Träume aus Samt by the popular historical fiction writer Ulrike Renk, the last installment of the trilogy following the fate of a Jewish family exiled from Germany to the US during the Nazi times is a slow paced historical novel with a romantic touch. Read in German by the actress and singer Yara Blümel it make it into an useful reading for anyone with a medium to advanced German language knowledge.
Although it is part of a trilogy, (at least) this last part can be easily read as a stand-alone. Personally, I was interested in the book for very clear language reasons, but also into the rendition of the topic and the literary construction as such.
I´ve did my best to like the book but my final conclusion was that was a nice try but not at all my cup of historical fiction tea. First, the character look very average and there is hardly anything that may make them outstanding - as human beings, in the first place. The details of the family life in America do not create an authentic environment, particularly from the point of view of the timely situation, during WWII, among other Jewish refugees. The pace is slow, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but most of the time, it does not seem to go anywhere; it´s like you are sitting on the other side of a window to someone´s living room and observe the coming and going of people, following their daily schedule, but nothing of particular importance. It can be in Washington DC or in Chicago, or in Berlin or in Moscow. Simple daily facts may look the same no matter what. For the real life it can be recomforting but it does not work at all for a novel.
For a relatively exigent reader of historical fiction, Träume aus Samt was not the best possible choice but at least it helped me to maintain my German at an appropriate level.
Rating: 2.5 stars
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