Helpful Score: 3
I loved this book! Wonderful characterizations. Sweet, tender, funny, nostalgic and ultimately, triumphant, tale of assimilation in a new country while making peace with the unforgettable past. An outstanding debut novel and one of my favourites for this year. This book made me feel so good and I sense that it will be one of those books that I will reread over and over through the years.
Helpful Score: 2
A treasure! I gave this book 5 stars. A poignant, charming look at human nature with several surprises. One man's determination to "fit in" but becomes transformed by the people and forces of nature around him. Beautifully woven to the very last word. I'll have to share this with everyone before I can post my copy. It's that good. This would make a wonderful gift for someone.
The original UK title for this book, Mr Rosenblum's List: Or Friendly Guidance for the Aspiring Englishman, is so much better. I don't know why the publisher felt the need to change it.
Jakob "Jack" Rosenblum, his wife, and their infant daughter seek asylum in England just before World War II. Unfortunately, they find themselves treated poorly because of both their German accents and their Jewish surname. (I didn't realize that England "detained" citizens of German ancestry during WWII, much like the U.S.'s treatment of Japanese-Americans. Jack is released because he owns a carpet factory that has been turned over to the war effort.)
After the war, Mrs. Rosenblum is perfectly happy living in a predominately Jewish neighborhood in London, but Jack's greatest desire is to be a true Englishman. He initially follows a list of ways to assimilate provided by a local organization, but goes on to write his own list. The one item he's unable to complete is joining a golf club, so he decides to move out into the countryside and build his own. Various conflicts with the country farmers ensue.
For a long time, I really wasn't sure where this book was going. Certain events occur that indicate the ending will be a sad one, but it all ends extremely conveniently and happily. It was a little too convenient for my taste.
In many ways, this book reminds me of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand: the English countryside setting, the golf club, class snobbery, treatment of immigrants, impending development of the land, etc. There is some humor in this book as well, but not to the extent I found in Major Pettigrew's dry wit. In general, I would say if you like Helen Simonson, you will most likely enjoy Natasha Solomons.
Jakob "Jack" Rosenblum, his wife, and their infant daughter seek asylum in England just before World War II. Unfortunately, they find themselves treated poorly because of both their German accents and their Jewish surname. (I didn't realize that England "detained" citizens of German ancestry during WWII, much like the U.S.'s treatment of Japanese-Americans. Jack is released because he owns a carpet factory that has been turned over to the war effort.)
After the war, Mrs. Rosenblum is perfectly happy living in a predominately Jewish neighborhood in London, but Jack's greatest desire is to be a true Englishman. He initially follows a list of ways to assimilate provided by a local organization, but goes on to write his own list. The one item he's unable to complete is joining a golf club, so he decides to move out into the countryside and build his own. Various conflicts with the country farmers ensue.
For a long time, I really wasn't sure where this book was going. Certain events occur that indicate the ending will be a sad one, but it all ends extremely conveniently and happily. It was a little too convenient for my taste.
In many ways, this book reminds me of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand: the English countryside setting, the golf club, class snobbery, treatment of immigrants, impending development of the land, etc. There is some humor in this book as well, but not to the extent I found in Major Pettigrew's dry wit. In general, I would say if you like Helen Simonson, you will most likely enjoy Natasha Solomons.
A great read, I really enjoyed this book. It is quite different. Mr. Rosenblum tries to adapt to living with the English culture. He moves from Germany, is Jewish. and feels that he is different in the English culture.
Mr. Rosenblum can't quite shake his feeling different, and tries to adapt. He tries, he struggles, but yet he continues to feel like an outsider.
Mr. Rosenblum has a dream of having a golf course; a dream that totally overtakes him, so much so, that it is all he desires. His well-established carpet business takes a beating in his desire to have his golf course. He struggles with his relationship with his wife, and nearly loses his house, as well as his business. The book tells a good story of how an individual from another culture can struggle trying to adapt to a new culture, and make a 'go' of it. A well-written read.
Mr. Rosenblum can't quite shake his feeling different, and tries to adapt. He tries, he struggles, but yet he continues to feel like an outsider.
Mr. Rosenblum has a dream of having a golf course; a dream that totally overtakes him, so much so, that it is all he desires. His well-established carpet business takes a beating in his desire to have his golf course. He struggles with his relationship with his wife, and nearly loses his house, as well as his business. The book tells a good story of how an individual from another culture can struggle trying to adapt to a new culture, and make a 'go' of it. A well-written read.
Jack and Sadie Rosenblum escape to England from Berlin just before the war. He wants to assimilate and become the perfect Englishman and she just wants to remember the past. Over the next almost 20 years he successfully operates a carpet business and they lose themselves and their relationship over time. But then he has the dream to build a golf course in the countryside . . . even though he has never played golf . . . because he thinks this is what the perfect Englishman does. The story is about the trials and tribulations of how he builds the course, but almost loses everything else in the process. But he discovers what is truly important, rebuilds his relationship with his wife and develops true friends before it is too late. Sweet and funny. It dragged a little in the middle of the book and I wasn't sure where the story was going. There was a build up to a sad ending but in the end everything wrapped up nicely.
I found this book because my mother was reading it - she is 90 and living in a nursing home. I got my own copy so I could read it and chat with her about it. A really nice book and made for rewarding conversations with my mom about many things - our own family history, anti-Semitism, British society, pogroms in Eastern Europe, how the book was structured. A really sweet experience of reading together.
