Books: A comic paradise, a Jewish-Black whodunnit and an unnameable event

Künstlers in Paradise - Cathleen Schine (Henry Holt & Co)

Described as a comic novel about exile, Künstlers in Paradise tells the story of Viennese-born Mamie Kunstler who, in 1939 at the age of 11, escapes with her Jewish family to the sanctuary of Hollywood. Mamie’s father is a composer and her mother a writer, and they have been sponsored (saved) to come and work in the movies.

Mamie’s “new world” is one of emigres from Germany and Eastern Europe, and she rubs shoulders with many of the famous names of the time: she learns tennis with Arnold Schoenberg, goes to Thomas Mann’s parties, is befriended by Greta Garbo, and the family buys Christopher Isherwood’s old car. 

Fast forward to 2020, and Mamie is now a feisty 93, living in Los Angeles with her housemaid Agatha, and her dog, Prince Jan. She’s recuperating from a fractured wrist, when her grandson, Julian, a bright but aimless 24 year-old, is sent to help out.

He has just faced the triple whammy of finding himself homeless, jobless and dumped by his girlfriend. This visit could be good for both of them. But Covid hits after Julian arrives and he’s forced to stay on with the two old women. 

Author Cathleen Schine has been called “the modern day Jewish Jane Austen”. It’s an apt title. 

Over their nightly routine of martinis, the dour Agatha of indeterminate age and background, is a foil to the witty and acerbic Mamie, who makes such insightful comments as “one’s trauma becomes banal when it’s trotted out too many times”. This is a delightful book with a big heart.