Away by Amy Bloom
Jun. 9th, 2008 01:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snugglekittyThis is a novel by the author of a collection of short stories, Come to Me, which ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bearsir gave me for my birthday a few years back. I saw it reviewed on booksense.com and decided to give it a try. It forms a good thematic arc with People of the Book on the topic of the Jewish Diaspora.
Lillian Leyb is the only survivor of a pogrom. She makes her way to the New World, feeling that her home village in Russia has nothing in it for her anymore. A few months later, when she is the mistress of not one but two wealthy men in New York City, a surviving cousin arrives with the news that Lillian's daughter is alive. Thus begins an odyssey that will take her all the way across the country, land her in prison, toughen her spirit, and teach her even more than she already knew about love and loss.
This book is beautiful. Bloom's skill in short story writing is apparent in the sections of the book. At the end of each, she describes what happens to the characters Lillian has encountered on her travels. The prose is amazing - I couldn't even choose a quote, I would have had to include the whole book. Bloom really captures the spirit of the time period, as well as making her characters almost real enough to touch. Four stars. Recommended for fans of historical fiction, compelling narratives, and great prose.
bearsir gave me for my birthday a few years back. I saw it reviewed on booksense.com and decided to give it a try. It forms a good thematic arc with People of the Book on the topic of the Jewish Diaspora.Lillian Leyb is the only survivor of a pogrom. She makes her way to the New World, feeling that her home village in Russia has nothing in it for her anymore. A few months later, when she is the mistress of not one but two wealthy men in New York City, a surviving cousin arrives with the news that Lillian's daughter is alive. Thus begins an odyssey that will take her all the way across the country, land her in prison, toughen her spirit, and teach her even more than she already knew about love and loss.
This book is beautiful. Bloom's skill in short story writing is apparent in the sections of the book. At the end of each, she describes what happens to the characters Lillian has encountered on her travels. The prose is amazing - I couldn't even choose a quote, I would have had to include the whole book. Bloom really captures the spirit of the time period, as well as making her characters almost real enough to touch. Four stars. Recommended for fans of historical fiction, compelling narratives, and great prose.