The Golden Peacock by Lauren B. Grossman
The Golden Peacock was written by award – winning author Lauren B. Grossman and published in 2014. Before the publication of The Golden Peacock, Grossman found global success with her first novel, Once in Every Generation, which reached number one on Amazon for over a year. She earned a degree in theater, and co-founded a performing arts newspaper. Grossman has had many successes in her career in the arts. She is currently working on her third novel.
The Golden Peacock centers around an author named Rainee Allen searching for her next story when she finds the identification card of a Holocaust survivor, Jana Lutken. The two share a birthday, 30 years apart, so Allen decides to track the survivor down. She finds her living in a nursing facility, which leads Allen on a private investigation regarding the circumstances surrounding the survivor.
After reading this book, I was left wondering why it wasn’t on the New York Times Bestseller List. I was blown away by the amount of research and passion that went into this book. In addition, the writing is beautifully done. In my opinion, Grossman’s novel is criminally underrated. This is the kind of book I would like to see adapted to the big screen someday.
One of the most powerful scenes in this book is when Max leaves Jana’s side by order of the Nazis. He says, “Do not be stubborn, my proud golden peacock.” I love authors like Grossman for scenes like this. Another favorite line in this book is, “Images of my past life have started to blur into a mixture of muted colors.” In my opinion, these are marks of powerful literature.
Overall, I really enjoyed Grossman’s novel. I don’t have any constructive criticism to provide. I thought the novel was well-written and researched thoroughly. A lot of hard work, thought, and passion went into this. I applaud Grossman. She most certainly deserves any recognition she receives.
Lauren B. Grossman's Website: https://www.laurenbgrossman.com/
Twitter: @peacock10
