martydah's review
2.0
This is one of those books I really wish I liked better. Bloom is a good writer and storyteller. I just didn't care for most of the story. It had a good premise: Lillian Leyb leaves Russia for America in the 1920s, thinking that her little daughter Sophie died in the same pogrom that killed the rest of her family. Lillian, as her father used to say, is lucky - no matter what ugly or sordid situation she has to confront, she always comes through it in the end.
Lillian starts out as a seamstress, then mistress of a famous theater owner and his closeted son. A cousin from the old world appears, with news that Sophie is in fact alive and has been adopted by Lillian's childless neighbors. Lillian leaves her materially comfortable but morally questionable situation to travel across the country to Alaska, where she hopes to cross the Bering Sea into Siberia and find Sophie. Along the way she is thrown in with a myriad of characters, an African-American prostitute with a good heart, a young Chinese girl who is a master grifter, and a well-meaning policeman who has her put in a woman's prison to keep her, he thinks, from dying in the harsh Alaskan winter. The book provides an ending, not only for Lillian's and Sophie's stories, but for all of the characters that they come to know in the novel.
I liked Lillian as a character. It was just hard to buy into most of her adventures, or to really think that some of the incidents were necessary to the story. It seemed to be a little too much of a good thing. The story of traveling clear across the United States really should have been enough. Since I do like Bloom as a writer, I'm interested and reading some of her other books, to make a comparison with this one.
Lillian starts out as a seamstress, then mistress of a famous theater owner and his closeted son. A cousin from the old world appears, with news that Sophie is in fact alive and has been adopted by Lillian's childless neighbors. Lillian leaves her materially comfortable but morally questionable situation to travel across the country to Alaska, where she hopes to cross the Bering Sea into Siberia and find Sophie. Along the way she is thrown in with a myriad of characters, an African-American prostitute with a good heart, a young Chinese girl who is a master grifter, and a well-meaning policeman who has her put in a woman's prison to keep her, he thinks, from dying in the harsh Alaskan winter. The book provides an ending, not only for Lillian's and Sophie's stories, but for all of the characters that they come to know in the novel.
I liked Lillian as a character. It was just hard to buy into most of her adventures, or to really think that some of the incidents were necessary to the story. It seemed to be a little too much of a good thing. The story of traveling clear across the United States really should have been enough. Since I do like Bloom as a writer, I'm interested and reading some of her other books, to make a comparison with this one.
applej314's review
4.0
It's hard to know how to rate this. It was very interesting, very engaging, and I loved the way that Bloom followed up with each minor character and tied up the threads. I also liked the "twist" (not really a twist but still) at the end. It made the whole book feel more grounded.
At the same time, I had a very hard time getting into Lillian's head. She doesn't seem to feel very much at all--which admittedly could be explained by her history. Things just sort of happen to her, and we as the reader don't really know how she feels about them.
I also wish that Lillian's Jewish identity had factored in more clearly--obviously antisemitism was a huge force in her life, but there's almost no mention of any kind of religion, which seems a bit incongruous with my admittedly limited knowledge of the towns like the one she came from.
At the same time, I had a very hard time getting into Lillian's head. She doesn't seem to feel very much at all--which admittedly could be explained by her history. Things just sort of happen to her, and we as the reader don't really know how she feels about them.
I also wish that Lillian's Jewish identity had factored in more clearly--obviously antisemitism was a huge force in her life, but there's almost no mention of any kind of religion, which seems a bit incongruous with my admittedly limited knowledge of the towns like the one she came from.
amethyst_hearts_books's review
4.0
I listened to the audiobook version and really enjoyed it. It has a great ending.
mrs_morrison's review against another edition
4.0
A different writing style than what I'm used to, and occasionally I scanned over a paragraph, but overall, really enjoyed the story itself.
lovetoread18's review
3.0
The first half of the book was kind of slow and hard to get into. I enjoyed the last portion when she set out in the wilderness and met her eventual husband.
christiek's review
2.0
I was awfully disappointed after reading this book. It starts out fabulous. The first half is great. Our protagonist is interesting, the other characters are engaging, the relationships are compelling. Then it turns into an epic tale with no tension because I was totally unconnected emotionally. Also, I hate when the author gets more billing (font size) than the title of the book.
elleshell's review
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
carolynlynlyn's review
4.0
The was an ARC that I recieved from Librarything! (thanks!). I really enjoyed this book. The writer really got to the complexity of the characters and I grew to really know each of them. I would definately recommend this book!