All Things That Deserve to Perish
Book Feature - All Things That Deserve to Perish by Dana Mack
HBL Note: “I’m sure amidst this pandemic, you’ve found yourself wanting to get lost in a good book, transported in time, carried away by the uniqueness of a perfectly crafted and curated story.” That’s how Dana Mack’s publicist caught my attention. Yes, that happens to sound like just what I need. But also, this is a story about German Jews and the social challenges they faced, which sounds like a WWII story but it actually takes place in 1896, long before Hitler and the Nazis. Dana is the author of two non-fiction books, but ALL THINGS THAT DESERVE TO PERISH is her first novel. Scroll down to read more.
From the publisher:
The year is 1896, and Elisabeth ('Lisi') von Schwabacher, the gifted daughter of a Jewish banker, returns home to Berlin from three years of piano study in Vienna. Though her thoughts are far from matrimony, she is pursued by two noblemen impressed as much by her stunning wealth as by her prodigious intellect and musical talent. Awakened to sudden improvements in the opportunities open to women, Lisi balks at her mother's expectation that she will contract a brilliant marriage and settle down to a life as a wife and mother. In a bid to emancipate herself once and for all from that unwelcome fate, she resolves to have an affair with one of her aristocratic suitors -- an escapade that, given her rigid social milieu, has tragic consequences.