ABOUT
THE BOOK

Rose Meadows unknowingly enters this world when she answers an ambiguous want ad for an “assistant” to a Herr Mitwisser, the patriarch of a large, chaotic household. Rose, orphaned at eighteen, has been living with her distant relative Bertram, who sparks her first erotic desires. But just as he begins to return her affection, his lover, a radical socialist named Ninel, turns her out.

And so Rosie takes refuge from love among refugees of world upheaval. Cast out from Berlin’s elite, the Mitwissers live at the whim of a mysterious benefactor, James A’Bair. Inspired by the real Christopher Robin, James is the Bear Boy, the son of a famous children’s author who recreated James as the fanciful subject of his books. Also a kind of refugee, James runs from his own fame, a boy adored by the world but grown into a bitter man.

Ozick lovingly evokes these perpetual outsiders thrown together by surprising chance. The hard times they inherit hold glimmers of past hopes and future dreams. Heir to the Glimmering World is a generous delight.