The American Lady by Petra Durst-Benning

I did not know that this was part of a tribology and that I had chosen the second book in the three. It did not however deter in any way to the story which was a separate one.


We have a setting of New York, Lauscha Germany and Italy at the end. Wanda in New York is young and beautiful but she does not want to be just another pretty face much to the dismay of her mother who wants her to conform to the normal pattern of a young debutante - attending tea parties, doing a bit of high profile charity work and being a lady of leisure. It has suited Ruth for all these years and she is perplexed as to why it will not satisfy Wanda till she marries specially since she has a perfectly suited young man in tow.  Wanda wants to do something with her life but all her attempts to take a job and be like any other young woman fails.


It is at this point that her aunt Marie arrives from Lauscha. Marie has been a glass blower all her life. She loves her craft and is world famous for it but she seems to have lost her zest and imagination and a trip to New York the whole family feels would renew her energy and inspiration.


Marie realizes very soon that there are two sides to the city. The one with the ghettos and its ethnic minorities and the freedom of the artistes to which she allies herself and then the stiff world of her sister with its rigid dinners, lunches and elite small group of people. She is happy for her sister who has adapted well after the rigors of Germany but it is not for her. She embarks on a voyage of discovery of New York, unknown to her family and this is where she meets Franco who becomes the love of her life and one who will change her life and lifestyle forever.


The story of Wanda and Marie was a good one. Starting from complete opposites they find a mutual meeting place and it shows the strength of family ties which bind. It also shows that impetuousness can occur not just in the young but even in much older people!


The mixture of adventure with romance and the history of glass blowing made for an interesting story.


The book was sent to me by Netgalley courtesy of Amazon Publishing.