Harvest: A Novel

by Belva Plain

Overview

"With the rich threads of Evergreen, The Golden Cup, and Tapestry, skillful storyteller [Belva] Plain continues to weave her eventful saga of the Werners."—Publishers Weekly
 
Only one man knew the secret Anna Friedman vowed to carry to her grave. Only he could undo her perfect life, and he had kept his silence—and his distance—for years. Yet as she watched her daughter Iris marry and have her own family, Anna saw the slow corrosion of a lifetime of secrets seep into a new generation. Iris’s “ideal” marriage was built on silence and lies . . . their rebellious son found his calling in anti–Vietnam War violence, fueled by rage. Anna’s was the only voice that spoke to them all as she struggled to undo the damage of the past. Then powerful banker Paul Werner returned, opening old wounds, driven to help Anna and the family he barely knew.
 
From New York’s luxurious suburbs to war-torn Israel, from Italian palazzi to California communes, Belva Plain’s sweeping epic begun in Evergreen reaches its triumphant conclusion. Don’t miss Belva Plain’s other magnificent novels that feature the indomitable Werner family: Evergreen, The Golden Cup, and Tapestry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780440208914
Publisher:	Random House Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/12/1991
Series:	Werner Family Saga
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 4.22(h) x 1.15(d)

About the Author

Belva Plain captured readers' hearts with her first novel, Evergreen, which Delacorte published more than 30 years ago. It topped the New York Times best-seller list for 41 weeks and aired as an NBC-TV miniseries. In total, more than 20 of her books have been New York Times best sellers.

Before becoming a novelist,  Belva Plain wrote short stories for many major magazines, but taking care of a husband and three children did not give her the time to concentrate on the novel she had always wanted to write. When she looked back and said she didn't have the time, she felt as though she had been making excuses. In retrospect, she said, "I didn't make the time." But, she reminded us, during the era that she was raising her family, women were supposed to concentrate only on their children. Today 30 million copies of her books are in print.

A Barnard College graduate who majored in history,  Belva Plain enjoyed a wonderful marriage of more than 40 years to Irving Plain, an ophthalmologist. Widowed for more than 25 years, Ms. Plain continued to reside in New Jersey, where she and her husband had raised their family and which was still home to her nearby children and grandchildren until her death in October 2010.

Date of Birth:

October 9, 1915

Date of Death:

October 12, 2010

Place of Birth:

New York, New York

Place of Death:

Short Hills, New Jersey

Education:

B.A., Barnard College

Read an Excerpt

Carrying the proceeds of the morning’s errands, soap from the drugstore, rolls from the bakery, socks and shirts from the boys’ store, she was waiting to cross Main Street when she saw his car. There were not that many pearl-gray Cadillac convertibles in town, and it caught her attention seconds before she recognized her husband or saw that a woman was in the front seat beside him. And she stood there, watching, as slowly, through noontime traffic, the car moved past. Sunlight struck the proud MD license plate, and the chrome on the car’s fins gleamed discreetly.
(Continues…)

---

Excerpted from "Harvest"
by .
Copyright © 1991 Belva Plain.
Excerpted by permission of Random House Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Editorial Reviews

"With the rich threads of Evergreen, The Golden Cup, andTapestry, skillful storyteller Plain continues to weave her eventful saga of the Werners." — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

With the rich threads of Evergreen , The Golden Cup and Tapestry , skillful storyteller Plain continues to weave her eventful saga of the Werners and their extended clan as they reaffirm their Jewish heritage during the stormy 1960s. Dark, sensitive Iris, daughter of the glowing, russet-haired Anna (by urbane banker Paul Werner--unbeknownst to Iris) is married to wealthy, improvident Dr. Theo Stern, whose European glamour excites other women. Iris's jealousy goads her to play at her own romance with a sinister partner. Her four children are growing up, but rebel Steve balks at his bar mitzvah, already anticipating the anarchist/bomb expert he will be at college, radicalized by cynical professor Tim Powers, whom he doesn't know is his distant cousin. When Paul's wife dies and his mistress leaves to fulfill her mission as a doctor in Israel, Paul hovers protectively over Iris's troubled family. A violent quarrel between Iris and Theo erupts into near tragedy, and Paul takes action. Plain's prose is never better than workmanlike, but the narrative moves quickly as her doughty characters surmount their alloted share of adversity. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selections; Reader's Digest Condensed Book. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly