The Hare with Amber Eyes

The Hare with Amber Eyes/Edmund De Waal 354 pgs.

This is a remarkable book about a family history and art and then how everything can be lost in just a blink of the eye. Edmund De Waal ended up with the family collection of netsukes (a Japanese mini sculpture) and decided to trace their history in his family. A great uncle was a collector of art and he had acquired this collection in the late 1800's. Research that the author would take 6 weeks turned into 2 years as he found more and more about his family and took trips to the various places where the netsukes had "lived" with his family. The story follows several generations of this very successful family whose wealth is basically wiped out during World War II. The netsukes collection is the only remaining asset so they become a symbol of the family history. An engrossing book.