Title: Over the Rhine: An American Story
Author: Jean Romano
Publisher: URLink Print & Media, LLC
ISBN: 1647533961
Pages: 332
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewed by: Dan MacIntosh
Hollywood Book Reviews
Author Jean Romano’s book, Over the Rhine: An American Story, is truly a story about what it means to become an American. Set during the 19th Century, it tells the tale of one family begun by German immigrants. For this family, Americanization is complicated. Yes, they wanted to fit in in this new country. However, they also didn’t want to lose their original German identity. Indeed, this is a difficult balancing act. How do you know if you’ve gone too far one way or the other? Can you even know when and if you’ve crossed this line? These are questions asked by this cast of characters, while never really spoken out loud.
The author Romano’s father’s family was from Germany, so she has a personal stake in this scenario. How much of Romano’s personal history is woven into this story? Well, we may never know. Needless to say, though, this history-major-author knows well and has learned much about the story she tells.
A goodly portion of this novel is told by one mother and one daughter. The mother’s name is Emilia, and she’s the one who initially came from the ‘old country.’ Emilia’s one daughter is Elise, Emilia raises this daughter to fit into high society in the Over the Rhine section of Cincinnati, Ohio, which is the German region of that state. In fact, one gets the sense Emilia tries a little too hard to mold her daughter into the perfect new American. Such tactics may have worked better in Germany, with its stronger socializing traditions, than in America, where individualism is, and always has been, much more valued. Every parent realizes, eventually, that molding offspring only goes so far. Children sometimes have freer will than we ever give them credit for. Nevertheless, Emilia never comes across as overly overbearing or cruel, though. Rather, it seems, she always has her daughter’s best interests at heart.
Elise’s two brothers also play a large role in this historical work, and both experience tragedy. Willie gets into an accident causing permanent physical damage, while his brother Herman’s love of flying as an adult, results in his being drafted into the German army and fighting against the Americans. While all these characters have mixed national loyalties, none are more complicated than Herman’s. Romano does a good job in exploring these complex circumstances. In the simplest terms, Herman explored his love of airplanes in Germany at a most inopportune time. He was, in the truest sense, in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Romano also takes an issue which is too often described with black and white terms, and gives it plenty of nuance. Immigration is a ‘hot button’ issue and will remain such for a long time to come. Yes, it’s easy to make hard and fast rules when it comes to immigration law. However, Romano’s book forces us to ask questions about how such hard and fast rules work when they come between families. Certainly, keeping families together is more essential than following the letter of immigration law, right? Most would agree with that, although many do not take family situations into account when forming their political opinions. It takes a story – one most certainly based on true stories – to force our hand and make us think differently. Any work of fiction that can help readers see the world and some of its most pressing issues from different angles is definitely worth our attention.
With Over the Rhine: An American Story, Jean Romano makes us both think and feel. We feel for these fictitious characters because real people faced the daunting task of making a new life in America, and many more will immigrate to the U.S. the future. This book about the past will help us think more considerately about the future, as the American story continues to evolve.