_ Velesov Velesov itibaren El-Galaa, Samalout, Menia Governorate, Egypt itibaren El-Galaa, Samalout, Menia Governorate, Egypt

Edited by csmoon's cousin. A good effort to cultivate young Asian American female writers.

I want to thank the Goodreads FirstRead program and the publisher for gifting me with a copy of this book. Edmund De Waal is a world-renowned ceramicist from an illustrious family that was peer to the Rothschilds. In this memoir, he shares his family’s legacy of art, history, and the rise and fall of wealth over five generations. His Russian ancestors were grain merchants turned bankers from the extraordinarily wealthy and secular Jewish Ephrussi clan. They settled in Paris and rose to the top of European society, collecting priceless art and living glittering, enigmatic lives. Of all the pieces that he inherited (and that were saved), DeWaal is especially fond of the Japanese hand-carved netsuke, miniature sculptures that represent all matter of Japanese folklore and life. The family eventually falls victim to the National Socialist fanatical regime. Chapters 24-26 are the most shimmering and compelling of the memoir, describing in suspenseful detail how the netsuke were saved from the Nazi Anschluss. For those who are intrigued by cultural history at end-of-century Europe or the impact of fascism, this will be a rewarding and edifying read. I was captivated by the warmth, humor and elegance of the prose and the rich and tragic story of the Ephrussi clan.

I always come away from a David Liss novel feeling completely satisfied on several different levels. I always learn something new because his research is spot on, I always have a new leading man to love because his characters are so completely alive (flaws and all!), I always have to bring myself back to this century because his writing makes time and place so vividly real - and I am always immediately looking forward to his next book!

Great book