The Bridal Chair

By: Gloria Goldreich

Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat

Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

As a child growing up in 1920s Paris, Ida Chagall copes with her father Marc Chagall's brilliant artistic mind and overbearing ego and the tight leash he keeps on her. But as Ida blossoms into a young woman, she begins to glimpse freedom and opportunities for herself.

When she falls in love for the first time, her father paints "The Bridal Chair" as her wedding present, a symbol of his anger that pierces Ida to the heart. Against a backdrop of the Nazi invasion of France, Ida fights for her own survival as an independent young woman while nurturing the dark, creative genius of her parents.

©2015 Gloria Goldreich (P)2015 Recorded Books

You will not want to stop listening!

This is a book that will keep your attention from the very first page to the last word. It combines factual information and the historical periods of the great artist Marc Chagall with the authors imagination. It is very well written and very well narrated by Barbara Rosenblat.
I would recommend to those who like historical fiction, reading about artists, and the Jewish experience in Russia in the early 20th Century, later in Eastern & Western Europe and what they did to survive. As the coordinator of a Book Club I definitely recommend this to Book Clubs.
I gave this book 5 star ratings in all categories because I really feel it is that good. It is the first book in a while that I have taken the time to write a review.

the narrator was extremely distracting

The story is wonderful. However, I had to stop listening and get the printed version. The narrator sounds like she is dehydrated and the constant dry mouth sounds are very distracting. If this type of thing does not bother you, by all means get the book from audible. If, like me, you are disturbed by this then get the printed version. It is a fantastic story.

Beautiful!

What a Beautifully written and wonderfully narrated book. My life stopped for several days as I listened to this captivating tale. The story was told by a woman whose voice was perfectly matched to the vivid descriptions of Gloria Goldreich’s historical novel. I look forward to reading her other books, and others narrated By Barbara Rosenblat.

A wonderful read

I loved this story and all the history that it entailed. I did wish the end would have gone on to tell more about what she did afterwards in her life as well as what happened to Chagall & Va Va.

I enjoyed the narrator as well.

Chagall Uncovered

Any additional comments?

A fascinating "true" story of Ida Chagall, whose first 40 years are spent in "service" to her demanding,yet brilliant father Mark. As an added benefit, Chagall's life experiences give the reader an understanding of many of his paintings.

Good story but distracting narration

The story was solid and enjoyable but the narrator could be heard turning pages, there were repeated lines several places and you could hear mouth sounds, like a dry mouth while speaking. It could have been edited and sound produced better to eliminate these distractions. The narrator read well, intoned with variation for various characters but at times it interfered.

An important story but distracting reader

The reader made annoying swallowing sucking chewing slurping noises as she read it was very distracting

Contrived detracting from an in-depth biography

I'm grateful to the author for the rich biographical detail about Marc Chagall. However the writing was too contrived. This book was in dire need of a better editor to cut away the unnecessary adjectives. How many times do we need reminding that Ida was full-figured? This detracted from the story enough to make me doubt the validity of its content.

There were production glitches in the Audible performance - you can hear the performer licking her lips and shuffling the pages throughout. Not sure why these weren't edited out.

Another World

loved it.Was too long. Got little boring at end. very interesting learning about Chagall's personality and WW II Holocaust experiences. and events.

A meaningful dip into the life of Ida Chagall

This book is a wonderful blend of fiction and biography. The reader gets an insightful, nuanced look at the inner world of the Chagall family, the Art world and the plight of the Jews in the 20th century.