Jenna Blum

"The Lost Family is an extraordinary read, the kind of book that makes you sob and smile, the kind that gives you hope…. It is compassionate, masterful and disturbingly contemporary."—Tatiana de Rosnay, bestselling author of Sarah’s Key The New York Times bestselling author of Those Who Save Us creates a vivid portrait of marriage, family, and the haunting grief of World War II in this emotionally charged, beautifully rendered story that spans a generation, from the 1960s to the 1980s. In 1965 Manhattan, patrons flock to Masha’s to savor its brisket bourguignon and impeccable service and to admire its dashing owner and head chef Peter Rashkin. With his movie-star good looks and tragic past, Peter, a survivor of Auschwitz, is the most eligible bachelor in town. But Peter does not care for the parade of eligible women who come to the restaurant hoping to catch his eye. He has resigned himself to a solitary life. Running Masha’s consumes him, as does his terrible guilt over surviving the horrors of the Nazi death camp while his wife, Masha—the restaurant’s namesake—and two young daughters perished. Then exquisitely beautiful June Bouquet, an up-and-coming young model, appears at the restaurant, piercing Peter’s guard. Though she is twenty years his junior, the two begin a passionate, whirlwind courtship. When June unexpectedly becomes pregnant, Peter proposes, believing that beginning a new family with the woman he loves will allow him to let go of the horror of the past. But over the next twenty years, the indelible sadness of those memories will overshadow Peter, June, and their daughter Elsbeth, transforming them in shocking, heartbreaking, and unexpected ways. Jenna Blum artfully brings to the page a husband devastated by a grief he cannot name, a frustrated wife struggling to compete with a ghost she cannot banish, and a daughter sensitive to the pain of both her own family and another lost before she was born. Spanning three cinematic decades, The Lost Family is a charming, funny, and elegantly bittersweet study of the repercussions of loss and love.

A Novel

The Lost Family

Een lector aan een Amerikaanse universiteit probeert achter haar afkomst te komen door vele Duitse en joodse overlevenden van de Tweede Wereldoorlog te interviewen.

Het familieportret

Those Who Save Us

Een Duits-joodse man, die in de oorlog zijn vrouw en kinderen heeft verloren, probeert in Amerika een nieuwe start te maken, met een nieuwe vrouw en dochter.

Hij overleefde de Tweede Wereldoorlog, maar de herinneringen aan zijn verloren familie laten zich niet verdringen...

De verloren familie

Amanda Hodgkinson

Karen White

Melanie Benjamin

Pam Jenoff

Alyson Richman

Sarah Jio

Kristina McMorris

Presents short stories that all take place in and around New York City's Grand Central Station on the day after World War II ends, including contributions from such authors as Melanie Benjamin, Sarah Jio, and Amanda Hodgkinson.

Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion

Grand Central

Life Lessons from a Wise Old Dog

Woodrow on the Bench

Twenty years after her bipolar brother's penchant for chasing tornadoes leads to deadly consequences, Karena Jorge finds out that he has escaped from a psychiatric ward, prompting her to join a band of professional stormchasers in hope of finding her disturbed brother. By the best-selling author of Those Who Save Us.

The Stormchasers

"When I say Jenna Blum's upcoming Woodrow on the Bench wrecked me and that I'm now sobbing eating all the chocolate, I mean it in the best way possible."--Jodi Picoult "Jenna Blum's wonderful moving memoir, is a "girl and her dog" story for the ages!"--Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain The New York Times and internationally bestselling author of Those Who Save Us pays tribute to her beloved black Lab, Woodrow, in this beautiful memoir that recalls the last six months of his life and the ways in which he taught her to live. "For anyone who's ever loved an old dog." Since she adopted him as a puppy fifteen years earlier, Jenna Blum and Woodrow have been inseparable. Known to many as "the George Clooney of dogs" for his good looks and charm, Woodrow and his "Mommoo" are fixtures in their Boston neighborhood. But Woodrow is aging. As he begins to fail, the true nature of his extraordinary relationship with Jenna is revealed. Jenna may be the dog parent, but it is Woodrow, with his amazing personality and trusting nature, who has much to teach her. A divorcée who has experienced her share of sadness and loss, Jenna discovers, over the months she spends caring for her ailing dog, what it is to be present in the moment, and what it truly means to love. Aided by an amazing group of friends and buoyed by the support of strangers, Jenna and Woodrow navigate these precious final days together with kindness, humor, and grace. Their unforgettable love story will reaffirm your belief in kindness, break your heart, and leave your spirit soaring.

Twins are forced to confront a violent secret from their past in Jenna Blum's first novel since her runaway bestseller, Those Who Save Us How far would you go to protect a sibling-and at what cost to yourself? In Those Who Save Us, Jenna Blum proved herself a master storyteller with brilliant insight into the spectrum of human emotion. Now, Blum turns her sights to the most intimate and mysterious of family relationships-that between twins-in her powerful and provocative second novel. As a teenager, Karena Jorge had always been the one to look out for her twin brother Charles, who suffers from bipolar disorder. But as Charles begins to refuse medication and his manic tendencies worsen, Karena finds herself caught between her loyalty to her brother and her fear for his life. Always obsessed with the weather-enraptured by its magical unpredictability that seemed to mirror his own impulses—Charles starts chasing storms, and his behavior grows increasingly erratic . . . until a terrifying storm chase with Karena ends with deadly consequences, tearing the twins apart and changing both of their lives forever. Two decades later, Karena gets a call from a psychiatric ward in Wichita, Kansas, to come pick up her brother, whom she hasn't seen or spoken to for twenty years. She soon discovers that Charles has lied to the doctors, taken medication that could make him dangerously manic, and disappeared again. Having exhausted every resource to try and track him down, Karena realizes she has only one last chance of finding him: the storms. Wherever the tornadoes are, that's where he'll be. Karena joins a team of professional stormchasers-passionate adventurers who will transform her life and give her a chance at love and redemption—and embarks on an odyssey to find her brother before he reveals the violent secret from their past and does more damage to himself . . . or to someone else. Watch a Video

“When I say Jenna Blum’s upcoming Woodrow on the Bench wrecked me and that I’m now sobbing eating all the chocolate, I mean it in the best way possible.”—Jodi Picoult "Jenna Blum's wonderful moving memoir, is a “girl and her dog” story for the ages!”—Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain The New York Times and internationally bestselling author of Those Who Save Us pays tribute to her beloved black Lab, Woodrow, in this beautiful memoir that recalls the last six months of his life and the ways in which he taught her to live. “For anyone who’s ever loved an old dog.” Since she adopted him as a puppy fifteen years earlier, Jenna Blum and Woodrow have been inseparable. Known to many as “the George Clooney of dogs” for his good looks and charm, Woodrow and his “Mommoo” are fixtures in their Boston neighborhood. But Woodrow is aging. As he begins to fail, the true nature of his extraordinary relationship with Jenna is revealed. Jenna may be the dog parent, but it is Woodrow, with his amazing personality and trusting nature, who has much to teach her. A divorcée who has experienced her share of sadness and loss, Jenna discovers, over the months she spends caring for her ailing dog, what it is to be present in the moment, and what it truly means to love. Aided by an amazing group of friends and buoyed by the support of strangers, Jenna and Woodrow navigate these precious final days together with kindness, humor, and grace. Their unforgettable love story will reaffirm your belief in kindness, break your heart, and leave your spirit soaring.

Karena Hallingdahl, trentotto anni appena compiuti e un matrimonio alle spalle, lavora nella redazione del Minneapolis Ledger. Un lavoro di routine, fatto di articoli sulla vita locale e sulla gastronomia norvegese, in omaggio alle origini di una buona fetta della popolazione del Minnesota, terra di pionieri scandinavi fin dalla fine del XIX secolo. Nei momenti liberi, Karena va sul sito dello Storm Prediction Center a scrutare le nuvole verdi generate dal computer, sperando di scorgere là sotto Charles, il fratello gemello sparito da anni dalla sua vita. Charles è biondo e ha la pelle chiara come Karena ma, diversamente da lei, è un tipo geniale e folle che alterna stati di depressione ed euforia in un baleno, e che, soprattutto, coltiva un’unica, irrefrenabile passione: dare la caccia alle tempeste, arrivare lì dove il tornado si annuncia con il tramonto più spettacolare che vi sia, per inseguirne poi la cavalcata distruttiva. Una passione che ha segnato la sua vita e quella di Karena, legandole per sempre col sigillo di un segreto inconfessabile. Un giorno di quasi vent’anni prima, infatti, Charles si è inoltrato con sua sorella in un bosco dell’Iowa inseguendo una tempesta a bordo di una jeep. In preda a uno dei suoi stati euforici, guidava veloce sotto la grandine, così veloce che non si è nemmeno accorto di aver urtato e ucciso un motociclista. Karena l’ha visto l’uomo, immobile sotto la sua moto piena di cromature, i capelli lunghi sparsi nel fango. Ma ha taciuto, non ha proferito parola con lo sceriffo, ha scelto il silenzio, come le suggeriva Charles, un silenzio che le è gravato per anni sul cuore e che ora la opprime ancora di più. Una telefonata inattesa dal Kansas la raggiunge, infatti, nella sua casa a Edina: Charles ha appena lasciato la clinica psichiatrica di Wichita e disperso le proprie tracce. Per Karena è l’inizio di un viaggio impervio alla volta del fratello geniale e folle. Un viaggio in cui prenderà parte a uno dei più avventurosi Whirlwind tours, i più rinomati nella caccia alle tempeste, conoscerà Kevin, l’affascinante guida dai capelli castani e un odore familiare, e, soprattutto, si imbatterà nell’amato, odiato fratello. Romanzo in cui vibrano la caotica bellezza della natura e l’imprevedibilità del cuore umano, Cacciatori di tempeste costituisce una splendida conferma del talento di Jenna Blum, una scrittrice capace di unire azione e sentimento nella sua serrata e impeccabile scrittura. «Un romanzo che è come un tornado, impossibile staccare gli occhi dalle sue pagine». Amanda Eyre Ward «Jenna Blum l’ha fatto di nuovo... narratrice fantastica, sa introdurre l’autenticità e la suspense più emozionante in un romanzo genuinamente sorprendente sulla ricerca, i segreti e il legame tra fratelli. Tenetevi stretti, state prendendo parte a una cavalcata selvaggia». New York Journal of Books «Le tempeste mi hanno sempre affascinata. Quand’ero piccola, d’estate andavamo a trovare mia nonna e spesso nel bel mezzo della notte l’allarme del tornado iniziava a suonare, e allora dovevamo rifugiarci in cantina. Per me, che andavo matta per il Mago di Oz, era fantastico». Jenna Blum Dall’autrice di Quelli che ci salvarono «un romanzo in cui mistero, storia d’amore e avventura si fondono perfettamente». Library Journal

Cacciatori di tempeste

Een meeslepend verhaal over de onverwoestbare band tussen tweelingen Als tiener is Karena Jorge de enige die haar tweelingbroer Charles in toom kan houden. Charles heeft een bipolaire stoornis die verergert naarmate hij ouder wordt, tot op het punt dat hij een gevaar wordt voor zichzelf en anderen. Op hun achttiende verjaardag rijden Charles en Karena met hun auto zo dicht mogelijk achter een tornado aan. Wat er dan gebeurt is zo verschrikkelijk dat de tweeling vanaf die dag het contact met elkaar volledig verbreekt. Twintig jaar later krijgt Karena een telefoontje van een psychiatrische inrichting waar Charles gedwongen is opgenomen. Ze besluit dat het tijd is om af te rekenen met het verleden en gaat haar broer ophalen, maar bij aankomst blijkt hij ontsnapt te zijn. Ze heeft maar één aanwijzing om hem op het spoor te komen: Charles is nog steeds gefascineerd door extreem weer en het tornadoseizoen is net begonnen... De pers over In tweestrijd ‘Het boeiende en goed vertaalde verhaal is ook psychologisch uitstekend opgebouwd.’ NBD Biblion ‘Blum brengt de stormachtige setting net zo mooi tot leven als haar rijk getekende personages.’ Publishers Weekly ‘Een treffend portret van een tweeling en een zorgvuldige beschrijving van een bipolaire stoornis en de schade die deze veroorzaakt. Een sterke tweede roman.’ Kirkus Reviews

In tweestrijd

Ann Patchett

Maggie O'Farrell

Molly Gloss

Nicole Mones

Elizabeth Benedict

Six novels in one volume by today’s most outstanding female writers—includes The Magician’s Assistant, Those Who Save Us, and more. From the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Commonwealth and Bel Canto, to the multiple award-winning author of This Must Be the Place, this collection gathers a half-dozen top-notch literary talents in a treasure trove for fiction lovers. Included: Almost by Elizabeth Benedict chronicles the attempt of writer Sophy Chase to come to terms with the death of her almost ex-husband—who may have committed suicide on the New England resort island where she left him just months before. Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum follows Trudy, a professor of German history, as she investigates her mother’s past in WWII Germany, combining a passionate, doomed love story; a vivid evocation of life during the war; and a poignant mother/daughter drama. The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss is a heartwarming story of a young woman with the rare talent of “gentling” wild horses, and the unexpected and profound connections between people and animals. The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones takes readers inside the hidden world of elite cuisine in modern China, through the story of an American food writer in Beijing who discovers that her late husband may have been leading a double life. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell is a gothic, intricate tale of family secrets, lost lives, and the freedom brought by truth. The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett tells the story of the death of a secretive magician—and how it sets in motion his partner’s journey of self-discovery.

Jenna Blum

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