Harvest: A Novel

by Belva Plain

Overview

An unforgettable novel yielding the fruit of hidden passions, corrosive secrets, and tragic rebellion that simultaneously shape and echo the fortunes of three generations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780440208914
Publisher:	Random House Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/12/1991
Series:	Werner Family Saga Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	216,140
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 4.22(h) x 1.15(d)

About the Author

Belva Plain captured readers' hearts with her first novel, Evergreen, which Delacorte published more than 30 years ago. It topped the New York Times best-seller list for 41 weeks and aired as an NBC-TV miniseries. In total, more than 20 of her books have been New York Times best sellers.

Before becoming a novelist,  Belva Plain wrote short stories for many major magazines, but taking care of a husband and three children did not give her the time to concentrate on the novel she had always wanted to write. When she looked back and said she didn't have the time, she felt as though she had been making excuses. In retrospect, she said, "I didn't make the time." But, she reminded us, during the era that she was raising her family, women were supposed to concentrate only on their children. Today 30 million copies of her books are in print.

A Barnard College graduate who majored in history,  Belva Plain enjoyed a wonderful marriage of more than 40 years to Irving Plain, an ophthalmologist. Widowed for more than 25 years, Ms. Plain continued to reside in New Jersey, where she and her husband had raised their family and which was still home to her nearby children and grandchildren until her death in October 2010.

Date of Birth:

October 9, 1915

Date of Death:

October 12, 2010

Place of Birth:

New York, New York

Place of Death:

Short Hills, New Jersey

Education:

B.A., Barnard College

Table of Contents

Editorial Reviews

"With the rich threads of Evergreen, The Golden Cup, andTapestry, skillful storyteller Plain continues to weave her eventful saga of the Werners." — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

With the rich threads of Evergreen , The Golden Cup and Tapestry , skillful storyteller Plain continues to weave her eventful saga of the Werners and their extended clan as they reaffirm their Jewish heritage during the stormy 1960s. Dark, sensitive Iris, daughter of the glowing, russet-haired Anna (by urbane banker Paul Werner--unbeknownst to Iris) is married to wealthy, improvident Dr. Theo Stern, whose European glamour excites other women. Iris's jealousy goads her to play at her own romance with a sinister partner. Her four children are growing up, but rebel Steve balks at his bar mitzvah, already anticipating the anarchist/bomb expert he will be at college, radicalized by cynical professor Tim Powers, whom he doesn't know is his distant cousin. When Paul's wife dies and his mistress leaves to fulfill her mission as a doctor in Israel, Paul hovers protectively over Iris's troubled family. A violent quarrel between Iris and Theo erupts into near tragedy, and Paul takes action. Plain's prose is never better than workmanlike, but the narrative moves quickly as her doughty characters surmount their alloted share of adversity. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selections; Reader's Digest Condensed Book. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly