Follow Here To Purchase Pictures of the Past

Author: Deby Eisenberg

ISBN: 978-0615483122

If someone has not already optioned Deby Eisenberg's Pictures of the Past as a movie, they certainly should- a saga that spans several decades beginning in 1937 and ending in 2005.

Eisenberg's mesmerizing story intertwines the lives of a young girl, Sarah Berger of pre -World War II Berlin caught up in the tragic events of the Holocaust with the son of a rich American industrialist, Taylor Woodmere of Kennilworth, Illinois. Also interwoven with this story is another involving a beautiful and very intelligent young woman, Rachel Gold from Chicago whose life will be greatly touched by one of Taylor's offspring.

Pictures of the Past immediately grabs us when Eisenberg places her readers at the onset of the novel at the Art Institute of Chicago in September of 2004 where we are introduced to Gerta Rosen, an elderly woman and Holocaust survivor confined to a wheelchair. Gerta becomes terribly agitated upon noticing a painting by a French artist, Henri Lebasque entitled Jeune Fille à la Plage. The inscription below the painting indicates that it had been donated to the museum by Taylor Woodmere of the Woodmere Family Foundation of Kennilworth, Illinois.

Gerta informs her daughter that this painting hung in her neighbor's home, Sarah Berger in Berlin before World War II and she is certain that it was stolen by the Nazis. Gerta yells out “Liar, liar-this is enough, enough. They cannot take my family, my friends, and now my memories.” At this point in the yarn, most readers, as was the case with myself, would immediately presume that the novel would focus on the Nazi plundering of art and other items from Jews and others during the time of the Third Reich. However, rather than following this familiar theme, Eisenberg pursues a different route and crafts a romantic novel where a painting will play a far-reaching and heavy role affecting the lives of three individuals from different backgrounds and geographical locations.

After the initial introduction to Jeune Fille à la Plage, readers learn more about this magnificent painting when in 1937 Taylor Woodmere is sent to Paris by his father to represent the Woodmere family in a multi-national conference that was to be held during the summer Paris Exposition. It is in Paris where he is to contact a German Jew, Emanuel Berger who lives in Berlin. While in Paris, Taylor comes across the vibrant and compelling Jeune Fille à la Plage and purchases it for his soon- to- be wife Emily Kendall. When Taylor meets up with Emmanuel, he notices that his contact is accompanied by his young beautiful seventeen-year old daughter Sarah. He is immediately smitten and falls madly in love with her and decides to prolong his stay in Europe, contrary to his father's instructions, and follows the Bergers back to Berlin where he and Sarah can't get enough of each other. Before returning to Chicago, Taylor leaves the painting with Sarah and tells her that they will soon be together in Chicago, however he is quite aware of the looming danger that the Bergers face and prays for their safety.

While we are engrossed with story of Taylor and Sarah, Eisenberg spins another tale involving Rachel Gold, who is abandoned by her boyfriend, Courtland (Court) Woodmere (Taylor's son) when he learns she is pregnant with his child. Rachel moves to New York and is welcomed with open arms by a relative, Ida Lieber who helps her bring up her son Jason. Rachel furthers her education and graduates with honors from NYU eventually finding a position with Young Miss Magazine.

One of the outstanding features of this novel is that Eisenberg effectively manages to balance plot theme and structure so that the novel she builds around the painting captivates her readers with its clever use of history and dramatic pacing. Another is her vivid portrait of survival and struggle against a backdrop of one of the bleakest periods in history. In the end, Eisenberg's novel is a fine debut that will leave its readers with a feeling for the tenderness and tragedies of life.

Follow Here To Read Norm's Interview With Deby Eisenberg