Publishers Weekly
04/27/2020
In Hegi’s mesmerizing tale (after Children and Fire) the loss of three children in a freak accident transforms their parents. In 1878, Lotte and Kalle Jansen are walking along the shore with their four small children in Nordstrand, Germany, when a hundred-year wave crashes on the beach, carrying away three of them. In Lotte’s grief, she can’t care for Wilhelm, her remaining child, who’s still nursing. The nuns at the St. Margaret Home for Pregnant Girls intervene by allowing 11-year-old Tilli to serve as wet nurse. By breastfeeding Wilhelm, Tilli assuages her sorrow over the adoption of her own infant daughter. Lotte soon rallies, paying more attention to Wilhelm and assisting as a midwife at St. Margaret’s. Kalle, a toy maker, believes his fantasy of traveling caused his children’s deaths, so he leaves town with the circus, convinced that Lotte and Wilhelm are better off without him. He returns a few months later to find that in her mourning, Lotte and Tilli have made a bizarre plan for their family’s future. Beautiful prose keeps the pages turning, and Hegi’s command of the plot and ability to render poignant characters create a satisfyingly emotional story. Hegi’s fans and devotees of literary fiction will treasure this. Agent: Gail Hochman, Brandt & Hochman. (June)
From the Publisher
Praise for Ursula Hegi
“An outstanding talent.” —The New York Times Book Review
“A writer of grace and immediacy.” —Meg Wolitzer
“Epic, daring, magnificent.” —Los Angeles Times
“Unforgettable.” —The Washington Post
“Stunning.” — Los Angeles Times
“Deeply moving.” —J.M. Coetzee
“Brilliant…Mesmerizing.” —Chicago Tribune
“Marvelous.” —Alice McDermott
“Devastatingly honest.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“Masterful.” —The Washington Post
AUGUST 2020 - AudioFile
Narrator Angela Dawe’s varied volume and pace create an atmosphere of deep emotions that draw the listener in close. Set in the late 1800s on the coast of the North Sea, this audiobook explores women’s relationships—with children, with each other, and with spouses and lovers. Employing a variety of accents and voices, Dawe helps weave together the three focal points of the story: a couple who have lost three of their four children, the nuns and unwed mothers at the St. Margaret Home, and the misfit members of the traveling Ludwig Zirkus. Though this tale of healing and finding a safe and nurturing home includes light elements of magical realism, fully realized characters who have relatable issues and emotions take the forefront. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2020-03-29
A folklore-inflected tale focused on three mothers, a highly unusual group of nuns, and a chorus of Old Women who comment on everything.
The main narrative unfolds in the wake of a freak wave that breaks over the beach on the island of Nordstrand in August 1878, sweeping away Lotte and Martin Jansen’s three oldest children. Devastated and even unable to love their remaining baby, Wilhelm, Martin literally runs away with the circus, in this case the Ludwig Zirkus, a traveling band of free spirits in the harshly judgmental society of 19th-century Germany. Among its denizens is Sabine, abandoned by her husband and fiercely protective of her developmentally disabled daughter. Another Nordstrand refuge for misfits is the St. Margaret Home, founded by art-loving Sister Hildegunde, where nuns care for unmarried pregnant girls with love and without judgment. Grieving for her newborn given up for adoption, 11-year-old Tilli becomes Wilhelm’s wet nurse while he and his near-catatonic mother are temporarily staying with the nuns, and her devotion becomes an issue with Lotte. That’s a lot of plot to launch a novel, particularly since Hegi intersperses Sabine’s and St. Margaret’s backstories in chapters dating back to 1842. The Old Women’s interjections sometimes seem unnecessary, though it’s a pleasure to hear of them giving a brutal husband his comeuppance. Hegi’s contrast between the censorious, sanctimonious pillars of society and the kind, tolerant nuns and circus folk is a bit pat, particularly in both groups’ anachronistic acceptance of open homosexuality. The vaguely magical realist elements aren’t a strong point for this author, who has excelled in probing the moral complexities of both personal and political relations in such previous works as Children and Fire (2011) and Salt Dancers (1995). Still, her characters in this less satisfying book are still full-bodied, and their various conflicts lead to tender final resolutions for the three protagonists.
Not one of Hegi’s best, but this thoughtful writer’s work always merits attention.
