"... a poetic novel based in the art world... Five Amber Beads is a
first novel by Richard Aronowitz, a restitution specialist at
Sotheby's in London (Flambard Press; www.flambardpress.co.uk; £6.99).
The novel caught my attention because restitution of art confiscated
by the Nazis during World War II has become a major area of interest
as more works are returned to heirs, many of which subsequently come
up at auction.
Mr. Aronowitz tells the story of a young art consultant's friendship
with an older man who has lost his memory. The art consultant is an
expert in determining if an artwork has been stolen by the Nazis, and
in the book, he examines a work by Amedeo Modigliani for a New York
dealer that he identifies as stolen. The character's mother was a
Jewish refugee from the Nazis who came to England, and one of her few
possessions was a necklace of five amber beads, which reflected the
history of the family. Through the art consultant's research into his
family, the importance of keeping a memory of the past comes
graphically alive. Told in almost poetic language, the novel
contributes to our understanding of the human need for restitution."

Margaret Studer

Richard Aronowitz’s Five Amber Beads is another first novel, and a good one. Charley Bernstein, the narrator, is an art detective who tracks down paintings stolen by the Nazis. His mother came to England as a Kindertransport refugee and married an Englishman. Charley has assumed his mother’s Jewish surname (”amber” in German). In New York, after an accident, he wakes up in a ward with an old man who has lost his memory. He is European, perhaps German, and was clearly involved in the second world war. But how? Charley adopts “Christopher” and procures a passport for him in the name of his Jewish grandfather. They both go hunting their lost identity.
The narrative follows three convergent tracks. One is the murky provenance of a Modigliani painting, now in Israel. The second is the gradual uncovering of Christopher’s mysterious past. The third is the diary of Charley’s great-uncle, an Auschwitz survivor. Everything finally links, as in the amber necklace that is Charley’s relic of his mother. A postscript confirms that Five Amber Beads is as much autobiography as fiction - which is how it reads. Very effectively.

John Sutherland

...the writer's distinctive poetic voice offers a welcome fresh perspective.

Rachel Hore

At a key point in Perfect Strangers, Stephen Poliakoff's TV drama, a young man scans the various oddballs congregating at the reunion of his sprawling Jewish family and notes: "If you dig hard enough there are at least three great stories in any family." With Five Amber Beads Richard Aronowitz has drawn on his own Jewish legacy and dusted off just such a treasure from the vaults of his family's past: a long forgotten tale of Holocaust survival. By turning this into fiction he has created a fine debut novel that marks him out as a writer with a singularly pictorial style.

Christian House

“Amber is freighted with the weight of time and history.” – Jewish Book Council
Richard Aronowitz, poet and Head of Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary Art at Bloomsbury Auctions, presents his compelling debut novel, Five Amber Beads.
The novel movingly tells the story of two men whose lives are woven together as they seek to discover the truth about their pasts. Like Richard Aronowitz, main character Charley Bernstein is involved in the London art world and attempting to trace a family history erased by the Holocaust.
The narrator's main character investigates the provenance of art that might have been looted during the war, explores his family’s past through the diary his uncle kept in the camps, and helps an amnesiac old man to discover who he is.
It is perhaps because of Aronowitz's wise choice to draw on his own life experiences that he is successful in executing an enthralling and moving work of fiction which feels undoubtedly rooted in reality
Novelist, biographer and critic, DJ Taylor described the novel as “An impressive debut, which deals with the themes of identity, Jewishness and the legacy of conflict with immense skill and subtlety. Richard Aronowitz has a great future ahead of him.”
The Jewish Council recognised Five Amber Beads as “An accomplished first novel about roots, identity and art (which) brilliantly succeeds in bringing together the themes of identity with fascinating parallels between a nation and an individual's past and the needs to know one's roots in order to live.”
Five Amber Beads is to be launched at the London Review Bookshop on 26 April.

...very ambitious book which brilliantly succeeds in bringing together the themes of identity with fascinating parallels between a nation and an individual's past and the needs to know one's roots in order to live. Beautifully written and movingly told, Five Amber Beads is well worth a read.

Geraldine D'Amico

An impressive debut, which deals with the themes of identity, Jewishness and the legacy of conflict with immense skill and subtlety. Richard Aronowitz has a great future ahead of him.

D.J. Taylor