Review of Künstlers in Paradise by Cathleen Schine

*Künstlers in Paradise* by Cathleen Schine (2025). Published by Henry Holt and Co.

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

This blog post is interesting to me because lately, I’ve been struggling to get in my reading time. I was working for the longest time as a freelancer and contractor, but recently pivoted to an 8-5 job where I’m in an office. It’s not hybrid, so I’m always at home trying to put the puzzle pieces together of how I’ll get my reading done. I also continue working on this blog when I’m not at work, so the Instagram reels I’m fed about a 5-9 feel too real right now.

Anyways, I am trying to find that time to read here and there. Somehow I’m still on track for my Goodreads goal, even though I’ve been slowly giving up on the notion of reading goals in life. I think they can be a little too much pressure and takes the fun off of reading at the end of the day, and I want to read because I want to stay in touch with literature while also pursuing my side career as a writer.

Today’s book was an audiobook I specifically listened to while I was driving to and from work. Audiobooks can be something I often turn to in these times—and yes, I do consider them to be reading. I remember most of what I listen to in an audiobook, even when I’m doing laundry or cooking, and I’m able to break down the language as needed.

This book is one I spotted inside of a Barnes and Nobles when I was scouting out the new releases, noted down by taking a picture of the cover, then found on Libby later. I’m trying to cut down on the amount of books I bring into my life, as I find I’m slowly but surely running out of precious space.

Let’s get into the review! I don’t want to ramble too much in the introduction, as I know these introductions can be quite long.

A woman recalls her past fleeing Nazi Austria/Germany and starting over in Hollywood.

This novel takes place across two different periods, and for the sake of my sanity, I’m going to focus on them in chronological order, not in the way they’re actually presented in the novel. This story begins in Vienna, before the country was annexed by Germany and became a part of the Nazi Party’s rule.

The family Künstler was a prominent Jewish family in Vienna during that time. They lived comfortable lives and were even quite upper middle to upper class for that time. Everything seemed to be going right for them, but in 1939, when Nazi Germany came knocking at their door, they were forced to start over in the United States.

They were lucky to be able to get out of Europe and into the United States, as so many, which you probably know, perished in the middle of the Holocaust. The Künstler family ended up in Los Angeles, where they found their community in other exiled Jewish creatives and exiles who left Europe behind for better lives.

There, a new legacy began to unfold in the family. They became established in Hollywood and integrated with the film crowd during the height of the Golden Age, going to parties with some of the biggest stars of the period and hanging around with directors who would create some of the most magical movies in film history.

It’s in 2020, during the pandemic, Mamie Künstler, then over ninety years old, recalls these memories to her grandson Julian. This is the vehicle for the plot of the novel, as her housekeeper and dog provide some side commentary to everything that happened during her lifetime.

Her grandson also left behind New York City in order to pursue his own dream of working in Los Angeles. It’s the pandemic that causes a huge rift in his life, from wondering to what his ex is doing in her New York City apartment, to recalling the stories his grandmother tells him about her childhood and coming-of-age that also started in a world that was seemingly falling apart.

Overall Thoughts

I spend a lot of time reading books about survivors of the Holocaust, or people who just managed to flee before it started, so when I originally saw this combined that kind of literature and film history, I thought this was a kind of book that was right up my alley. That’s why I originally checked it out on Libby.

I found the split narrative between the timelines didn’t work for me personally in terms of this story. I think if we had just stuck to the past and treated this like a historical fiction novel then it would have captured my interest more, but the way it was presented was just too slow in terms of pacing and lost my interest.

Mamie as a character was really interesting, and I do understand the juxtaposition between the past and the present. I see why the author made this decision, but it simply didn’t work for me personally. However, I thought that this was a really interesting and unique premise, and the writing itself was fine. It does the job.

Pick this one up if it interests you! You might like it more than I did, as taste is so incredibly subjective.

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