Author Deby Eisenberg’s book "Pictures of the Past" spans decades to tell a powerful family saga

Dec. 14, 2011 - PRLog -- Chicago, IL  - -  First-time novelist Deby Eisenberg hits the ground running with "Pictures of the Past," an epic family and historical saga, sweeping through Chicago, Paris and Berlin, reliving events from pre-World War II Europe, but beginning in contemporary times.  An Impressionist painting, hanging for decades in the Art Institute of Chicago and donated by the charismatic philanthropist Taylor Woodmere, is challenged by an elderly woman as a Nazi theft.

Mary Lignor of Book Pleasures says, “This novel is one of the most intriguing and beautiful books that I have ever read.  The ending of this book will touch your heart… The writing is first class.”

Taylor’s story takes the reader to 1937.  Sent to Paris on family business, he reluctantly leaves his girlfriend, Emily, a spoiled debutante from Newport, Rhode Island.  But once in Europe, he immediately falls in love – first with an Henri Lebasque painting, and then with the enchanting Sarah Berger of Berlin.  After Taylor returns home, the Berger family becomes trapped in the Nazi web, and any attempts for the new lovers to be reunited are thwarted.

Interwoven with this narrative is the story of Rachel Gold, a beautiful and bright Chicago girl caught up in the times of the late 1960’s.  Pregnant and abandoned by her boyfriend Court Woodmere, Taylor’s son, she moves to New York to live with her aunt, a Holocaust survivor.  Years later, as the controversy surrounding the provenance of the painting becomes public, Rachel’s grown son is disturbed by his inexplicable familiarity with the work of art.  And it is only Taylor Woodmere who can unravel the complicated puzzle of their lives.

As a Book Club leader for the past sixteen years, Eisenberg came to understand the kinds of stories that grabbed her group and she challenged herself to write a novel that her avid readers could not put down and would love to discuss.
The result was "Pictures of the Past."

"'Pictures of the Past' is a thriller spinning around World War II as a painting is accused of being stolen…Following a romance surrounding the painting, Deby Eisenberg crafts a unique and thoughtful story of the time.  "Pictures of the Past" is a fine and much recommended read for historical fiction collections,” says Midwest Book Review.

Eisenberg says, “I tried to envision a multi-generational love story that would inform as well as entertain, that would broaden the mind and open the heart.  Originally, I thought my audience would be traditional book clubbers, but both teens and seniors have embraced it because it deals with young love and the power of that love to endure forever.”

Among her inspirations, Eisenberg cites novelists Leon Uris (Exodus and Mila 18), Herman Wouk (War and Remembrance) and Jeffrey Archer (Kane and Abel).  Although the novel does not just center on that one time period, it approaches the most serious subject of the Holocaust with vibrancy and heart.  “As readers, we can better understand horrific events of global proportion through identification and empathy with individual experiences,” Eisenberg states.

Eisenberg has begun a second family saga and is finding, as with her first book that, “Once I develop my characters, they tell me what will happen next.  In "Pictures of the Past" one theme that emerged in this fashion was the empowerment of women during times of adversity.”

What other critics and readers are saying about "Pictures of the Past":
“'Pictures of the Past' is a truly remarkable creation that handles some immense topics with honesty, grace and aplomb.  Deby Eisenberg combined an extensive knowledge of a particular history with truly memorable characters and a clear talent for writing.”
Casee Clow, Caseemarie.com, Book Review Blog

“This was a great, researched historical novel.  As a reader you are drawn into the book and you truly feel like you are there.  The author also did an amazing job at bringing together a list of characters that were so memorable.  The book also was a fun, intriguing tale that kept me engaged and interested from the first to last page.”
C. Lewis, DadOfDivas.com Blog

About the Author
The leader of an established Chicago area Book Club, Deby Eisenberg has a master’s degree from the University of Chicago, and is a former English teacher and journalist.  In writing the novel, she drew on her love of literary research, art, architecture, Jewish history, and travel in the United States and Europe.  Deby and her husband, Michael, an obstetrician-gynecologist, live in Riverwoods, Illinois.  They have three grown children and two grandchildren.

Pictures of the Past
376 pages; eBook, $9.99, ISBN No. 0-615483127; $14.95, Paperback, ISBN No. 978-0615483122
Publication date: August, 2011
Published by Studio House Literary
Available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, www.debyeisenberg.com

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