Bøger af Gabriella Mautner

Positano, on Italy's Amalfi Coast, is the setting for a complex tale that focuses on friendship, love, and the legacy of the past upon the present. The story is passionate, as well as poetic, humorous and rich in folklore. In 1952, thirty year old Miranda Arnold, recently divorced, returns to her native Italy with Johnny, her five year old son. After fourteen years of separation she is reunited with her friend Nina, who lives in Positano with James, her troubled English companion. Although the two young women remain traumatized by their pasts, they have an emotional anchor in one another. On one level, they rekindle their friendship, conversing intimately about what they endured in their fourteen years apart. On another level, as Miranda becomes part of Nina's ever-changing and unsettled orbit, their relationship will be severely tested. Soon the story grows into a complex tale of friendship, love, and the legacy of the war. The two main male protagonists are the mysterious doctor, Danilo Arieli, and the seaman Nicodemo, Danilo's larger-than-life friend. Within the sensuous embrace of Positano, the characters are intertwined in ways both tender and dramatic, as memories about their tragic war experiences continue to implode. The collage of secondary characters adds piquant and humorous moments. A wholeness emerges from all the fragments: love rising above guilt or obsession, life in the face of death, the ability to stand alone and also to love fully. The story concludes with many surprising revelations.

About this book: Who is this small being on the street of the East German city of Chemnitz; this unfinished creature and mere larva child? In the first part of her book, Gabriella Mautner paints a picture of Jewish life in the 20's and 30's. Then comes the frightening year 1933. "Once in exile your childhood is over. Even if you are free of the iron prison which Chemnitz meant for us at the end. The exile robs you of your friends, your laughter, your joy. All at once you have aged through the pain of separation and the wounds of uprootedness." In 1998 Gabriella Mautner was invited to return to Chemnitz. The second part of this book deals with meetings of some of its citizens and the quest of reconciliation.

"Victor Nameless is an impressive novel, suspenseful from beginning to end, a tale that will preoccupy my mind and heart for a long time." >"Two lovers searching for freedom and for each other. An incredible true story of survival of the human spirit.">"Just when you think you've read every last account of the Holocaust, along comesVictor Nameless, a heartrending, beautifully narrated story about a survivor.">A true story of love, hope against all odds, and redemption, set against the horrors of the second World War, the Holocaust, and the drama of refugees. Victor, a young German-Jewish musician, falls in love with Tatyana, a beautiful Jewish photographer from Yugoslavia. Unable to stay together, they promise to carry a torch for each other. Victor, fleeing eastward from the Nazis, is sucked deep into the Soviet Union. Without papers, without a name, he survives prisons and labor camps and ends up a forgotten refugee. The sole companion on his odyssey is a simple flute. Tatyana joins the partisans in Yugoslavia and flees to Italy. She lives in Venice inperilous disguise as a non-Jew, refusing the safety of marriage because of her love for Victor. She is ultimately betrayed and deported to Auschwitz. When Victor finally gets to the West and is sent to a recovery facility in Meran, Italy, he recognizes Tatyana at the window of a neighboring sanatorium. How can these two refugees preserve their love after so much trauma? Everything is now in the balance: will their hope hold its promise? Gabriella Mautner is an award-winning author and Holocaust survivor. She taught creative writing at San Francisco State University and the Fromm Institute for thirty-four years. Her novels are Out of a Season, Lovers and Fugitives, and Addio Positano. Her memoir, The Good Place, was published in Germany and the US. She is a recipient of a Milley Award from the city of Mill Valley for literary achievements.

Vacationing seaside with her parents in Rimini, Italy, young Nicole Steiner falls in love with the charming Italian nobleman, Dario Ventura. Soon after, Ventura frequently visits with the Steiners, now home in Turin. Though he returns her affection, Nicole begins to suspect that he has become her mother’s lover. The relationship is complicated by the strong tie between mother and daughter, and Nicole’s rejection of her stern father. Woven through the tale is the rich atmosphere of pre-war Italy.

Lovers and Fugitives is a spellbinding tale of suspense and love set amidst the backdrop of World War II. An inspiring tribute to the human spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity. A tender story of real people, locked in a common struggle, who redefine the word love. Saskia and her mother, Helga, cannot comprehend a world gone mad. David is alive only through incredible luck. They're never sure who is a friend and who is an enemy, right down to the breathtaking conclusion.