The Hare with Amber Eyes

The story of the Ephrussi, a Jewish family, originally from Odessa, where they made a fortune on grain, then settled as bankers in Vienna and Paris. The way they were hit by the Anschluß, and lost their fortune, with the exception of a collection of netsuke

Main characters:

• Charles, the original collector, one of the models of Proust's Swann
• Viktor, the failed banker of Vienna, and Emmy, his younger and fashinable wife
• Ignace (Iggy, Leo), one of their children who eventually emigrated to Japan with the netsuke collection

Part One — Paris 1871-1899

Part Two — Vienna 1899-1938

Part Three — Vienna, Kövecses, Tunbridge Wells, Vienna 1938-1947

Part Four — Tokio 1947-2001

Coda — Tokyo, Odessa, London 2001-2009