"A Bend in the Stars" by Rachel Barenbaum: An Epic Tale of Love and Loss During World War II

Christian Stadler, Warwick Business School: A capturing story. Loved the historic setting.

Germany on May 28, 2023

maryg: It's hard to know where to even begin in my praise of this epic novel. It was deeply engaging, moving and so smart. The character development, pacing, and knowledge of the period in history were stellar (no pun intended), and the braided storyline was easy to follow and worked brilliantly. As I write this, I wonder how many times I can use the word brilliant here since it is the word that keeps popping into my mind for so many aspects of this book. I will not soon forget the many characters I will miss now that I have finished this book.

If you like historical fiction and an extremely well crafted book, I would say this is the one for you. I can't wait to see what Barenbaum writes next and it will be on on pre-order list for sure!!!

United States on Feb 22, 2021

ester david: Excellent,I bought it used but it was in good condition.

United Kingdom on Jan 11, 2021

Linda Pfeiffer: In 1914 in Russia men are being conscripted to fight in the war against Germany. Many of these men are Jews as they are considered dispensable. The Czar is loathed by most Russians and his private army is relentless in the roundup of Jews and feared by all citizens. Little did anyone know that in only four years, the Czar and his family would be murdered and a new government would be in place.

The Abromovics a Jewish family decide it is time to escape to America before they are killed or captured by either side. There is the daughter, Miri, who is on the verge of becoming the first female surgeon in Russia and son Vanya, who is hoping to solve the final puzzle of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, along with their matchmaker Babushka, who has raised them, plan to run to America. And Yuri a surgeon who is Miri's fiancé wants to leave with them. But first Vanya must observe the 1914 solar eclipse, which when photographed will prove his equation and earn him a position in Harvard university beating Einstein at his own game.
The book is action packed as they make it across Russia and then back again to attempt the escape out of the country.
I was spellbound as they...

Canada on Feb 03, 2020

Dianne van Oenen: What an engrossing story with a fascinating cast of characters. This book provides the reader with insights into physics as well as the life of a Jew living in war torn Russia. The characters flesh these out as they pursue their quest and passions. Follow the train of events which Bring the reader to their culmination.

Canada on Jul 15, 2019

Bryan G: This book was the story of my ancestors: my familial ancestors, who fled from pogroms in Russia, and my intellectual ancestors, the brilliant physicists who created our modern understanding of Universe. There were thus parts of this story which moved me deeply. But more for how they made me think of other possible stories, rather than because of the story I was actually reading.

At times “A Bend In The Stars” is like the movie version of a brilliant novel. You can imagine how breathtakingly powerful a particular scene must have been in the original, but this version skips over the details and shaves some time off to speed up the plot. Coincidental meet-ups, chase scenes and lucky escapes abound, and the characters are a little one-dimensional. Nevertheless, the novel paints a rich but bleak tableau of life in the final years of Tsarist Russia, captures the growing fear of everyday Europeans in the early months of World War I, and relives the exciting beginnings of 20th century physics when we began to realise that everything we knew was wrong.

United States on Jul 12, 2019

Eudice: My husband who reads 4 books at a time, just read this one, once he started it. He said every page was exciting. I heard her in an interview and had to buy it. I read it in 2 days, as you can't stop reading it as the chapters keep going from one character to another, back and forth and you have to know what is next. M husband bought one for his daughter.
One learns about the history in Russia for the Jews in 1914. My mother was born in Poland that year and she did not talk about her life there as it was not pleasant. There were 7 children, one who died because of the lack of medical care. Her father was a scholar, teacher, Shachet and Rabbi. They lived in a 1 room shack with a divide for sleeping. The cow and chickens slept in the shack at night so they shouldn't be stolen by the Poles.. They had a false wall in which space they had to hide when there was a program in the village. I have picture of the family in front of the shack that was taken by my grandfather to take with him to America. He had to work for a few years before he was able to bring the family over. They lived in Israe for a year before they came here. My mother was 13 at the time.
From being as poor as a...

United States on Jun 06, 2019

lord vadr: Rachel Barenbaum has written a wonderful story, rooted in the Jewish experience at the end of the 19th century. Would that someone had recorded my communist grandfather’s flight from the tsarist police with his two cousins to the restaurants of New York.

However, the story was utterly ruined by Barenbaum’s immature writing in the treatment of her two main characters, Miri and Vanya, whose “humanity” is revealed by their identical, self-destructive behavior in moments of stress. While this might be revelatory of their characters, in fact it is, in both cases, directly contrary to the inherent strength of the two. Both are shown to have drive, strength and backbone, which then dissolves into bleating hysteria requiring rescue by one of the other characters - each of whom is asked to act against character or motivation to save Miri or Vanya.

Are there no editors to help first-time novelists?

United States on May 22, 2019

Tracey Palmer: It’s hard to believe this is Barenbaum’s debt. This beautifully written literary novel is many things—a historical thriller about physics, the plight of Russian Jews, a complicated love triangle, a heart-pumping journey across Russia, and a sweeping family saga. No matter what type of book you like to read, you’ll find it all here. I loved it. Most World War I books focus on England, France or Germany; this book offers a refreshing new take. Although the story takes place on the eve of World Ward I it’s ultimately not a book about war. It’s really about two headstrong siblings driven by their individual passions, and the power of ideas to change the world. Will single-minded scientist Vanya Abramov make it to the eclipse in time to prove or disprove Einstein’s as yet unpublished theory of relativity? Will his sister Miri, a headstrong female doctor, leave her steadfast fiancée for a dashing deserter of the czar’s army? Will the Abramov family line die out in Russia or will they rebuild a new one in America? Stay tuned. As Miri and Vanya’s grandmother Baba, says: “Life and the universe are not written in stone. Gravity bends direction. Always keep your mind...

United States on May 15, 2019