Pictures of the Past by Deby Eisenberg

From the author's website... "Pictures of the Past is a compelling saga sweeping through Chicago, Paris and Berlin, reliving events from pre-World War II Europe, but beginning in contemporary times. An Impressionist painting, hanging for decades in the Art Institute of Chicago and donated by the charismatic philanthropist Taylor Woodmere, is challenged by an elderly woman as a Nazi theft. Taylor’s gripping and passionate story takes us back to 1937. Sent to Paris on family business, he reluctantly leaves his girlfriend Emily, a spoiled debutante from Newport, Rhode Island. But once in Europe, he immediately falls in love – first with an Henri Lebasque painting, and then with the enchanting Sarah Berger of Berlin. After Taylor returns home, the Berger family becomes trapped in the Nazi web, and any attempts for the new lovers to be reunited are thwarted.
Interwoven with this narrative is the story of Rachel Gold, a beautiful and bright Chicago girl caught up in the times of the late 1960’s. Pregnant and abandoned by her boyfriend Court Woodmere, Taylor’s son, she moves to New York to live with her aunt, a Holocaust survivor. Years later, as the controversy surrounding the provenance of the painting becomes public, Rachel’s grown son is disturbed by his inexplicable familiarity with the work of art. And it is only Taylor Woodmere who can unravel the complicated puzzle of their lives.
With a heart-grabbing ending, Pictures of the Past is historical fiction at its best, giving a personalized window to the powerful events and intriguing venues of the eras. From a world torn by the horrors of war, a love story emerges that endures through years of separation."

Like most of you, I read a LOT of books. Most of them are wonderful... some are not(sadly, I sent one back to the library after reading my requisite 100 pages...ugh!). But, honestly... very few leave such an impression on me as Pictures of the Past by Deby Eisenberg did. To know that there are authors who write novels like this... especially DEBUT novels... makes my reader's heart so very happy!

The author has created a powerful story that I have been thinking about since I turned the last page. She wove the story from several different characters' perspectives as well from different time periods. It made me read it even quicker as, sometimes, I had to get back to a certain character's story.

There were parts that I found difficult to read but they were necessary to the plot and, without them, the story would not have been as "textured" as it was.

It must be such a difficult thing... to spend years crafting a novel than sending it out to the world, hoping readers will love it. Deby Eisenberg doesn't have to worry... this reader LOVED her novel!

Please visit the author's website (debyeisenberg.com) to read more about Pictures of the Past.

~~Thanks to Deby Eisenberg as well as Dorothy at Pump Up Your Book (www.pumpupyourbook.com) for sending me this thought-provoking and wonderfully written novel in exchange for my review.~~