lindaleereads2019 lines #lifelines #desirelines #lines #history #germany @heidi.diehl
September 6, 2018
LIFELINES draws the reader into the life of Louise and her family. The story is told in chapter narrates by the different member of Louise’s family, takes place in Germany and the United States, and is set on the early 1970s and 2008.
There are so many things I love about this book, the back and forth of the storyline especially. A portion of the family’s history is presented as a story or memory, and then one of the character begins to tell the story from their perspective back when it was actually occurring.
Beautiful character development and artistic details from the point of view of the painter (Louise) and the musicians (Dietrich and Margot). I would love to have had visuals for Louise’s art work and sound recordings of Dietrich and Margot’s music. The descriptions for both were excellent and made me want to see and hear what was being described.
There are so many things I love about this book, the back and forth of the storyline especially. A portion of the family’s history is presented as a story or memory, and then one of the character begins to tell the story from their perspective back when it was actually occurring.
Beautiful character development and artistic details from the point of view of the painter (Louise) and the musicians (Dietrich and Margot). I would love to have had visuals for Louise’s art work and sound recordings of Dietrich and Margot’s music. The descriptions for both were excellent and made me want to see and hear what was being described.
March 5, 2024
3.5 stars. Definitely a slow burn, and not a book with a great big climax to build up to. More like an observation of the relationships within a complicated family. I enjoyed it.
June 19, 2019
Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.
This character-driven family drama had promise, but it lacked the unputdownable quality of my favorite character-driven novels. Diehl was compared to Meg Wolitzer and Maggie Shipstead, but I found the beginning of the story more reminiscent of The Age of Light (my review)…and the writing reminded me of Mary Beth Keane’s in Ask Again, Yes (my review). The story is told in alternate perspectives (Louise’s, her current husband’s, and her daughter with her ex-husband’s). I enjoyed seeing the ramifications of WWII on regular German people…and how it impacted their lives even decades after it was over. But, this story really needed more propulsion. I felt myself wondering why I should care about these people and what happens to them…and caring about the characters is key to a successful character-driven novel. And, the ending wasn’t really an ending. It just kind of petered out. While this novel didn’t fully work for me, I did really love Diehl’s writing style and will be interested to see what she does next.
Visit https://www.sarahsbookshelves.com for more reviews.
This character-driven family drama had promise, but it lacked the unputdownable quality of my favorite character-driven novels. Diehl was compared to Meg Wolitzer and Maggie Shipstead, but I found the beginning of the story more reminiscent of The Age of Light (my review)…and the writing reminded me of Mary Beth Keane’s in Ask Again, Yes (my review). The story is told in alternate perspectives (Louise’s, her current husband’s, and her daughter with her ex-husband’s). I enjoyed seeing the ramifications of WWII on regular German people…and how it impacted their lives even decades after it was over. But, this story really needed more propulsion. I felt myself wondering why I should care about these people and what happens to them…and caring about the characters is key to a successful character-driven novel. And, the ending wasn’t really an ending. It just kind of petered out. While this novel didn’t fully work for me, I did really love Diehl’s writing style and will be interested to see what she does next.
Visit https://www.sarahsbookshelves.com for more reviews.
September 26, 2019
My angle on this differs from the other reviews here. I am impressed with the authors interpretation of a visual artist and musician's creative process. The story takes place over 30 years, each chapter alternating between the 70's and the oughts. Much of the early 70's narrative incorporates real elements of the German rock music scene- bands and labels are name checked. This music style is an undercurrent that defines the Dieter character- a German rock musician steeped in the open-ended improv jam style popular at the time. The author cannot possibly be older than me, yet she conveys a true sense of the social vibe of the early 70's (The U.S. side if the story takes place in Eugene, OR.)
The story itself was not as interesting but I will seek out Heidi's other work.
The story itself was not as interesting but I will seek out Heidi's other work.
January 2, 2020
So...the writing in this one was pretty and I know that I am supposed to glean some profound life meaning from the overt crush of art thrust in the reader's face. I know that I am supposed to think more deeply about my own path and the desire lines I have created throughout my life.
But I just cannot.
This book was incredibly boring. I hate to say it. I fell asleep while reading many times and was just flat out bored. Every single character was incredibly vanilla despite the complexity of their history as a family. Louise, regardless of the fact that she moved away from her overbearing parents at a young age to pursue a career in art in Germany, still maintained a wishy washy, sheltered mindset as an adult. This was most apparent when her daughter, Elke, did not show up the morning after a night out at a German nightclub, when Louise's main concern was mugging and she wondered if adults even get kidnapped. I mean...
This book just didn't really even go anywhere and I really sort of loathed every single character. Kind of disappointed that I started out my reading year of 2020 this way, but we can only go up from here, right??
Thank you to Goodreads and HMH Books for this giveaway!
But I just cannot.
This book was incredibly boring. I hate to say it. I fell asleep while reading many times and was just flat out bored. Every single character was incredibly vanilla despite the complexity of their history as a family. Louise, regardless of the fact that she moved away from her overbearing parents at a young age to pursue a career in art in Germany, still maintained a wishy washy, sheltered mindset as an adult. This was most apparent when her daughter, Elke, did not show up the morning after a night out at a German nightclub, when Louise's main concern was mugging and she wondered if adults even get kidnapped. I mean...
This book just didn't really even go anywhere and I really sort of loathed every single character. Kind of disappointed that I started out my reading year of 2020 this way, but we can only go up from here, right??
Thank you to Goodreads and HMH Books for this giveaway!
December 6, 2019
I don’t have my thoughts gathered on LIFELINES yet but random things about the novel to try to give you an idea if it’s one you need to pick up... Artsy, both in writing style, metaphors and analogies but also literally about artists. Musicians, painters and city design planners all feature heavily.
An inside perspective to Germany and German culture. I spent a couple of weeks in Düsseldorf in the late 1990s and this book brought all the memories back. Also, the hippie culture in the Pacific Northwest plays a role.
In summary, it’s a meandering novel of family, choices, the paths we take and where they lead us.
An inside perspective to Germany and German culture. I spent a couple of weeks in Düsseldorf in the late 1990s and this book brought all the memories back. Also, the hippie culture in the Pacific Northwest plays a role.
In summary, it’s a meandering novel of family, choices, the paths we take and where they lead us.
May 23, 2019
Disclosure: I received a free advance reading copy of this novel from the publisher via a Goodreads Giveaway.
I will be honest, I entered the giveaway because I already had this on my want-to-read shelf--but I didn't remember why I'd added it. A laudatory quote from George Saunders probably explains why it was there--because if George Saunders says it's good, it must be good, right?
Turns out I did find it quite compelling. At its heart, it's a story about love, and how we end up with the person (or people) we do in life--but it also covers difficult histories (personal, family, and national), how families form and function, and artistic experimentation. The bulk of the story takes place either in Oregon or in Germany, and the author draws both of those societies with a fine and convincing brush. The main characters, who each take turns telling parts of the story, are interesting, flawed, and believable. I found myself really drawn into the main character's uncertainty about which of two potential men she should build a life with.
It's not a perfect novel--I found some unnecessary repetition and some of the characters nearer the edges of the plot seemed a bit wooden and perhaps unneeded--but I did enjoy it and would happily recommend it.
I will be honest, I entered the giveaway because I already had this on my want-to-read shelf--but I didn't remember why I'd added it. A laudatory quote from George Saunders probably explains why it was there--because if George Saunders says it's good, it must be good, right?
Turns out I did find it quite compelling. At its heart, it's a story about love, and how we end up with the person (or people) we do in life--but it also covers difficult histories (personal, family, and national), how families form and function, and artistic experimentation. The bulk of the story takes place either in Oregon or in Germany, and the author draws both of those societies with a fine and convincing brush. The main characters, who each take turns telling parts of the story, are interesting, flawed, and believable. I found myself really drawn into the main character's uncertainty about which of two potential men she should build a life with.
It's not a perfect novel--I found some unnecessary repetition and some of the characters nearer the edges of the plot seemed a bit wooden and perhaps unneeded--but I did enjoy it and would happily recommend it.
June 8, 2019
3.5 stars
*Goodreads giveaway winner*
The synopsis had me anticipating this a lot more than it actually panned out. The shattering family secret isn't what drove Louise back to Eugene. I also didn't find it so shattering. Yes, it was a horrible secret, but maybe it is something that a German could relate to more than I did. Or maybe it's just that there wasn't much made of the shattering family secret afterwards (Dieter never really dealt with it that I could understand).
*Goodreads giveaway winner*
The synopsis had me anticipating this a lot more than it actually panned out. The shattering family secret isn't what drove Louise back to Eugene. I also didn't find it so shattering. Yes, it was a horrible secret, but maybe it is something that a German could relate to more than I did. Or maybe it's just that there wasn't much made of the shattering family secret afterwards (Dieter never really dealt with it that I could understand).
May 19, 2019
I often see publicity campaigns for new books - particularly novels - comparing them to the work of an important, better known author's work. In the case of Heidi Diehl's novel, "Lifelines", her book has been compared to novels by Maggie Shipstead and Meg Wolitzer. These comparisons are usually unfair to everyone involved, because seldom can the work of a newby hold up to that of an established author.
"Lifelines" is the story of three generations of Germans and Americans. Most of the book is based on the life of Louise, a young American artist, who goes to study in Dusseldorf in 1971 on an educational grant. Louise meets Dieter, a young German musician, they flirt, they fall in love, they marry, they become parents to a daughter, and they divorce. Louise and daughter Elke move back to the United States, Louise marries Richard in Portland, Oregon, they have another daughter. Elke sees both parents. Okay, things work out in a settled but a bit bumpy way. Then, in 2008, Dieter's mother, to whom Louise and Elke have been quite close, dies. Louise and Elke set off for the funeral and people who haven't been in each other's lives for a while, suddenly are in the aftermath of a death.
Heidi Diehl tells an interesting story of individuals who are often unsure of their connections to others in their world. The fact that the book takes place during the economic uncertainty of 2008 makes it a bit more interesting. It's a good, not great, book and I think Heidi Diehl will be an author to watch.
"Lifelines" is the story of three generations of Germans and Americans. Most of the book is based on the life of Louise, a young American artist, who goes to study in Dusseldorf in 1971 on an educational grant. Louise meets Dieter, a young German musician, they flirt, they fall in love, they marry, they become parents to a daughter, and they divorce. Louise and daughter Elke move back to the United States, Louise marries Richard in Portland, Oregon, they have another daughter. Elke sees both parents. Okay, things work out in a settled but a bit bumpy way. Then, in 2008, Dieter's mother, to whom Louise and Elke have been quite close, dies. Louise and Elke set off for the funeral and people who haven't been in each other's lives for a while, suddenly are in the aftermath of a death.
Heidi Diehl tells an interesting story of individuals who are often unsure of their connections to others in their world. The fact that the book takes place during the economic uncertainty of 2008 makes it a bit more interesting. It's a good, not great, book and I think Heidi Diehl will be an author to watch.
June 26, 2020
A surprising, slow burner of a book
February 16, 2021
I thought this book was very slow and didn't get into it.
May 10, 2019
“Lifeline”, by Heidi Diehl, is a modern historical novel; it starts with Financial Crisis Year 2008, and then it swept me away to early-1970s Germany. It’s the story of Louise, an artist. The novel is sectioned into various character’s points of view and time periods, but it’s always the story of Louise and each character’s relationship to her, past and present.
As a young woman in the 1970s, Louise goes to Düsseldorf to study art. She’s a painter at this time, but by 2008 she is a “public artist” creating outdoor art installations. In Germany she meets Dieter and they have a daughter together, Elke. The starting point of the novel is that Elke wants Louise to return to Germany with her to attend Elke’s grandmother’s funeral.
The novel explores the nature of art and politics during that era after WWII and during Vietnam War; “a political consciousness and an artistic one had to be combined.” Louise’s impressions of a Germany in denial of its brutal history is fascinating, and gradually Louise learns more than she would have liked about Dieter’s family’s past. While Louise notes the German’s “collective failure to acknowledge the truth”, she makes the very same mistake with her relationship with Dieter.
The novel’s structure of alternating viewpoints works for well-paced storytelling, but kept me at a remove; as a reader I never really “cared” about Louise, or any of the other characters. However, the sections about Germany in the 1970s were very interesting.
As a young woman in the 1970s, Louise goes to Düsseldorf to study art. She’s a painter at this time, but by 2008 she is a “public artist” creating outdoor art installations. In Germany she meets Dieter and they have a daughter together, Elke. The starting point of the novel is that Elke wants Louise to return to Germany with her to attend Elke’s grandmother’s funeral.
The novel explores the nature of art and politics during that era after WWII and during Vietnam War; “a political consciousness and an artistic one had to be combined.” Louise’s impressions of a Germany in denial of its brutal history is fascinating, and gradually Louise learns more than she would have liked about Dieter’s family’s past. While Louise notes the German’s “collective failure to acknowledge the truth”, she makes the very same mistake with her relationship with Dieter.
The novel’s structure of alternating viewpoints works for well-paced storytelling, but kept me at a remove; as a reader I never really “cared” about Louise, or any of the other characters. However, the sections about Germany in the 1970s were very interesting.
May 22, 2019
I received an ARC via a Goodreads giveaway and this is my honest review. This book was beautiful every step of the way. The character development, as well as the historical references, had me captivated from beginning to end.
December 13, 2018
I absolutely loved this book. It follows Louise in 1971 when she was a young art student in Düsseldorf and fell in love with Dieter and Louise in 2008, long-divorced from Dieter and traveling back to Germany with their daughter for her former mother-in-law's funeral. We get to see Louise and Dieter meet and fall in love in a Germany still grappling every day with the war. We get to follow along as Louise relives everything that happened in her messy relationship with Dieter, the birth of her daughter, and how she came back to live in Oregon and remarry and have a second daughter. We also get to know and see things from the perspectives of Elke, Louise and Dieter's daughter; Richard, Louise's current husband; Margot, Louise and Richard's daughter; and to a somewhat lesser extent, Dieter, who now lives in New York. But this is really Louise's story, her memories and regrets, about being 60 and recently laid off and not knowing what's next, about her relationships with her daughters and her husband, and about being an artist. It's not about plot, just character. Again, I loved it.
I'm seeing Heidi Diehl compared to Meg Wolitzer, and I agree that if you like Wolitzer's work you'll probably like this book, too. This does have a similar mood to The Interestings, though the stories and characters are quite different. I think I like seeing young characters develop into middle age and older, and when a writer can capture the subtle ways we change and how we stay the same over time, it really works for me. Both Diehl and Wolitzer do this, so if this is your jam, I highly recommend it!
Note: I received a free ebook ARC from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley. This is my honest review.
I'm seeing Heidi Diehl compared to Meg Wolitzer, and I agree that if you like Wolitzer's work you'll probably like this book, too. This does have a similar mood to The Interestings, though the stories and characters are quite different. I think I like seeing young characters develop into middle age and older, and when a writer can capture the subtle ways we change and how we stay the same over time, it really works for me. Both Diehl and Wolitzer do this, so if this is your jam, I highly recommend it!
Note: I received a free ebook ARC from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley. This is my honest review.
August 30, 2020
There are so many things I love about this book but definitely the characters are the best part. I feel like I know these characters, they are real people, and I want to sit down and drink coffee with them or go watch concerts with them. I'm sad that I can't!
October 20, 2019
This debut novel held me from the opening pages. I know that sounds overly dramatic and maybe, clichéd, but I won't take it back. Moving between 2008, Eugene, Oregon, and 1971, Dusseldorf, Germany, the author shares the story of Louise, a visual artist studying in Germany, and Dieter Hinterkopf, a carpenter/musician who becomes her husband. The stories of Elke, Louise and Dieter's 35-year old daughter, Richard, Louise's second husband, and their daughter, Margot, are also told as Louise returns to Germany with Elke for her former mother-in-law's funeral.
What made this novel, filled with metaphors, so meaningful to me? Characters I cared about, learning about them over time, art, music, history, politics, relationships, fragile and deep connections are a few reasons. Diehl embeds discussion of the visual arts and music, things I like but know little about really, throughout the novel..."Color is fooling us all the time." What else might be? The reader experiences Louise and Dieter's thinking about their art as if we were part of their conversations. Their relationship builds slowly, almost a reflection of their work. She struggles, thinking her art is uninspired. More confident, he sees music as a large, open space and believes political consciousness had to be intertwined with artistic consciousness.
Political consciousness...an American citizen, Louise is outraged at the bombings in North Viet Nam and everything about Nixon. Her German friends feel as strongly but ultimately, are opposed to German leftist militants, the Baader-Meinhof Group. The German protests are different from what Louise experienced in the States: "We can't trust authority...So we're demanding to think for ourselves." The news of Palestinian terrorists invading the Israelis' Olympic team's apartment in 1972 almost breaks Dieter.
Louise discovers Germans are guarded about their history, reluctant to talk about Hitler, Nazis, war damage. Denial is almost a part of their silence, she observes, even though she explains to Dieter, with slavery and Jim Crow laws, Americans have their fair share of shameful history. "In Germany, we have no fathers." Thus, for Dieter, slavery is no match for the Holocaust. The truth about his family, shared with Louisa by Dieter's mother, Hannelore, is a breaking point in their relationship, his shame deepened, complicating the way he has lived his life, pretending.
Louise returns to Eugene with her young daughter, Elke; her mother, Mary, is very ill. The routines and needs of her mother's care reinstate Louise into American life; she makes peace with her parents' conservative religious beliefs. She becomes a teacher in an alternative school, discovering a new passion, committing herself to her students and daughter.
Several years back in Oregon, Louise meets Richard, whom I loved throughout the novel for his patience, kindness, and understanding even when selfish choices were made. His work focused on "desire lines," the paths people create, walking across the grass rather than the paved walkway, "wearing down a path better suited to their needs," more assertive making these decisions than in other parts of their lives. Richard is as poetic as he is practical, seeing desire lines as how we collectively use space, how we all influence each other, identifying the lines are more efficient, practical and easier. Walking in my neighborhood and around town, I see desire lines for the first time and think about their back stories, wondering what they reveal about those of us who have created them.
The plot transitions to yet another journey as Louise, Elke and Dieter go to Berlin after Hannelore's funeral to hear Margot's band, which is touring Europe. Germany and Germans have changed between 1971 and 2008; the characters, mostly very complex people, have, too, and Diehl's deft writing subtly reveals the changes, their insights.
Something else warrants mentioning because of its influence on Richard and Louise. Years ago, Louise created the "18th Project," an art installation in her back yard, where "as pieces break down, it stays the same size...It's cumulative...and about the process, about the unexplained things that can result from following a set of constraints." Think about that for a moment. Richard thinks maybe it is a metaphor for their marriage, the long-assembled project requiring maintenance. I'm still thinking about that.
Just one more thing, and then I'll stop. At the end of the novel, the family, original, new, and blended, are touring Berlin, "touching the place before leaving it behind." At a somber, Jewish memorial, some other visitors are taking "selfies;" Louise objects to their insensitivity. Dieter observes, "It's another way of not looking," again acknowledging Germans' relationship with their history. "You can't force people to observe things in a certain way."..."A memorial begs the question: who is this for?" Days after I finished the last page, I'm thinking of these life lines and my own.
What made this novel, filled with metaphors, so meaningful to me? Characters I cared about, learning about them over time, art, music, history, politics, relationships, fragile and deep connections are a few reasons. Diehl embeds discussion of the visual arts and music, things I like but know little about really, throughout the novel..."Color is fooling us all the time." What else might be? The reader experiences Louise and Dieter's thinking about their art as if we were part of their conversations. Their relationship builds slowly, almost a reflection of their work. She struggles, thinking her art is uninspired. More confident, he sees music as a large, open space and believes political consciousness had to be intertwined with artistic consciousness.
Political consciousness...an American citizen, Louise is outraged at the bombings in North Viet Nam and everything about Nixon. Her German friends feel as strongly but ultimately, are opposed to German leftist militants, the Baader-Meinhof Group. The German protests are different from what Louise experienced in the States: "We can't trust authority...So we're demanding to think for ourselves." The news of Palestinian terrorists invading the Israelis' Olympic team's apartment in 1972 almost breaks Dieter.
Louise discovers Germans are guarded about their history, reluctant to talk about Hitler, Nazis, war damage. Denial is almost a part of their silence, she observes, even though she explains to Dieter, with slavery and Jim Crow laws, Americans have their fair share of shameful history. "In Germany, we have no fathers." Thus, for Dieter, slavery is no match for the Holocaust. The truth about his family, shared with Louisa by Dieter's mother, Hannelore, is a breaking point in their relationship, his shame deepened, complicating the way he has lived his life, pretending.
Louise returns to Eugene with her young daughter, Elke; her mother, Mary, is very ill. The routines and needs of her mother's care reinstate Louise into American life; she makes peace with her parents' conservative religious beliefs. She becomes a teacher in an alternative school, discovering a new passion, committing herself to her students and daughter.
Several years back in Oregon, Louise meets Richard, whom I loved throughout the novel for his patience, kindness, and understanding even when selfish choices were made. His work focused on "desire lines," the paths people create, walking across the grass rather than the paved walkway, "wearing down a path better suited to their needs," more assertive making these decisions than in other parts of their lives. Richard is as poetic as he is practical, seeing desire lines as how we collectively use space, how we all influence each other, identifying the lines are more efficient, practical and easier. Walking in my neighborhood and around town, I see desire lines for the first time and think about their back stories, wondering what they reveal about those of us who have created them.
The plot transitions to yet another journey as Louise, Elke and Dieter go to Berlin after Hannelore's funeral to hear Margot's band, which is touring Europe. Germany and Germans have changed between 1971 and 2008; the characters, mostly very complex people, have, too, and Diehl's deft writing subtly reveals the changes, their insights.
Something else warrants mentioning because of its influence on Richard and Louise. Years ago, Louise created the "18th Project," an art installation in her back yard, where "as pieces break down, it stays the same size...It's cumulative...and about the process, about the unexplained things that can result from following a set of constraints." Think about that for a moment. Richard thinks maybe it is a metaphor for their marriage, the long-assembled project requiring maintenance. I'm still thinking about that.
Just one more thing, and then I'll stop. At the end of the novel, the family, original, new, and blended, are touring Berlin, "touching the place before leaving it behind." At a somber, Jewish memorial, some other visitors are taking "selfies;" Louise objects to their insensitivity. Dieter observes, "It's another way of not looking," again acknowledging Germans' relationship with their history. "You can't force people to observe things in a certain way."..."A memorial begs the question: who is this for?" Days after I finished the last page, I'm thinking of these life lines and my own.
June 9, 2019
I received this book as part of the Goodreads Giveaway program.
This is the story or Louise, an artist that is on her way to attend the funeral of her ex mother in law with her daughter. It is told in various time periods- from the 1970's and the year 2008 and through the eyes of various members of characters related to Louise. Diehl weaves a story of Louise's life in Germany as an artist and married to her first husband Dieter and the early years with their child. When Louise's mother becomes seriously ill, she returns back to the United States with her daughter and inevitably ends up leaving her former life and husband behind. As she makes a life for herself in the United States, she marries Richard and has another daughter. As both of her past and present worlds come face to face, the reader is taken on the journey of what has shaped Louise's present life.
I had a hard time getting into this book. This is not one of those books, that just grabs you, pulls you in and keeps you frantically reading until the very end. However, even though it took me a while to get into this book, it is very well written and does keep the reader invested enough into the characters to finish through to the end. I thought Diehl did a great job with the intertwining of the characters and their relationships, however, I was wishing for more of a storyline.
This is the story or Louise, an artist that is on her way to attend the funeral of her ex mother in law with her daughter. It is told in various time periods- from the 1970's and the year 2008 and through the eyes of various members of characters related to Louise. Diehl weaves a story of Louise's life in Germany as an artist and married to her first husband Dieter and the early years with their child. When Louise's mother becomes seriously ill, she returns back to the United States with her daughter and inevitably ends up leaving her former life and husband behind. As she makes a life for herself in the United States, she marries Richard and has another daughter. As both of her past and present worlds come face to face, the reader is taken on the journey of what has shaped Louise's present life.
I had a hard time getting into this book. This is not one of those books, that just grabs you, pulls you in and keeps you frantically reading until the very end. However, even though it took me a while to get into this book, it is very well written and does keep the reader invested enough into the characters to finish through to the end. I thought Diehl did a great job with the intertwining of the characters and their relationships, however, I was wishing for more of a storyline.
August 5, 2019
Promising new voice. Heidi Diehl shows herself to be a talented storyteller. The novel quickly captured my interest as Louise, Elke and Dieter headed to Germany for a funeral. Louise and Dieter are Elke's parents, divorced for many years. The structure intrigued me; the author attempts to tell the story from multiple points of view, and mostly does a good job of it. So much potential! Still, the book falls short.
POV is 3rd person, but the author vacillates between 3rd person limited and 3rd person omniscient (sometimes in the same paragraph!), which makes for confusion and disbelief at times.
The characters are mostly interesting, but there are too many of them. (Margot and Joel are flat and boring to the point of being annoying; they could have been eliminated.)
The overuse of adjectives and adverbs made this reader feel like the author was trying too hard. In addition, there were odd details thrown in that contributed nothing to the story. Foreign language doesn't bother me but here it wasn't used effectively, just thrown in randomly. A good editor could have helped this book tremendously. I hope Diehl finds a serious and talented editor who is willing to help her perfect future stories, because I would like to see more stories from this author. But I want better writing.
POV is 3rd person, but the author vacillates between 3rd person limited and 3rd person omniscient (sometimes in the same paragraph!), which makes for confusion and disbelief at times.
The characters are mostly interesting, but there are too many of them. (Margot and Joel are flat and boring to the point of being annoying; they could have been eliminated.)
The overuse of adjectives and adverbs made this reader feel like the author was trying too hard. In addition, there were odd details thrown in that contributed nothing to the story. Foreign language doesn't bother me but here it wasn't used effectively, just thrown in randomly. A good editor could have helped this book tremendously. I hope Diehl finds a serious and talented editor who is willing to help her perfect future stories, because I would like to see more stories from this author. But I want better writing.
July 2, 2019
An interesting take on relationships. American art student Louise studies in Germany in the 1970s, meets musician Dieter, marries him and gives birth to Elke (not in that order). She returns to Oregon to pursue an art career, Dieter stays in Germany and doesn’t see Elke again until she is 5. They eventually divorce, Louise remarries and has Margot. Dieter moves to NYC for his music career. The whole kit and kaboodle travel to Germany 30+ years later for the funeral of Dieter’s mother. They make music, they dance, they understand each other.
Sounds a bit formulaic, but it wasn’t. Diehl explores the German psyche from the standpoint of those who experienced war (Dieter’s parents) and those born soon after (Dieter). I found that interesting. She explores growth in Husband 1 vs. Husband 2 dynamics over decades. She handled that subject well. She explores the feelings of Elke who lived largely fatherless, and Margot upon realizing that if Elke’s parents had remained a couple, she (Margot) would not exist. She explores artistic vision, and willingness to change over time.
A good read, especially if one has even a little interest in Germany.
Sounds a bit formulaic, but it wasn’t. Diehl explores the German psyche from the standpoint of those who experienced war (Dieter’s parents) and those born soon after (Dieter). I found that interesting. She explores growth in Husband 1 vs. Husband 2 dynamics over decades. She handled that subject well. She explores the feelings of Elke who lived largely fatherless, and Margot upon realizing that if Elke’s parents had remained a couple, she (Margot) would not exist. She explores artistic vision, and willingness to change over time.
A good read, especially if one has even a little interest in Germany.
September 14, 2019
Thanks to The Book Club Cookbook, publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and author Heidi Diehl for a copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own.
At the risk of being trite - "there was no there, there." I read the entire book, all 317 pages, and kept waiting for it to get better. It should have been a good book: the characters were varied, the locations were interesting and different for me (Germany after WWII), the topics of art and creativity, family, relationships, history, architecture....all were ripe for a good novel. But somehow the author wrote well about all of these things without adding an ounce of drama. No plot, no drama - pretty much nothing happened. Certainly not enough happened to justify publishing, let alone reading this novel. And when the book finally ended there was only one way to tell - I turned the page and found the author's acknowledgements. I re-read the blurbs on the back jacket praising this book. I did not find it "riveting," nor was it a "complex novel that builds with subversive power to an assured ending." I can't recommend this book.
At the risk of being trite - "there was no there, there." I read the entire book, all 317 pages, and kept waiting for it to get better. It should have been a good book: the characters were varied, the locations were interesting and different for me (Germany after WWII), the topics of art and creativity, family, relationships, history, architecture....all were ripe for a good novel. But somehow the author wrote well about all of these things without adding an ounce of drama. No plot, no drama - pretty much nothing happened. Certainly not enough happened to justify publishing, let alone reading this novel. And when the book finally ended there was only one way to tell - I turned the page and found the author's acknowledgements. I re-read the blurbs on the back jacket praising this book. I did not find it "riveting," nor was it a "complex novel that builds with subversive power to an assured ending." I can't recommend this book.
July 26, 2019
I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway. While this was not an easy and/or quick read, I did really appreciate it...I don't think 'enjoy' is the right word as it has some fairly heavy themes. The characters drive this story, but the locations are also very important and provide the settings that bring everything to life. Germany has a complicated history and Germans have a lot of national pride; the author did a great job of demonstrating the confusion that creates in some of its citizens. Oregon is also a unique location and the perfect place for Louise and Richard to reside.
It took me longer than usual to finish this one because I found that I could only read a chapter or two at a time and then had to take some time to digest what I read before moving on. It wasn't that it was overly heavy or difficult to read, it just brought up a lot of issues that required me to pause and think. It does not have a clearly delineated ending, which I thought fit with the style of this writer, but that some may find unsatisfying. Overall, I would recommend this book to others.
It took me longer than usual to finish this one because I found that I could only read a chapter or two at a time and then had to take some time to digest what I read before moving on. It wasn't that it was overly heavy or difficult to read, it just brought up a lot of issues that required me to pause and think. It does not have a clearly delineated ending, which I thought fit with the style of this writer, but that some may find unsatisfying. Overall, I would recommend this book to others.
January 9, 2020
One of the characters in this novel is an urban planner, studying desire lines-those unplanned paths that people create as they defy prescribed sidewalks and streets to create their own ways through the landscape. This theme of desire lines runs throughout this book, as it’s characters create their own lives through actions both prescribed and exploratory. Louise’s venture to Germany for art school in the early 1970s put her on the path to meet musician Dieter and join his world of moody music. The revelation of a secret and an illness send her back to the US with her young daughter, diverting her lifelines to meet her life’s partner, Richard-the urban planner. Thirty five years later, when most of the book is set, Louise is traveling back to Germany for a funeral-setting the two extended families-linked by Louise - into new directions and introspection on life and it’s twists and turns. Well-drawn characters that I could easily relate with. A lot of focus on art and creativity and how it shapes our lives and vice-versa.
June 12, 2019
I received a copy of this book for free in a Goodreads giveaway.
This book shifts back and forth between the 1970s and 2008, exploring Louise's relationships with her ex-husband, current husband, and children, with a lot of family secrets, unspoken resentment, and art and desire lines. The author did an admirable job juggling the two timelines and the multiple characters involved, but somehow, maybe because of the large cast of characters and the multitude of themes, I just never felt like I really got to know or understand Louise, or any of the other characters, really. The shocking family secret didn't really seem that shocking or impactful, as the person it should have affected the most didn't really seem to deal with it. While the characters were interesting, they felt like they all needed more development, like I had just visited each of them very briefly, and the lack of a strong central plot led to an ending where things just... ended, without much of a resolution.
This book shifts back and forth between the 1970s and 2008, exploring Louise's relationships with her ex-husband, current husband, and children, with a lot of family secrets, unspoken resentment, and art and desire lines. The author did an admirable job juggling the two timelines and the multiple characters involved, but somehow, maybe because of the large cast of characters and the multitude of themes, I just never felt like I really got to know or understand Louise, or any of the other characters, really. The shocking family secret didn't really seem that shocking or impactful, as the person it should have affected the most didn't really seem to deal with it. While the characters were interesting, they felt like they all needed more development, like I had just visited each of them very briefly, and the lack of a strong central plot led to an ending where things just... ended, without much of a resolution.
October 11, 2019
I picked this book up because I too was married to a German man and am trying to write about the years I lived in Germany. I wanted to see how Diehl portrayed a cross-cultural relationship and how she used Germany as the backdrop. It got me thinking about how important strong characters are to a story no matter what the circumstances. Diehl is writing about a time and place she herself did to experience and I think it shows.
Lifelines is clearly a debut novel by an author who has great potential. As many other reviewers have mentioned, the characters were weak though I think the overall premise and the back and forth between two distinct time periods was well done. Couldn't help but compare this to The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai which uses a similar time set-up, with stronger characters and plotline. I look forward to Diehl's next book..
Lifelines is clearly a debut novel by an author who has great potential. As many other reviewers have mentioned, the characters were weak though I think the overall premise and the back and forth between two distinct time periods was well done. Couldn't help but compare this to The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai which uses a similar time set-up, with stronger characters and plotline. I look forward to Diehl's next book..
June 14, 2019
Moving back and forth between the 1970s and 2008, this is the story of a family split by so many things. Louise moved to Germany from Oregon in 1971. She's a painter and she fell in love with Dieter, a musician. She left, though, when a secret was revealed, taking their daughter Elke with her back to Oregon, where she remarries = to Richard, and has another daughter Margot. Then , Elke asks Louise to go to Dusseldorf with her for her grandmother's funeral. Whew. Everyone in this novel is somehow related to the arts, either visual or aural. The characters are well drawn, the locales well described, and the plot nicely fashioned. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This doesn't sing but it's a good read.
January 31, 2022
3.5 stars. This work is set both in the 1970s and and 2008.The main character, Louise, lived a bifurcated life in several ways. She lived in Oregon and Germany, had two daughters by different fathers, was a bohemian artist and then an art teacher.
The alternating timelines and character point of view works very well in this work as it draws together the disparate sections of Louise's life as she morphed between being a free spirit and matured into a more sedate lifestyle. The less successful part of the novel concerns her two husbands. Neither of them ever came alive for me.
This is not an easy book to categorize because there are several themes running through it and that is precisely why I enjoyed reading it.
The alternating timelines and character point of view works very well in this work as it draws together the disparate sections of Louise's life as she morphed between being a free spirit and matured into a more sedate lifestyle. The less successful part of the novel concerns her two husbands. Neither of them ever came alive for me.
This is not an easy book to categorize because there are several themes running through it and that is precisely why I enjoyed reading it.
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