Werner Family Saga
1 primary work • 5 total works
Book 5
Few authors have understood the tender intricacies of relationships better than the incomparable Belva Plain. In Heartwood, her final novel, she comes full circle with the themes she took up in her very first work, Evergreen, bringing us an unforgettable story of family and friendship, love and marriage, the challenges of life and the true secret of happiness.
Though Iris Stern considers herself a modern woman, with a successful career and a happy marriage, she still holds steadfast to her old-fashioned sensibilities. However, she often finds those sensibilities challenged by her children and the choices they have made. For Iris’s daughter, Laura, a fresh start in New York City may be the last chance to save her troubled marriage, but as Laura copes with an impending separation and its effect on Iris’s young granddaughter, Iris herself must come to grips with a long-held family secret. An emotional parting of another kind looms most prominently on Iris’s horizon—as neither her beloved husband nor her marriage is immune to the ravages of time. But like the inmost rings of a tree that abide through the generations, Iris will be as strong as heartwood.
Only one man knew the secret Anna Friedman vowed to carry to her grave. Only he could undo her perfect life, and he had kept his silence—and his distance—for years. Yet as she watched her daughter Iris marry and have her own family, Anna saw the slow corrosion of a lifetime of secrets seep into a new generation. Iris’s “ideal” marriage was built on silence and lies . . . their rebellious son found his calling in anti–Vietnam War violence, fueled by rage. Anna’s was the only voice that spoke to them all as she struggled to undo the damage of the past. Then powerful banker Paul Werner returned, opening old wounds, driven to help Anna and the family he barely knew.
From New York’s luxurious suburbs to war-torn Israel, from Italian palazzi to California communes, Belva Plain’s sweeping epic begun in Evergreen reaches its triumphant conclusion. Don’t miss Belva Plain’s other magnificent novels that feature the indomitable Werner family: Evergreen, The Golden Cup, and Tapestry.
Yearning for a better life, Anna Friedman fled Poland for New York at the turn of the century. Finding work as a maid for the Werner family, Anna discovers an elegance beyond her dreams—and the passion of Paul Werner, a man beyond her reach, even when she is in his arms. But it is Joseph Friedman whom she marries. And through an act of illicit passion that will haunt her though all her days, Anna lifts Joseph from poverty to a wealth on which the Friedman dynasty would be based for generations. Sweeping from Jazz Age New York to Nazi Germany to a sun-baked Israeli kibbutz, Evergreen has become a modern American classic—an epic novel that spans three generations of an unforgettable family—and exposes the heart of an extraordinary woman: her marriage, her children, her deceit.
“A magnificent story . . . this beautifully written book will be treasured and reread for many years to come.”—Library Journal
A woman of hidden desires, Hennie De Rivera has none of the wealth enjoyed by her relatives, the Werner banking dynasty. But tall, shy Hennie has grand dreams, especially of daring activist Dan Roth, who invites controversy by fighting for New York's poorest immigrants. Breaking society's rules might have devastating consequences for this passionate woman—and for her nephew Paul Werner, who weds his debutante fiancée while still yearning for his mother's beautiful maid, Anna Friedman. And amid heartbreaking discoveries and the gathering clouds of World War I, the stirring family saga begun in Evergreen continues with an unforgettable tale of forbidden passions, intimate secrets, and sweeping social change. . . .