- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Flamingo (5 Feb 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007105797
- ISBN-13: 978-0007105793
- Product Dimensions: 19 x 12.7 x 1.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 279,821 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The setting for this poignant novel is Rosenau, an isolated Austrian village, and the story encompasses generations of villagers and their intimate lives. The magic of the novel lies in the author's ability to make the faraway seem familiar, even when it is tragic or brutal. Structured as short stories told from the viewpoints of different members of the village, the novel follows their intertwined lives from 1909 through 1977, layering story upon story to develop the village and the characters.
Lippi's characters are nothing short of wonderful. There is, for example, Johanna, whose heart is torn between her love for Francesco--a soldier hiding in the Austrian Alps--and her sister Angelika, who hides her dependence upon Johanna behind not-so-subtle reminders of familial duty. And there is Katharina, whose impulsiveness causes her to betray her two half-brothers for a ride in a Nazi motorcar, and Stante, who proves his worth not only in the Wainwright's workshop but also by his courage withstanding the Nazis. The character portrayals are based upon Lippi's own experiences of living in Austria for four years. You will hate for these stories to end. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'The 12 linked stories of Homestead, set in the fictional village of Rosenau, get immediately under the skin and pack as much punch as 12 novels, diving into the characters' most wrenching moments…Lippi's language is as direct and elemental as the world it describes. What is extraordinary is the way it so factually evokes the wistfulness, inner corrosion, or immense tenderness of lives that are both circumscribed and rich, mundane, but over the long haul, deep in drama…You begin to feel that you yourself are one of the people of Rosenau.' The Observer
'Homestead's greatest strength is the believability of its cast. In her acknowledgements, Lippi thanks the Austrian women who shared their families' stories with her. Her research and patient listening are rewarded with this personal, affecting string of lives. The spindle of the tales is the connections between mothers, daughters and grandchildren…[Lippi] is too subtle to let her writing suffer from cliché or to divert the painful course of real life with strawberry-tinted endings. Instead she offers rough, thorny, stoical stories that allow the hidden colours of human nature to emerge. Her understanding of the complexities and nuances of families is profound. It's the insight that binds together these quick-fire tales with a detached tenderness that allows the reader to participate in the remarkable – never ordinary – passage of humdrum lives in this remote valley.' Sunday Herald
'A fascinating story of survival in a pastoral Alpine setting. Three families struggle through almost a century of hardship, toil, birth and death. Their frugal lives are echoed in a spartan style that beautifully captures a society governed by the seasons.' Good Housekeeping
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A wonderful and very surprising look at a small community high in the alps and the lives of women who live there. Their day to day existance is different from mine in everyway and at the same time they have so much in common with the women I know. Much food for thought. I read this after I read the novel that won the Orange Prize (The Idea of Perfection). I preferred this novel for its depth and breadth. It is not so accessible as the other novel but it is far more rewarding in the long run.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having never heard or Ms Lippi I was very pleasantly suprised by her book. She weaves her characters and themes over generations and keeps you enthralled the whole way. This is a gentle story(s) told with insight into women,people and community as a whole. Once you finish the book its sheer scope in terms of the female experience leaves you slightly breathless. There are definite similarities between this book and Hannah's Daughter's by Marianne Fredriksson, although of the 2 this is the more all-encompassing. It reminded me at times of a fable and Ms Lippi certainly comes across as a gifted story-teller.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What a wonderful book! It takes me back to my years spent in the Austrian alps in a small community. Rosina Lippi captures the beauty of the landscape, the hardship of the existence, the closeness of the people and, at the same time, she manages to convey the sense of claustrophobia that can come from living life in such an insular and isolated community.
The affair between one of the main characters and her lover, a deserter from the Italian army, is beautifully drawn.
A really original novel and as far removed from chic-lit as it is possible to imagine. As soon as I had finished this book I wanted to start reading it again. Truly satisfying.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
"Better ice that melts than fire that goes out."
Three generations of Austrian families, running from the First World War to the 1970s, might not immediately appeal, but it proves to be a story that has everything you could... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Eileen Shaw
Good choice for book groups
Very well-written, describes several generations of mothers and daughters in an obscure corner of Austria in the last century. At times very sad but always interesting. Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2010 by Psych dot
This book stays with me, days later.
It's like having someone softly tell you a long and interlocking tale, and all the while telling the different parts in the same calm quiet voice, without really differentiating... Read more
Published on 25 April 2002
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
