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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Apr 2023, 400 pages
Paperback:
Mar 2024, 400 pages
Book Reviewed by:
Jordan Lynch
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A heartrending story about a young mother's fight to keep her daughter, and the winds of fortune that tear them apart by the USA Today bestselling author of The Nature of Fragile Things and The Last Year of the War.
California, 1938—When she loses her parents in an accident, sixteen-year-old Rosanne is taken in by the owners of the vineyard where she has lived her whole life as the vinedresser's daughter. She moves into Celine and Truman Calvert's spacious house with a secret, however—Rosie sees colors when she hears sound. She promised her mother she'd never reveal her little-understood ability to anyone, but the weight of her isolation and grief prove too much for her. Driven by her loneliness she not only breaks the vow to her mother, but in a desperate moment lets down her guard and ends up pregnant. Banished by the Calverts, Rosanne believes she is bound for a home for unwed mothers. But she soon finds out she is not going to a home of any kind, but to a place that seeks to forcibly take her baby – and the chance for any future babies – from her.
Austria, 1947—After witnessing firsthand Adolf Hitler's brutal pursuit of hereditary purity—especially with regard to "different children"—Helen Calvert, Truman's sister, is ready to return to America for good. But when she arrives at her brother's peaceful vineyard after decades working abroad, she is shocked to learn what really happened nine years earlier to the vinedresser's daughter, a girl whom Helen had long ago befriended. In her determination to find Rosanne, Helen discovers a shocking American eugenics program—and learns that that while the war had been won in Europe, there are still terrifying battles to be fought at home.
1
Sonoma County, California
February 1939
The chardonnay vines outside my open window are silent, but I still see in my mind the bursts of teal and lavender their summer rustlings always called to my mind. That sound had been my favorite, those colors the prettiest. The leafless stocks with their arms outstretched on cordon after cordon look like lines of dancers waiting for the music to start—for spring to set their performance in motion. Looking at them, I feel a deep sadness. It might be a long time before I see again these vines that had for so long been under my father's care, or hear their leaves whisper, spilling the colors in my mind that belong to them alone.
Perhaps I will never see this vineyard again.
The Calverts won't welcome a future visit from me. Celine Calvert has already made it clear that after today she is done with me. Done.
For a moment the words if only flutter in my head, but I lean forward and pull the window shut. What is to be gained by wishing I ...
Here are some of the comments posted about Only the Beautiful.
You can see the full discussion here.
Could Johannes have done more to save his daughter? What would you have done?
Ditto. This storyline was so incredibly heart wrenching. Unimaginable, really. But we know people have endured such traumatic times and still do, given all the global "unrest." I wish those people who deny these things happened or could... - melissa c.
Did you feel closer to Rosie or Helen? What did you think about how the book was structured?
Although I did not feel closer to one character over another, I did love the structure of the novel. It was well thought out and the storyline flowed nicely. The structure fit the type story being told. Very well done! - lauriem
Do you believe literature, even fiction, can help shape the world? Did you learn anything new from Only the Beautiful?
Absolutely! I also think historical fiction is one of the best eye-openers. The author gets to immerse the reader to a time and place in such an enjoyable way. Many of us end up doing our own further research during and after this immersion.
... - lauriem
Do you see eugenic ideology as it played out in Only the Beautiful in our world today? In what ways?
Yes, these are awful times that we are living in. I fear that history can repeat itself. While it might not be legal anymore, that doesn't make it go away completely.
I just had the thought that this was mentioned during the ... - ColoradoGirl
Do you think Helen did enough during the war to protect the innocent? Do you think she could have been more helpful if she had remained in Austria or returned to America?
I agree with Lee, Jill, and others, putting her life at risk to save children should be celebrated. I think in hindsight, we often wish we had done more. But many people didn't take any chances to save others.
Perhaps had she ... - ColoradoGirl
Meissner's extensive research into this time period and movement is clear in her detailed descriptions of mental institutions and the resistance Helen meets as she advocates for the differently abled. Brutal and heartbreaking, yet ultimately joyful, Only the Beautiful not only shines a light on a dark period in American history but shows the importance of speaking out for what's right...continued
Full Review
(692 words)
(Reviewed by Jordan Lynch).
In Only the Beautiful, the historical novel by Susan Meissner, readers are introduced to Rosanne "Rosie" Maras, a teenage girl who has lost her family and is placed under the care of her parents' former employers. To most, Rosie seems like a normal girl, but she's hiding a secret: when she hears sounds, she sees colors. When her secret is revealed—amidst other shocking discoveries—Rosie is sent to a state home where doctors try to "cure" her of what they deem a disability.
Today, Rosie's ability is known as synesthesia, defined as "a neurological condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway…leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway." In other words, when...
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