“Thomas Mann once said that if he were Jewish, Buddenbrooks would be read quite differently. Of course, if he’d been Jewish, well, who knows what kind of story he would have written? Maybe something more like Gabriele Tergit’s multigenerational family saga Effingers, which, with its epic sweep, psychological depth, and linguistic brilliance, recalls Mann’s novel, but which trains its sights on the heady, fraught world of the German-Jewish haute bourgeoisie. It’s a remarkable book, full of insights and characters that make a lasting impression, and, happily, Sophie Duvernoy’s sustained sensitivity as a writer matches Tergit’s.” —Paul Reitter
“Tergit’s novel, hitherto unavailable in English, is in part a roman à clef, narrated in unadorned, matter-of-fact prose. The Effinger family is a blend of urban and rural, secular and religious, socialist and capitalist . . . [each] striving to find their places in the world as the 20th century nears . . . The book, published in 1951, predated Germany’s full ‘postwar reckoning with the Holocaust.’ A masterwork of modern German literature.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“A blend of page-turner and the highest literary quality.” ―Der Tagesspiegel
“No other novel rescues the lost Berlin and the world of Jewish Berliners like this one. It is a work of disturbing truthfulness.” ―Süddeutsche Zeitung
“Anyone who reads it will accompany the characters for many decades and take some of them very much to their hearts.” ―Berliner Zeitung
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