In this novel of loss, of difficult decisions and survival against the odds and rebuilding lives, readers experience Vienna's tumultuous years from Austria's brief but significant 1934 civil war, through World War II and postwar occupation, to independence.
Three lives intertwine, bringing these events to life. Emma, who has lost those most important to her, fights to come to terms with grief and her country's betrayal. Sophie, her friend's daughter, returns to Vienna seeking to reclaim her lost history. Friedrich struggles with secrets that will throw all their lives into turmoil again.
In this novel of loss, of difficult decisions and survival against the odds and rebuilding lives, readers experience Vienna's tumultuous years from Austria's brief but significant 1934 civil war, through World War II and postwar occupation, to independence.
Three lives intertwine, bringing these events to life. Emma, who has lost those most important to her, fights to come to terms with grief and her country's betrayal. Sophie, her friend's daughter, returns to Vienna seeking to reclaim her lost history. Friedrich struggles with secrets that will throw all their lives into turmoil again.
1934
CHANGE AND TURMOIL
1.
VIENNA
Unaware that trouble was only days away, Emma was happier than sheâd ever been. Once she might have described the early morning emptiness of their street as gloomy. Now she delighted in the dawn dancing silently on the cobblestones. The howling winter wind at the window would have frightened her. Now she greeted its icy arms around her and laughed. Even the scent of steaming bleach filling their small apartment every morning was comforting in its familiarity.
âSing with me, Mama. Itâll make you feel good.â
Her mother looked up from the row of laundry baskets at her feet as two pots of soapy water continued to boil on the kitchen stove.Â
âDonât be silly, Emma, and close the window. The neighbors will complain if they hear us.â
âCome on, Mama, donât worry about them.â
Her mother pulled a pillow case from one of the baskets, smoothed and folded it, and added it to a stack of already folded laundry on the dining table.
âI have more important things to think about than singing, and so should you,â she said, her voice weary.
âYou work too hard, Mama, and donât get enough sleep.â
Her mother straightened her back and put her hands on her hips.
âIf I sleep, I donât get paid,â she said, spacing her words as if she were speaking to a child. âIâm glad I still get work with so many people unemployed. We could manage when Papa was alive. I only had to do mending or alterations once in a while, but prices keep going up and without him ââ
âThatâs why you should let me help. Iâm working, itâs only right.â
âAbsolutely not,â her mother said, shaking her head. âYou and Theo need to save for when youâre married â though now people say thereâs no point with everything so unstable and inflation so high. Soon youâll have children. They cost money too, you know.â
Emmaâs heart skipped a beat. Did she know? She and Theo hadnât told anyone yet.Â
Her mother brushed a lock of damp hair out of her face and adjusted the pins that held the rest of her hair in a bun. It hurt Emma to see her motherâs hands so red and swollen from the daily washing and wringing out of other peopleâs laundry, and flung her arms around her.
âYou mustnât worry so much, Mama. Weâll be fine, and after we get married weâll help you and maybe you wonât have to work at all.âÂ
Her mother kissed her cheek but her shoulders seemed to slump as she answered.
âI think sometimes you forget that you arenât as well off as your friends. Greta and Otto may think they are Socialists but they live in a mansion. And LĂ©onieâs family has money and the shop, and her husband is a doctor. We are not in the same class.â
Emma folded the last of the pillowcases and placed them on the table.
âWeâre friends, Mama. Theo says ââ
âI know, I know. Theo thinks the working class should have the same rights as the rich. Heâs an idealist. Thatâs why I worry. People will think heâs a dreamer, or a troublemaker because heâs so political, and heâll never get a proper job.âÂ
She pursed her lips and pulled an armful of towels from the still half-full basket. Emma took them from her and started folding them.
âHeâs not a troublemaker, Mama. You know that. He just wants to make things better.â
Emma loved listening to Theo talking about his dreams for the country. His eyes would light up and heâd tell her how much better life will be for their children because of what the Socialists had already accomplished.
 âTheo will be a responsible husband. And LĂ©onieâs parents pay me well enough that I can save and help you too.â
âModeling fancy clothes is fine when youâre young and beautiful but that wonât last,â her mother went on, clearly not yet finished with her.
Emma reached out to hug her again. She knew it was out of caring and not anger that her mother said these things.
Emma would have told her that sheâd already decided to ask the GrĂŒnbaumsâ tailor to teach her how to measure and cut so that she could work even after her belly grew too big for her to model. But her mother would only worry more if she knew about the baby. Nor did Emma tell her that the Socialists were planning a general strike to force the conservatives to negotiate. Some of Theoâs friends were talking about emigrating if things did not improve. Theo said heâd never do that, but once their baby was born he might feel differently. She didnât tell her mother that either.
âDonât be so concerned, Mama. Everything will be fine. Theo is a good man. I know you like him.â
Her mother softened, as she usually did in the end.
âI do. He makes me laughâreminds me of your father when he was young.â She stroked Emmaâs cheek. âBut thatâs neither here nor there. Go on, itâs time for you to leave for work.â
âDonât forget, Greta and Sophie are coming over this evening and you promised to make them your best Palatschinkenâthe ones with farmerâs cheese and vanilla sauce.âÂ
âIâll be curious to hear if things have improved at the Bruckner mansion.â
âThey havenât. Ottoâs father married Elsa after his wife died so sheâd be a mother to Otto, but that never happened. She only focused on her own daughter. Marion is fifteen now and more spoiled than ever. Even though Elsa and Greta are very different, Greta hoped theyâd all grow closer when Sophie was born but nothing changed. Greta says itâs as if the house were divided in two, with only the servants knowing or caring whatâs happening on both sides.â
Emma put on her coat and gave her mother another hug, then ran downstairs and through the inner courtyard to the front entrance, waving to Frau Mandl, the buildingâs concierge, as she passed.Â
Theo was waiting outside, leaning against the wall, his hands in the pockets of his Loden coat, his dark curly hair disheveled by the wind. Emma reached up and kissed him.
âItâs winter, remember?â she said as she pulled his coat closed. âSorry Iâm late but just as I was leaving Mama said to tell you that not everyone thinks Socialism is the answer, and Father Johannes said the Socialists are godless.â
Theo laughed, a deep belly laugh that echoed down the street.
âWell, I hope you told her not to listen to him. You know itâs just because he thinks the Socialists are all Jews.â
âI thought Dollfuss outlawed discrimination against Jews.â
Theo frowned. âOfficially, although our dear chancellor also disbanded parliament and outlawed all the parties except his. He wants to be dictator, Emma. The Socialists should have overthrown him when they had the chance.â
As they walked through the old streets, past St. Stephenâs, through the Graben to LĂ©onieâs parentsâ store on the Kohlmarkt they passed a line of security forces.
âDonât drop the bomb!â Theo whispered mischievously, his brown eyes twinkling.
Emma poked him in the ribs with her elbow but couldnât help but giggle.
âStop making jokes, Theo, theyâll arrest us.â
âNot me,â he said. âI refuse to be arrested. Besides, theyâre too busy admiring each otherâs uniforms. The whole city center is full of them: police, army, and paramilitariesâboth their Heimwehr, and our Schutzbund.
Emma squeezed his arm. âWill I see you tomorrow?â
âNo, itâs going to be a busy couple of days.â
âYouâll be careful, wonât you?â
She reached up to adjust the collar of his coat.
âOf course. Weâre well prepared, and when the strike is over everything will change for the better. Weâll get married and find an apartment, and have lots of Socialist babies. I promise. Meanwhile, Iâll definitely see you at LĂ©onieâs for Josefâs birthday.â
âThatâs not until next week!â
He laughed and drew her into his arms again.Â
âYouâll survive, my sweet. Itâs only a few days, and your friends will keep you busy.â
 She felt the warmth of his chest against her cheek and the beating of his heart in her ear and thought how much she loved him.
âBe careful, no bomb dropping, my big beautiful bear.â
Life was good, and soon sheâd have everything sheâd ever wanted.
She gave him a last kiss, turned and opened the tall glass doors marked GrĂŒnbaum & Co.
Books based in the WWII era are like catnip for me, because I canât believe there isnât more time separating us from the treacherous events that occurred. Complex stories of unexpected relationships and the painful decisions people were forced to make seems like they couldnât possibly have happened only 75 years ago.
They should have happened centuries ago, before our world had become civilized.
This beautifully written story of three main characters and how their lives are connected is a portrait of just how uncivilized - in a global sense - we were. But it also shines a light on stories of hope and compassion and sheer survival present during that time, too.
Beginning in the mid-1930âs in Vienna, youâre introduced to Emma, young and in love, and naive to the dangers the political and social unrest swirling around posed to her and to those she loved. Sheâs forced to grow up quickly, having suffered great loss, and then has to hide away her grief and put on a brave face for her friends and family.
Years later, Sophie, the daughter of Emmaâs childhood friend, returns to Vienna for answers to questions that haunted her entire life, the biggest one being: what happened to her father, who disappeared all those years before?
You can see the faults in a third main character, Friedrich, early on, but you wonder if his actions are malicious or simply self-preservation.
Friedrich is my favorite character, but not because heâs likeable.
I enjoyed reading about him because - as sneaky as he is - the way he takes such delight in manipulating and flustering his self-absorbed wife makes you like him and dislike him at the same time.
After years of playing his cards just so, Friedrich has reached a point that heâs no longer compelled to hold secrets that heâs been burdened with for so long.
Secrets that will connect the three lives and threaten to dismantle everything theyâd come to believe.
Wittigâs characters are believable and rich with back story, and she skillfully drops in enough information that you think you know all thatâs going on, and that itâs only the characters who donât.
But she also holds back a few tiny nuggets until near the end, which was an unexpected surprise. Not where you think, âOh, I never saw THAT coming,â but just a gentle, well-planned and well-executed tying up of loose ends.
All That Lingers is a lovely book and one Iâm happy to recommend.