"The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Loss" is the story of the Ephrussis, a great Jewish family that lived in Austria but was displaced with the advent of the Nazis. De Waal tells us the story of the family by recounting the history of a collection of Japanese figurines called netsuke. Made of wood and ivory, the netsuke were first purchased by Charles Ephrussi who was a connoisseur of art and had a collection that included many great European artists such as Manet and Renoir.
After owning the netsuke for a few years, Charles sent them as a wedding gift to his cousin Viktor who was the second son of the head of the Ephrussi family. However, when Viktor's older brother ran off with his father's mistress, he was disinherited, and Viktor was groomed to take the old man's place. Viktor took on the financial responsibility of the empire and married Emmy with whom he had a large family. Although Emmy had a number of lovers, she was a good mother and spent many languorous evenings reading with her children.
Unfortunately, this was when the Nazis struck and all the family valuables were destroyed except for the netsuke which were hidden by a faithful maid in the household. Emmy killed herself, and Viktor and his daughter Elizabeth managed to escape to England with very little. Two of the sons made their way over to the US, including Ignace or Iggie who became a member of the intelligence corps due to his flair for languages. Iggie eventually went to Japan where he became a financier and found a long-term partner. The netsuke were in his possession but eventually made their way over to Edmund de Waal, the grandson of Viktor's daughter, Elizabeth, and this was what prompted his writing of the family history.
This is indeed a fascinating tale in which fortunes grow and shrink. People go through good times and are then brutally attacked; everything that they own goes down the drain, and yet, they survive and move on. In a reversal of roles, the black sheep of the family, Iggie, eventually became the successful one. The Hare with Amber Eyes, (which refers to one of the figurines), is written with artistic flair and shows a connoisseur's pleasure in beautiful things. At the same time, it's nostalgic and can't help looking back at the great days of the Ephrussis with a kind of longing.
Edmund de Waal was born in Nottingham, England, the son of Esther Aline and Rev. Dr. Victor de Waal and grandson of Elizabeth and Hendrik de Waal. He became interested in ceramics at an early age, learning to make pots and deferred his college studies to become more involved in ceramics and visit Japan. He then attended Cambridge and studied English, following this with a diploma in the Japanese language from Sheffield University.
Today, de Waal is known as one of the foremost potters in England; his porcelain pots, essentially classical-looking but with minor irregularities have made him well known in the art world. He has also written two books, the first about the ceramicist Bernard Leach and the second about the Ephrussi family, The Hare with Amber Eyes. The latter has received several awards including the Ondaatje Prize and the Costa Book Award.
Download The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Loss from The Audio Bookstore and follow the fate of these Japanese figurines from the time they were first bought by the Ephrussi family to the present.
"This book was a fascinating portrait of a family that really brings the extent of the Jewish diaspora to life. Just as the author took sidetracks into the history of japonisme and the life of Proust, I was inspired to pull out my Bernard Leach catalog (the author is a potter who trained under a disciple of Leach) and research the history of Odessa. This is a rich history of people and things, as they move through a variety of places."
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Crystal (4 out of 5 stars)