The Sight of the Stars

Dressed in a new suit with 150 dollars in his pocket, Adam Arnring says goodbye to his family and boards a train for the West. The year is 1907. Adam is nineteen years old, a young man with stars in his eyes who has dreams of a bright future in the wide open spaces of America. Far from his New Jersey roots, Adam lands a job in a small department store in a booming Texas town. He is taken with the beautiful and untouchable Emma Rothirsch who inhabits a world whose doors are forever closed to him. But Adam is determined to fight for what he wants.

One is Emma, another is to build a lasting empire to pass on to his children and grandchildren. But just when Adam seems to be able to attain what he wants, fate intervenes. Tragedy strikes from show more the trenches of World War I, setting in motion a series of events which will have reprecussions throughout the years.

Adam, now the head of a growing family and a prosperous department store, succumbs to a moment of weakness culminating in an ultimate act of betrayal - one that is unforgivable. Now as a new generation of the family is born, a secret from the Arnrings' past reaches forward to shatter their lives.

Surprisingly, this is one of very few books by Ms. Plain that is completely new to me. Somehow, it never even registered on my radar that she had written a new book until this one had been out for almost a decade. I have always thought Belva Plain was a wonderful author - in my opinion, she was a natural born storyteller, able to develop the type of characters that readers could really relate to and plots that were incredibly realistic.

The Sight of the Stars by Belva Plain is just such a book - I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story, and was completely swept away by it; avidly wanting to know what would happen next. I would definitely give this book an A+! and would whole-heartedly recommend it to others who enjoy reading historical family sagas. show less

Opening Sentence: "...He would always remember the weather that day..."

Starting in 1900 this story follows the life of Adam Anring. The illegitimate, but loved, son of a Jewish immigrant shop keeper. He heads off west to find his fortune. He ends up in Chattahoochee, Texas, working for a widow, Sabine Rothirsch. He turns her dress shop around and marries her neice, Emma.

But life is not a bed of roses - circumstances have a way of balancing themselves out - and tragedy and drama dodge Adam and his family giving him many challenges to manage to keep his head above water.

I like Belva Plain's work - her books are always a quick and easy read. This one sort of missed that mark for me. Touted as having the ultimate act of betrayal - none of show more the three or four drama's would come into this catagory for me. The activities of Leo and Blanche could have been so much more developed - but just fizzled into nothing. Adam just plods along, is not even an inspiring character, there was more life in the mysterous Leo than Adam.

Look it was an OK read - not her best work - but not her worse either. show less

Story of a young, Jewish business man from yought to death, rags to riches, takes place mainly in Chatachoochee TN. Good plot but anticipated the ending.

Pleasant book. I liked the characters.

Pretty good

1907. Adam a vingt ans. Il quitte son père, immigré juif allemand, sa belle-mère, et ses deux demi-frères pour tenter l'aventure vers l'Ouest, bien décidé à profiter de la croissance de l'Amérique. Si la famille offre une apparente harmonie, Adam cache une blessure qu'il ne peut oublier... À Chattahoochee, au Nouveau-Mexique, il grimpe rapidement les marches de la réussite et rencontre Emma, riche héritière. Ils forment un foyer uni, les affaires sont florissantes, la vie leur est douce.

Cependant, Adam connaîtra bientôt la pire des trahisons...

Bien décidé à être l'acteur de son destin, Adam Harnring quitte son père et ses frères pour tenter l'aventure vers l'ouest. Il réalise le rêve américain par sa réussite professionnelle et en épousant, Emma, riche héritière d'un grand magasin.
Histoire sans grand intérêt.