"That woman's days were spent
In ignorant good-will,
Her nights in argument
Until her voice grew shrill.
What voice more sweet than hers
When, young and beautiful,
She rode to harriers?
This man had kept a school
And rode our wingèd horse;
This other his helper and friend
Was coming into his force;
He might have won fame in the end,
So sensitive his nature seemed,
So daring and sweet his thought.
This other man I had dreamed
A drunken, vainglorious lout.
He had done most bitter wrong
To some who are near my heart,
Yet I number him in the song;
He, too, has resigned his part
In the casual comedy;
He, too, has been changed in his turn,
Transformed utterly:
A terrible beauty is born."
-excerpt from "Easter, 1916" by William Butler Yeats
Another novel from Amazon First Reads and a lucky choice! I get the impression the author is fairly
new but I like her style very much. In looking through my Kindle library I find I have another by
Schumann called The Forgotten Hours. I will likely read it soon.
In 1961 Bettina Heilstrom, a celebrated photographer, meets a figure from her past who has news
from the Old Country that gives her hope of reuniting with important people she was forced to leave
behind years before. The flashback takes us to the spring of 1943, to Rugen, Germany, an island in
the Baltic which becomes part of East Germany under Russian control post WWII. Though I have
read a number of novels set during WWII, this was a place and time period with which I was
unfamiliar. In Rugen, as an 18-year-old orphan, Bettina meets and marries the much older man,
Werner Nietz, who is climbing the ladder of leadership in the new government. This political regime
seems just as oppressive and frightening as the Third Reich.
The reader learns in the prologue that Bettina has a daughter she has been separated from for many
years but one must read further to find out why and in so doing, unveil her tragic past. It made me
think of "Sophie's Choice." When Bettina returns to her homeland, she finds some satisfaction but
learns she cannot fulfill all of her dreams. More than this I dare not say---I try to never spoil the plot.
If you enjoy historical fiction, I think you will like this one! I am rating This Terrible Beauty a 5.
Another novel from Amazon First Reads and a lucky choice! I get the impression the author is fairly
new but I like her style very much. In looking through my Kindle library I find I have another by
Schumann called The Forgotten Hours. I will likely read it soon.
In 1961 Bettina Heilstrom, a celebrated photographer, meets a figure from her past who has news
from the Old Country that gives her hope of reuniting with important people she was forced to leave
behind years before. The flashback takes us to the spring of 1943, to Rugen, Germany, an island in
the Baltic which becomes part of East Germany under Russian control post WWII. Though I have
read a number of novels set during WWII, this was a place and time period with which I was
unfamiliar. In Rugen, as an 18-year-old orphan, Bettina meets and marries the much older man,
Werner Nietz, who is climbing the ladder of leadership in the new government. This political regime
seems just as oppressive and frightening as the Third Reich.
The reader learns in the prologue that Bettina has a daughter she has been separated from for many
years but one must read further to find out why and in so doing, unveil her tragic past. It made me
think of "Sophie's Choice." When Bettina returns to her homeland, she finds some satisfaction but
learns she cannot fulfill all of her dreams. More than this I dare not say---I try to never spoil the plot.
If you enjoy historical fiction, I think you will like this one! I am rating This Terrible Beauty a 5.
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