Boy meets boy in 1920s New York City. But can they survive the challenges of an intolerant era?
The forbidden love between Caleb and Tristan throws them in a tornado of heartbreak and loss — nevertheless they find each other repeatedly as the disasters of the century unfold.
In the Roaring Twenties young farmer’s son Caleb Milton flees his hometown and comes to New York City where he meets the flamboyant salesman Tristan Somersmoore. They begin a passionate affair, but as time goes by, their long term off-and-on relationship is under constant threat. The judgment of society, their own sexual insecurities and the crushing waves of history make it nearly impossible to find happiness. As they experience the Great Depression, the trauma of the Second World War, and the Cold War era, can Caleb and Tristan finally find a place for their love?
"A Century Divided" tells a not-so average family and love story in the likes of Hanya Yanagihara, Andrรฉ Aciman and David Leavitt.
When Caleb Milton leaves his hometown for New York City he meets Tristan Somersmoore, their lives are changed forever. As they continue to meet throughout their lives, they see the good and the bad. Will they ever find happiness together?
A Century Divided by Silvia Hildebrandt is another new author and that can be scary for some but as I've said before I find it exhilarating. I find myself being able to enjoy the story without the expectation the author has to "live upto" because of previous works I've read. Silvia Hildebrandt is no different and she's definitely made my author-to-watch list.
I loved being able to experience history through the eyes of Caleb and Tristan as they do. There are times when I expected to look out my front window and find myself staring at a time gone by instead of the same view I've had everyday for over 20 years. When an author can get you so lost in setting and still make the characters come alive while they worm their way into your heart, you know you have a winner in your hands. A Century Divided may not make my annual re-read list but I know I'll be revisiting Caleb and Tristan again.
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Silvia Hildebrandt was born in Romania, in the Puszta, to a German father and a Hungarian mother. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, she fled to Germany in 1990, when she was five years old. She studied German literature and history at the elite university of Tรผbingen and published a short academical text in an anthology about duchess Barbara Gonzaga of Wรผrttemberg. Her thesis examined the effeminate King Richard II. of England and Gender as a legitimization of kingship. After giving birth to her two daughters, she started writing her first novel “A Century Divided.” Currently, she is writing her second novel.