Floating in My Mother's Palm

by Ursula Hegi

Hardcover, 1990

Status

Available

Publication

Simon & Schuster (1990), Edition: First Edition, 192 pages

Description

Floating in My Mother's Palm is the compelling and mystical story of Hanna Malter, a young girl growing up in 1950's Burgdorf, the small German town Ursula Hegi so brilliantly brought to life in her bestselling novel Stones from the River. Hanna's courageous voice evokes her unconventional mother, who swims during thunderstorms; the illegitimate son of an American GI, who learns from Hanna about his father; and the librarian, Trudi Montag, who lets Hanna see her hometown from a dwarf's extraordinary point of view. Although Ursula Hegi wrote Floating in My Mother's Palm first, it can be read as a sequel to Stones from the River.

User reviews

LibraryThing member Whisper1
Profoundly insightful, incredibly haunting, both heartbreakingly sad and heartwarmingly charming, lyrical and poetic in dealing with some very difficult life experiences, this book is destined to be one of my top reads of 2011.

In small town post WWII, 1950's Burgdorf Germany, pre-teen Trudy Malter
Show More
provides insights into colorful characters, rich in history and life experience.

Possessing the soul of her artistic, carefree mother, and the kind, gentleness of her father, Trudy listens to the stories of the towns people and deftly provides insights into their personalities while absorbing their joys, frustrations and sorrows.

In a series of short stories, each well connected, Heigi brilliantly develops characters that shine through their struggles.

This is exquisitely, beautifully written, as one emotionally laden story follows another, until at the end the reader cannot help but sigh and feel sad that the book is finished.

Highly Recommended.
Show Less
LibraryThing member worrellw
This is a lovely book about the memories of a child for her mother and others in the town of her childhood. It reminds that it's the small closely held memories that persist, not the grand gestures.
LibraryThing member tls1215
This was a great follow up to STONES FROM THE RIVER. The author went back to the town and visited the main characters and told what happened to them after the first book ended.
LibraryThing member BiblioFool
With a lyrical touch, Hegi paints a distinctive portrait of post-war Germany. The emotional lives of her characters are vividly rendered though a series of vignettes describing life in Burgdorf. Hegi's vivid imagery lingers long after the final page turns. A sad, beautiful, and evocative read, the
Show More
novel's conclusion resonates with all the simple complexity of found truth. Perfect for introspective consumption while soaking in a hot tub.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mzonderm
Ursula Hegi takes us back to Burgdorf in the 1950s, a time when WWII is barely spoken of in Germany, although its scars are everywhere. This time we get the stories through the Hanna Malter, born a year after the end of the war, as she struggles to make sense of her town and her place in it. Told
Show More
as vignettes, rather than as a continuing narrative, Hegi gives her young narrator a keen eye to observe her town and a clear voice to tell us about them.
Show Less
LibraryThing member lahochstetler
This is a short novel that in many ways reads more like a collection of essays. It's a series of short vignettes about the people who live in a small German town in the 1950s. The narrator is a teenage girl, born just after WWII, and much of the novel deals with the consequences of war for the
Show More
various townspeople. This is a town populated by a truly eclectic cast of characters. Hegi does an excellent job of delving deep into and developing each of her characters and their relationships to one another. This is the same town that was the focus of Hegi's novel Stones from the River, which is set in the same town in the interwar period and WWII. Some of the characters appear also in Stones, some do not, and they don't necessarily occupy the same places in each book. Trudi Montag, the central character in Stones from the River is far less sympathetic and far less interesting in this book. From publication dates it appears that Hegi wrote this book before she wrote Stones from the River, though I read them in the opposite order. The characters and life of the town are far more fully developed in Stones, though character development is still clearly Hegi's forte, even in this book. For those interested in Hegi's work, I recommend reading Stones first. Had I not had the background I did from Stones, I think I would have found this book less interesting.
Show Less
LibraryThing member amberc
Hanna loses her mother at a young age but this book is not only a reflection of her mother, but of the people and their stories in her town. Told from Hanna's point of view and at different ages, the people in her town becomes alive through her eyes.

Beautifully written, haunting stories. Stories
Show More
of when her housekeeper's son finds out he's illegimate; when she watches her childhood friend raped by her grandfather gives up the baby she had come to love; when she watches as her neighbor in the apartment above them give himself to man after man who degrades him. There are happy stories too..of her mother teaching her to swim during thunderstorms, of her careful fathers one reckless act, of Trudi's great romantic moment.

I loved this book and want to read others by the same author.
Show Less
LibraryThing member ladybug74
I really enjoyed this book until the very last little short chapter. The whole book is told from the point of view of a German girl named Hanna Malter, but it is made up of shorter stories about different people in her life. Trudi Montag, who was in some of Hegi's other books, has reappeared in
Show More
this book. I have only read a few books by Ursula Hegi, but she is becoming one of my favorite authors. I would have given this book a higher rating if not for the ending, which I did not care for.
Show Less
LibraryThing member booklady2031
I found this to be more like a collection of short stories than a novel. It is not plot driven, it is more of Hanna's reflections about the time and place where she grew from a young child to a teen-ager. The prose is beautiful, and I enjoyed every word.
LibraryThing member kpolhuis
A collection of short stories told through the eyes of a young girl just coming of age. Though seperate stories, and of a difficult content, the way they are written is soft so that the unpalatable topics are bearable to read about and when considered all together as a whole is a very clear
Show More
portrait of the town. This is my first book by the author and I will certainly be looking out for others.
Show Less
LibraryThing member purplehena
A much quicker read than its sequel/prequel Stones from the River. It also wasn't quite as engrossing, though it was still a good read. It wasn't until the last two chapters that I began to really become interested in the main character.
LibraryThing member konrad.katie
I would nearly classify this book as a collection of short stories, although by the end of the book, the reader is aware that the main character is Hanna. From time to time, this distinction is unclear as you learn about the lives of the people in town.

Hegi has a very pleasant writing style that
Show More
feels naive and whimsical, fitting as reality is filtered through the mind of a child. This stands out in stark contrast to some of the darker undertones of the recollections and backstories recanted about the denizens of this post-wwII German town. My particular favorite has a pack of German Shepherds (you'll know it when you get there).

Overall, a very nice book. My attention has been caught - adding her other novels to the list.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bibliophileofalls
Well written short stories. Great character development.
LibraryThing member Laine-Cunningham
Another fantastic read. Introspective through the use of many tiny snapshots of different people in her town. Although told from a girl's point of view, this has the mature voice of a woman looking back in time.
I have this loaded as the boxed set but decided to review it here as separate books.

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1990

Physical description

192 p.; 8.5 inches

ISBN

0671689479 / 9780671689476

Local notes

Fiction
Page: 0.2165 seconds