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2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
World War I History May 17, 2009
By Monica Belard
THE SILK SCARF by Sandy Schauer
This is the tale of the Hoffmans, a German-American family in Bayonne, New Jersey.
A family memoir with the historical background of World War I, changes in industry, strikes for better wages, women's suffrage, frilly underwear. Cultural differences among Irish Catholics and German Lutherans seem important. However, then the influenza epidemic strikes and people put their cultural differences aside and take care of each other. We watch the pain and suffering of children and adults.
We read about anti-German sentiments and the mandate to register all Germanborn men. German language is forbidden in business and public places, like schools and churches.
The story follows the Hoffman family, and especially daughter Wilhelmina, from high school student to married woman with three children. As she grows and matures she treasures a silk scarf made in the factory where her father and brother worked.
Sandy Schauer is a skilled storyteller who moves the story along showing us the characters' struggles as they adjust to the changing world around them.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
The Silk Scarf Feb 24, 2008
By Karen E. Glinski
The Silk Scarf covers a tumultuous time in our nation's history: entering World War I, the prejudicial treatment of Americans of German ancestry, factory strikes and Women's suffrage. This is the backdrop for a moving story of two generations of the Hoffman family that spans twelve years. The differences between cultures, social mores and expectations of men and women in Bayonne, New Jersey provide tension and growth as the elder Hoffmans survive strikes at the silk mill while the younger Hoffmans establish their own families and place in post World War I America.
I strongly recommend The Silk Scarf to readers with interests in American history, the Americanization of German immigrants, and the effect of social and political influences from this time period on family life. Sandy Schauer writes convincingly and knowlegibly about this historical period and her characters are portrayed with warmth and introspection.
I'm glad I've made The Silk Scarf part of my home library.
Karen E. Glinski
Historical gem Dec 02, 2007
By Redi-Go
Kind of like an old James Stewart movie, this book is written with style and good manners. The story-line follows a family of German immigrants who are employed in a silk mill in the postcard lovely town of Bayonne, New Jersey. With each page you feel like you've entered their lives and are working alongside them, drinking coffee in their small kitchens and worrying with them about all the events that headlined the households (and newspapers) of most Americans during that era. It is a gem and highly recommended. More good historical fiction: The Steinbeck Centennial Collection: The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, East of Eden, The Pearl, Cannery Row, Travels With Charley, In Search of America (Boxed Set)
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