The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance (2010) is a family memoir by British ceramicist Edmund de Waal.[1] De Waal tells the story of his family, the Ephrussi, once a very wealthy European Jewish banking dynasty, centred in Odessa, Vienna and Paris, and peers of the Rothschild family.[1] The Ephrussis lost almost everything in 1938 when the Nazis confiscated their property,[1] and were unable to recover most of their property after the war, including priceless artwork; an easily hidden collection of 264 Japanese netsuke miniature sculptures was saved, tucked away inside a mattress by Anna, a loyal maid at Palais Ephrussi in Vienna during the war years. The collection has been passed down through five generations of the Ephrussi family, providing a common thread for the story of its fortunes from 1871 to 2009.
 | |
| Author | Edmund de Waal |
|---|---|
| Subject | Ephrussi family |
| Genre | Biography |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
Publication date | 2010 |
| Pages | 353 |
| ISBN | 978-0-374-10597-6 |
| OCLC | 694399313 |
Reception
editIn Bookmarks Nov/Dec 2010 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the summary stated, "A duel, and a duet, of elegy and irony" (Boston Globe), de Waal's extraordinary family memoir brings his forebears vibrantly to life".[2] The book was described by German literary scholar Oliver vom Hove as an “unprecedentedly precise memory book”.[3] It was reviewed in The Washington Post by Michael Dirda,[4] The Guardian by Rachel Cooke,[5] The Economist,[6] The Telegraph,[7] and The International Netsuke Society Journal[8]
In 2021, The Hare with Amber Eyes was distributed in Vienna as a free book, with a print run of 100,000 copies.[citation needed]
Awards and honours
edit- 2011 Ondaatje Prize, winner[9]
- 2011 JQ Wingate Prize, shortlist[10]
- 2011 ALA Notable Book[citation needed]
- 2010 Costa Book Awards, winner (Biography)[citation needed]
- 2010 Galaxy National Book Award, New Writer of the Year[11]
- 2010 The Economist, Books of the Year list[12]
Editions
edit- First UK edition: The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance, Chatto & Windus, Great Britain, 2010.
- First US edition: The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Loss, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2010. ISBN 978-0-374-10597-6
References
edit- ^ a b c 'Hare' chronicles unheard of Jewish family, Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle (6 September 2011)
- ^ "The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Loss By Edmund de Waal". Bookmarks Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 Sep 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
- ^ Hofe, Oliver vom (October 2021). "Vor zehn Jahren erschienen – und bald als Gratisbuch in Wien verteilt". Wiener Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2024-10-28.
- ^ Review by Michael Dirda in The Washington Post, September 2, 2010
- ^ Review by Rachel Cooke in The Observer, 5 June 2010
- ^ Review in The Economist, May 20, 2010
- ^ "Edmund de Waal on Proust: The writer behind the hare", The Telegraph, April 1, 2011
- ^ Review by David Raitt in The International Netsuke Society Journal Vol 30, n3, Fall 2010, pp44–46
- ^ Flood, Allison (24 May 2011). "Ondaatje prize goes to Edmund de Waal". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
- ^ Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize 2011 Archived 2012-02-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Galaxy National Book Awards, Northumberland County Council
- ^ Books of the Year, 2010, The Economist
External links
edit
Media related to Hare with Amber Eyes (Ephrussi Collection) at Wikimedia Commons
- The Hare with Amber Eyes, author website.
- Edmund de Waal on YouTube, by Random Reads, June 29, 2010.