3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.*

I honestly cannot say what drew me to select this book as an ARC. I think I thought it was a thriller. I was entirely wrong and entirely, delightfully surprised by this little gem.

The Lehman Trilogy is a weird book. It is one part poetry, one part historical fiction, but it is woven together with a storytelling that almost feels like a fairy tale.

It is the story of Jewish immigrants to the US, who go on to become Lehman Brothers. Somehow, this three-generational tale is told in metaphorical, magical poetry. Even translated from Italian, this book is just unique.

I throughly enjoyed it. Both the history of the family and the glimpse into the characters that defined it.

*with thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Received as gift copy from publisher for American release, read alongside National Theater stream of play

I have missed Broadway so intensely over the past near-year of COVID precautions, and was looking forward to seeing THE LEHMAN TRILOGY when it opened. This did not disappoint, and has carried me through a bit until we are all able to gather in a theatre again.

A history of the Lehman family that has been turned into a play Unique style of telling their history.I really enjoyed this creative book.#netgalley#harper ollins

Having seen the brilliant stage production in London, I was looking forward to a more in depth look at this family in the book. I was at first taken aback by it being in verse, but that very quickly faded in to ease within the first few pages. The author readily manages to create very visual stories of the family as well as dig into the inner feelings. I am glad there is a family tree as it helps in keeping people's relationships straight over the 700 pages. The most fascinating thing about this book, which captures any family in real life, is the author's ability to grasp all of the good and the bad in this family. No one is an absolute bad guy, as no one is an absolute hero. He has captured their good and bad sides. I am not a Wall Street watching person so I knew nothing of the family other than their name, but one does not have to be financially minded to completely understand the business goings on. Simple at first in retail, to lending and banking and then ramping up over the years into a major financial house. In many ways it is a history of the United States. It is a major undertaking, but well worth it.

I was challenged by this book, but persevered to the end and was quite glad I did. There's a lot more to the Lehman Brothers than I knew. They have their fingers in a lot of pies. Its hard to keep track of all the characters so I was glad for the family tree. The translation was well done.

A history of the Lehman Brothers business, beginning from the emigration of Henry Lehman from Bavaria to the US in 1844 and spanning the proceeding 150 years. The writing style was really unique--kind of a like a novel in verse or song lyrics with occasional tangenets into comic strips and game show scripts. Entertaining and educational!

The story of the Lehman Brothers is a fascinating one.  When I first heard of the play, I thought that it was about the collapse of the firm during the financial crisis.  I learned though that this is the story of the family as they left Bavaria, came to the U.S. and achieved much success, at least for a time.


Interestingly, at a time when most immigrants came to New York, the first of the brothers went South.  He was involved in textiles and living through the Civil War.  The story follows him, his brothers and their families. 


This novel uses a free verse style.  Some may not like this although I did.  It made me go slowly and savor the text.


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.


By the way, the play was excellent if you ever have the opportunity to see it.  It was VERY long but the time flew by.

This book is interesting, with the line breaks and the narrative. I know this is also a play and wonder if maybe it's more successful on stage. I'm not a typical reader, as I'm reading for a contest. I'm normally game for playing with form, but also wondered how the form served the larger narrative. It's my sense that this story is more compelling if told straight out.