HUNTING DOWN THE SECRETS OF A MIGRANT FAMILY THAT WANTED TO BELONG.

THE HARE WITH AMBER EYES: A HIDDEN INHERITANCE by Edmund de Waal (Chatto, £16.99) PART treasure hunt, part family saga, Edmund de Waal's richly original memoir spans nearly two centuries and covers half the world. His pursuit of his Russian-Jewish ancestors, the Ephrussis, begins and ends in Japan, passing in between across Europe from Odessa to Tunbridge Wells. Having made their fortune in the grain trade in the mid-19th century, the Ephrussis enjoyed spectacular wealth and prominence in Paris and Vienna until the rise of fascism scattered them. They lost almost everything, except for a collection of Japanese netsuke, exquisite miniature carvings, which de Waal later inherited. One of them gives his book its title and it is through the story of the netsuke that the rise and fall of the Ephrussis unfolds. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]