I'm still thinking about Stones from the River

I finished reading Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi more than 48 hours ago and I'm still struggling with what to say in a review of the book - and how to say it.

As a teenager, I used to love reading sagas. Think A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford or The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel. Stories that spanned over long periods of time and that involved many different characters. Not that Stones from the River was anything like that - except for scope.

Stones from the River starts during World War I Germany. It extends through post-World War II Germany. We learn all about many of the residents of Burgdorf, Germany, the two where the main character, Trudi Montag, was born in 1915.

What is the book about? It's about being different. Trudi was born a dwarf. In German, she's a zwerg. The word is mostly used in a mean-spirited way so has a stronger connotation than the word dwarf does in English. We get to see how she thinks people view her versus how people really view her. What else is the book about? It's about story telling. Trudy has a gift, to see the hidden stories about others in her town. She can then weave what she learns through this gift into stories that either further her own interests or hurt those who have hurt her. The book is also about community. We get to see how Burgdorf comes together, draws apart, comes together... and so on, over the course of the two World Wars. And of course we learn about small time life during the rise of the Nazi party.

Trudy's differences allow her to develop relationships with many members of the community on more equal footing than had she not been visibly different. It allows her freedoms to move between groups in the community without people seeing the real Trudi, the deep Trudi, the compassionate Trudi. Her physical differences, in many instances, make her invisible.

By now I'm sure you're wondering what I thought about the book. I enjoyed reading it. I looked forward to the times where I could immerse myself in Burgdorf and Trudi's stories. Often, though, while reading, I wondered if there were too many stories going on at the same time. Since the plot spanned such a long period of time, there were many characters (all with German names that made it slightly more confusing than it might have been had the names been English) with so many of their own stories. Some parts of the other characters' stories didn't seem to be important enough or perhaps those very same stories needed to be developed more fully. I can't decide if Hegi rushed through parts of the story or if some of the subplots more dragged out more than they should be.

Reading about how Trudi dealt with dwarfism (which I've read is very realistic) was fascinating. And as much as I thought I knew about Germany between the two wars, I learned a little bit more by reading Stones from the River. It wasn't the same old same old Holocaust story, although there were some elements that were very familiar.

Stones from the River is going to be a book that I'll be thinking about for quite awhile. I also think I'd like to come back and post about this book again after my community book club discusses this in another two weeks. Look for that post.

Ironically, the book I picked up to read after finishing Stones from the River is a book called When We Meet Again by Kristin Harmel. It deals with Germany and World War II from a totally different angle. Look forward to that review being posted in the coming days.