His Secret Little Wife

This book sadly seems to not have a lot of love... I'm hoping that someone will see it in my profile & check it out. I purchased this book for half price & after reading it I can thoroughly say I would have paid its whole price. The story is of 11-year-old Hannah, a Jewish girl who holds a fondness for reptiles & plastic pearl jewelry along with a quiet pride in the pretty lower-lip that decorates her face. & yet she finds herself distant & detached, humiliated at her Catholic school for `killing Christ' & ignored by her passive parents. That is until the von Ochsenstein family moves in next door. & when the head of the family, the famous Otto von Ochsenstein, world-renowned conductor of the world-renowned Philadelphia Philharmonic, begins to notice Hannah, she finds herself swept up into ribbons of lust, awe, & seduction. The story oozes elegance as words smear across the pages like silk butter. There is virtually no dialog & run-on sentences fill the chapters just as thoughts pour out of the head, meaning this isn't something that will satisfy every reader's taste. It's disjointed & naive like a child's mind yet poetic & graceful like an adult's. Hannah is not in love with Otto von Ochsenstein, but in awe. That a man whose attention is so highly craved & whose soul is so ingenious & beautiful would have an interest in her. & Hannah's silent low self-esteem & desire for attention draw her towards him in return. The story never paints over the harsh reality of this situation though, & His Secret Little Wife never feels like a simple adolescent fantasy. Nor is Otto portrayed as an evil monster who is out to ruin this young girl's life. It's all in fact rather believable. I haven't read `Lolita' yet--I plan to this summer once I no longer have my studies in the way-- & I'm not going to make some precocious comparison of His Secret Little Wife to this timeless masterpiece. Nonetheless this is a wonderful read. If you are mature enough to handle its subject matter & are not burdened by run-on sentences, I highly recommend this book.

I can honestly say that I have never read a book like this. This novel is written in almost a stream of consciousness style that forces the reader to pay close attention to every word: the copious amounts of ellipses gives one the feeling of being trapped inside the speaker's mind. The story follows a Hannah Gold, a child 11-13 years old, who becomes enraptured with the elderly, pedophiliac composer/conductor who lives next door. She becomes close to his daughter, partially as a means to get closer to the renowned conductor. When he begins to watch her in her bedroom through binoculars, she's thrilled, and therefore begins to behave coquettishly. Soon the two are engaged in a sexual affair that Hannah subconsciously hopes will fill the void where her parents' love should be. This story is one of debauchery and loneliness, and leaves the reader with a delightfully stale taste in their mouth. The ending seemed inconclusive to me, however. A few more sentences would have helped me to see where the characters are left. As it is, the ending feels a bit to open to possibilities. Despite this, however, this novel is one of a kind, and definitely deserves some shelf space.