The Empire of the Senses - A Novel

Zusatztext “Stunning. . . . Elegantly crafted and psychologically astute.” — San Francisco Chronicle “A gripping! beautifully written saga. . . . A fresh and moving perspective on a piece of history we thought we already knew.” —Christina Baker Kline! author of Orphan Train “Poignant. . . . Richly appointed. . . . Life at any time and place! [Landau’s] title and her prose seem to say! is full of sensual beauty! if you choose to live it that way.” — Tablet “A sweeping family epic. . . . Internal dramas mirror the turbulent cultural landscape of 1920s Germany.” — Los Angeles Magazine “Lush! smart! sexy! affecting! interesting! beautifully researched! and well made. Spending time in the world of this novel is an absolute pleasure.” —Aimee Bender! author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake “Landau evokes the Weimar Republic era with spellbinding detail and nuance! deftly capturing the zeitgeist in the characters’ colorful pursuits. . . . Lev’s struggle with his Jewish identity is also fascinating.” — Publishers Weekly “A top-notch literary saga with a gripping plotline. . . . Each perfectly crafted individual is fully involved in the surrounding world. In Landau’s hands! even a simple trip to the barber becomes meaningful and illustrative of the novel’s themes. The characters’ actions and thoughts are so three-dimensionally human that readers may forget they’re reading fiction.” — Booklist “[Landau] follows one family through two wars! four romances and one death with . . . thought and craft. . . . Highly readable.” — Kirkus “An impressive debut. . . . Where Landau truly excels is with her scope! her ability to guide [her characters] through the years! highlighting national tragedy while homing in on individual plights. The result is an expansive novel but also one skillfully in tune with the intricacies of the human spirit. . . . Gripping.” — The National (UAE) Informationen zum Autor Alexis Landau is a graduate of Vassar College. She received her MFA from Emerson College and her PhD in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Southern California. This is her first novel. Alexis lives with her husband and her two children in Santa Monica, California. Klappentext A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year The Empire of the Senses is an enthralling tale of love and war! duty and self-discovery. It begins in 1914 when Lev Perlmutter! an assimilated German Jew fighting in World War I! finds unexpected companionship on the Eastern Front; back at home! his wife Josephine embarks on a clandestine affair of her own. A decade later! during the heady! politically charged interwar years in Berlin! their children-one! a nascent Fascist struggling with his sexuality! the other a young woman entranced by the glitz and glamour of the Jazz Age-experience their own romantic awakenings. With a painter's sensibility for the layered images that comprise our lives! this exquisite novel by Alexis Landau marks the emergence of a writer uniquely talented in bringing the past to the present. 1   The Eastern Front, August 1914   At first, the men were drunk off the euphoria of leaving Berlin, dreaming of virgin battlefields, singing and sharing flasks of whiskey when night fell. But Lev could not join in, blocked by a numb indifference that had settled over him as he observed the others with a clinical eye, picking apart their features, imagining how grotesque some of these men would appear if he sketched them asleep, their open mouths inviting flies. Yes, he’d volunteered when war was announced—but that day, only two days ago, already appeared fantastical, full of heated parades and brass bands, too much drink, his oxford shirt sticking to his chest in the humid air, and Josephine, waiting for him at home in the sha...

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Stunning. . . . Elegantly crafted and psychologically astute. San Francisco Chronicle

A gripping, beautifully written saga. . . . A fresh and moving perspective on a piece of history we thought we already knew. Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train

Poignant. . . . Richly appointed. . . . Life at any time and place, [Landau s] title and her prose seem to say, is full of sensual beauty, if you choose to live it that way. Tablet

A sweeping family epic. . . . Internal dramas mirror the turbulent cultural landscape of 1920s Germany. Los Angeles Magazine

Lush, smart, sexy, affecting, interesting, beautifully researched, and well made. Spending time in the world of this novel is an absolute pleasure. Aimee Bender, author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

Landau evokes the Weimar Republic era with spellbinding detail and nuance, deftly capturing the zeitgeist in the characters colorful pursuits. . . . Lev s struggle with his Jewish identity is also fascinating. Publishers Weekly

A top-notch literary saga with a gripping plotline. . . . Each perfectly crafted individual is fully involved in the surrounding world. In Landau s hands, even a simple trip to the barber becomes meaningful and illustrative of the novel s themes. The characters actions and thoughts are so three-dimensionally human that readers may forget they re reading fiction. Booklist

[Landau] follows one family through two wars, four romances and one death with . . . thought and craft. . . . Highly readable. Kirkus

An impressive debut. . . . Where Landau truly excels is with her scope, her ability to guide [her characters] through the years, highlighting national tragedy while homing in on individual plights. The result is an expansive novel but also one skillfully in tune with the intricacies of the human spirit. . . . Gripping. The National (UAE)

Product details

• Authors: Alexis Landau
• Publisher: Vintage USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 29.02.2016
• EAN: 9780804173469
• ISBN: 978-0-8041-7346-9
• No. of pages: 496
• Dimensions: 132 mm x 203 mm x 28 mm
• Series: WATSON GUPTILL
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature