Expect the usual from Ursula Hegi: excellent writing and an intriguing story. Ostensibly about the aspirations and longings of those hardworking, visionary immigrants that were/are so integral to The American Dream, oddly enough, it reminded me of Sex & the City. Just as the fifth star of SATC was New York City, here, it's the Wasserburg that dominates the story: a once-grand, turn-of-the-century apartment complex made from brick and dark timber with touches like marble, peacock-hued carpet runners and stained glass. But the house casts a dark shadow over the narrative and four generations of the Blau family: does it carry a curse? The amazing subtlety of Hegi's observations and descriptions are fabulous and make this a must-read.

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I loved Stones from the River, so I had high expectations of this book, and it didn't disappoint. Ursula Hegi is a brilliant writer!

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History, romance and intrigue dished up with wit and intelligence.

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Read by the author, which I usually like but it took a while for me to appreciate her voice. I didn't realize the story overlapped with her other book, Stones From a River. I just kept waiting for who Emma Blau was. It was more about a building than a person. I think this book has turned me off of Ursula Hegi and her unhappy stories.

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This is the second book I have read (or listened to) written by Ursula Hegi. The first was "Stones from the River". This was good but not as good as her first book.

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This book was well-written, with interesting characters. However, I found myself wishing it would end sooner than it did. It covers multiple generations and is fairly long, 400+ pages. Most of it is pretty melancholy. One thing that struck me is the effect that words spoken without much thought can have on forming a young person's life. "You'll be the death of him", for example, becomes a child's guilt when her grandpa dies. There were some interesting lessons and I mostly learned how NOT to live my life if I want joy in it. If you like this author (and I really do), you'll like this book.

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I must be the only person who did not like this book. There was sex and death on every page, and the ending was depressing. I admit Hegi writes well and creates interesting characters, but there was nothing in this book to make me want to read anything else of hers.

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Post war Germany setting. Also authored Stones from The River

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