Literature -- 3 1/2 stars
As a child, Beate Haas escaped East Germany with her parents, eventually landing in the U.S. As an adult, Beate is notified that the family home in a former seaside resort town is now hers. Newly divorced, Beate takes her two teen-aged children to Germany. The adjustment is not easy on any of them. The once beautiful home is now derelict. While a depressed Beate spends all her time sleeping, Michael scavenges furniture and household necessities, and explores his freedom to be gay. Adela closes herself in her room reading about the Holocaust. Covering decades, the town and the family rebuild and reform and overcome. ----- An unexpected and largely uncomfortable story of a family that doesn't seem to like each other very much. They seem to interact with each other, not out of love, but out of obligation, each circulating on the edge of the other with no real attempt to move beyond their own selfish need for a connection to something. It takes viewing the story from the end to perceive that their connections are built on acceptance without judgment. Well written, I can admire Mr. Grattan's decision to leave the sharp edges untouched.
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