Irretrievably Broken - Irma Fritz, Author
3:05 PM Posted by MAC
Key Lime Pie
2 whole eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened, condensed milk
1/2 cup key lime juice or 1/2 cup fresh squeezed key lime juice
2 Tbl. water
1 graham cracker crust
Whisk eggs and yolk until blended. Add milk and beat until combined. Add lime juice and water, blend well. Pour into crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until almost set in the center. Cool and refrigerate 4 hours before serving.
Irretrievably Broken - Review by Martha A. Cheves
Of all the books I’ve read over the years, Irretrievably Broken is one of the few that has made me really stop and think about my life, both past and present.
The story starts out with a mother (Ruth), her daughter (Nora) and her granddaughter (Bettina) taking a cross-country trip from Seattle to DC. They stop along the way to pick up an old friend (Mary).
Ruth is of German descent and lived through the Holocaust. During her childhood she befriended a girl (Frieda) who was Jewish and helped her escape sure death at the hands of the Nazis.
Nora grew up during the Viet Nam War with its protests of which she became a participant in. After college she took a summer off to travel around Canada, living off the land.
Bettina is the daughter of Ruth’s son who fell in love with and married an African American woman. They moved to Germany and when Bettina’s mother died she came to America to live with her Aunt Nora.
Mary is an old friend of Bettina’s mother and father as well as Nora.
These are the characters. All have deep secrets that have been kept for years. These secrets are revealed throughout the trip. The stories about Ruth living in Germany during WWII are heart wrenching. She talks about how she rescued Frieda and at what expense it was to her as well as her brother who was in love with and planned to someday marry Frieda. Nora reveals the hardships of living off the land and how she was rescued by an Indian (Max) after a bear approached her. Her stories of Max becoming her soul mate, their hardships, marriage and finally divorce are painfully beautiful. Bettina is a lost young girl looking for family and family connections. Her hopes and dreams of finding at least one relative from her mother’s side of the family will bring you to tears. And then there is Mary. She joins up with the trio with plans to continue on to Germany to meet up with Bettina’s father Adam. Mary has a secret too but doesn’t want to disclose it to anyone other than Adam.
This book has taught me that life is like a chain. Everyone we meet becomes a link in our chain. Some links may be weak, but the strong ones keep the chain from breaking. And as memories and secrets are shared with those strong links, they become even stronger.
I really enjoyed reading this wonderful book that I highly recommend it to everyone.
Review Stir, Laugh, Repeat at Amazon.com
"This book is made up of 3 individual stories. All three are short reads and other than the setting, which is Mexico, all three are completely different."
(Martha A. Cheves)
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(Martha A. Cheves)
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(Martha A. Cheves)
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(Martha A. Cheves)
"After reading Breaking My Silence I saw Jane as a strong person who was determined to do whatever was needed to get her children back into her life and to do whatever it took to make her life as complete as possible without the prostitution. This was one of the most informative books I've ever read about a subject that is normally kept behind closed doors."
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"
While reading Genesis Beach I found myself not wanting to put it down. Each page had a piece of evidence that would help me solve the mystery before Logan. I really thought I had pin-pointed the murderer. Boy was I in for a shock."
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(Martha A. Cheves)
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"This has been a really enjoyable book.
I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery. Beth, don't change your way of writing! I've really enjoyed reading Basket Case and will be reading more of Beth's books."
(Martha A. Cheves)
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(Martha A. Cheves)
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"
(Martha A. Cheves)
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I highly recommend Thicker than Water. As I said, it was a joy to read."
(Martha A. Cheves)
"As I read I kept asking myself “Who would put out a hit on David and why?” “Who are The Chosen Few and what do they have to do with David?” “Will Max get to David before it’s too late?” You will have to read The Chosen Few yourself to find the answers to these questions."
(Martha A. Cheves)
"This book has taught me that life is like a chain. Everyone we meet becomes a link in our chain. Some links may be weak, but the strong ones keep the chain from breaking. And as memories and secrets are shared with those strong links, they become even stronger."
(Martha A. Cheves)
I'm from Georgia, moved to North Carolina by way of Florida. I've been in Charlotte for 14 years and love it. The recipes in my book Stir, Laugh, Repeat are all tested by "Food Testers" of which I now have 24. They try a dish and rate it from 1-10 with only those scoring at least an 8 making the book. My website is a holding place for my 2nd book Stir, Laugh, Repeat... Again. Please visit my site to find new recipes and tips. All recipes are easy, using common ingredients and according to my testers, great!
March 24, 2009 3:17 PM
A PAGE TURNER
During one summer road trip three generations of Adler women come clean. Prodded by the granddaughter, 12-year-old Bettina, a knockout beauty recently arrived from Germany, they do tell all. The daughter Nora talks of her adventure in the Canadian wilderness where she met her former husband. As a hiker and outdoor fan, I loved the descriptions of this pristine wilderness. Grandma Ruth takes them and us back to a horrific murder scene and rescue of her best friend in Nazi Germany when she was a kid about Bettina's age. One revelation leads to another. With each telling the story changes and even the ending came as a total surprise. Irretrievably Broken is a page turner!
Daniel Hanson
March 24, 2009 3:20 PM
An Exploration of the Cement of "Family"
IRRETRIEVABLY BROKEN
Irma Fritz's "Irretrievably Broken" is an intimate portrait of complicated characters whose family ties bring them together for a cross-country trip in which interrelationships are re-examined or develop. The prologue led me to think the story was going to go in one direction--the protagonist's (Nora) romantic attachment to Max, her ex-husband. This subplot maintains a planet-to-sun orbit around the story that develops when Nora's mulatto niece, Bettina, arrives from Europe after losing one parent, and Ruth, Nora's mother, move the story into a unique cross-generational family drama that takes us across the country, into Canada and, eventually in flashback, to Europe.
Nora carries us into the story through a series of flashbacks to her life with her unfaithful husband Max, a failed actor. The author seamlessly weaves past and present, folding scenes into each other with such ease that, like the character, I felt like I was living in both present and past simultaneously--as if I was having the flashback. I really appreciate having that experience and envy the author's skill at rendering it.
Also, the writer's attention to detail creates credible scenes and puts me right in the moment. The main character Nora, a computer programmer who named her cats Dotcom and Dotorg, has an encyclopedic knowledge of botanical terms that boggles the mind.
As for characters, once you've met them and spent a little time with them, you can read the dialogue without attribution and know who is talking. This is not easy to achieve and Ms. Fritz accomplishes it skillfully.
Just when I thought this story was about Nora and her difficulties raising her European niece, Nora's authoritarian mother, Ruth, is thrown into the equation and they take a cross-country trip to visit friends and family. During the ride, Ruth takes us into an incredible and personal Holocaust story about her childhood in Germany. I don't want to give that story away, except to say it really got to me. Nazi horrors told through the eyes of a child--and these are well-executed (no pun)--make me literally shudder. The author creates tension by revealing the horror in small doses and by having Ruth's daughter and great niece (the latter imbued with the pester power of a twelve-year-old) beg for more.
On the flip side, the multiplicity of characters (some speaking German, some speaking Spanish) and the different locations and situations introduced occasionally left me rudderless. At times, there is too much chatter between the characters. However, it's all tied together, and I have to admit that I am biased. This is not a book I would normally read. It's a tribute to the author that she could pull me in and hold me.
The story takes an interesting twist that I didn't see coming and, again, hats off to author Fritz.
This ambitious, cross-generational, interracial, multicultural story is so well realized that it's hard to believe the author's statement that the characters are fictional. If they are, this is one creative mind at work.
Dennis Fleming
March 24, 2009 3:21 PM
Three Generations Find Each Other, January 31, 2009
By Jeffry S Hepple (Waco, Texas) - See all my reviews
Faced with a divorce from her unfaithful husband, Nora Adler's life was already in turmoil when her precocious and troubled, half-black niece, Bettina, arrived from Europe. As a diversion, Nora, with Bettina and her mother, Ruth, sets out on a cross-country road trip, during which, the three women discover each other, and themselves.
Ms. Fritz does a masterful job of interweaving the stories of the three main characters, and through Ruth's childhood memories, we witness a very personal and haunting view of Adolf Hitler's anti-Semitic policy in Germany.
I recommend this book.
March 24, 2009 3:22 PM
Fantastic story!, February 13, 2009
By KvB (Everett, WA) - See all my reviews
The three reviews already published tell the synopsis very well and I won't duplicate it here. However, I would like to add that this book is also an adventure or shall I say many adventures from the grand to the day to day. Irma Fritz has told this story through beautifully developed characters everyone can relate to on many different levels. Pick it up you won't regret it.
March 24, 2009 3:23 PM
I love this book!, January 14, 2009
By Mona L. Moloney (Western Washington) - See all my reviews
Irma Fritz's first novel is ambitious in scope - and she delivers. A cross-country road trip - embarked upon by the protagonist, her mother and her niece - serves as the backdrop for exploring timely and timeless issues of race, class, violence and personal tragedies. On the journey, they reconnect with characters whose unforgettable stories touch and sometimes intermingle with each other. Their secrets - haunting, sometimes shocking, and unflinchingly honest - unfold in layers. Ultimately, what is Irretrievably Broken? And when do we know?
Ms. Fritz's character development is flawless - her characters come alive and we want to know them. This is especially true of Nora and Ruth, the two main characters, but the entire cast is compelling. Since they all are exceedingly different in both background and personality, I am duly impressed by the author's skill.
I believe this is an important book with a great deal to say about loss, remembrance, forgiveness, and self-realization. I think it would be a great selection for Reading Groups. Due to its multicultural, cross-generational perspectives, there would be much to discuss.
March 27, 2009 5:38 PM
my family love key lime pie. I have to try this one.