Away, by Amy Bloom

Our February 23^rd Timely and Timeless Book Club meeting was another fun discussion.  We welcome to two new members, Marci and Leslie who will (have) enrich(ed) our discussions. 

 

Our book for February was Away by Amy Bloom.  Ms. Bloom is a Creative Writing professor at Yale University.  She has written three novels and several short stories.  She has also worked as a Psychotherapist.  Her background plays into the themes in this book.  The central character is Lillian Leyb, a recent Jewish immigrant to the US from Russia.  The novel is initially set in the mid 1920’s, in the lower east side of New York where Lillian lands a job in a Yiddish theater as a seamstress. 

 

A pivotal plot line revolves around the murder of her family during the persecution of Jews in Russia and the ensuing consequences for Lillian.  She loses her husband, and in-laws and most importantly, she believes that her 2 year old daughter, Sophie, has died as well.  She decides to escape to America.  When word comes via a recently arrived cousin that Sophie was saved and taken in by a neighbor family, Lillian embarks on a mission to travel back to Russia to find her.

 

The novel investigates the realities of the time for poor immigrant women.  Lillian has too much imagination to be satisfied with survival living.  The uses of sex as a barter are a central theme.  Ms. Bloom investigates various incarnations of the topic and yet allows Lillian to be a character for whom we can feel compassion.  She suffers PTSD in the form of nightmares.  Along the way the other main characters provide color and texture to the story as Lillian embarks on a solo journey to recover her daughter. 

 

While the use of sex in the story is off-putting to a good many readers, its inclusion reflects on circumstances written into the plot.   The average rating of the seven members at the meeting was 2.7/5. 

 

 

For March, we are reading Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky.  We will meet at the library at noon on March 22^nd. 

 

This book deals with a topic often discussed on the PBS series “Finding Your Roots.”  Frequently, unbeknownst to the subjects, their families are found to have mixed racial heritage.  The vehicle for these discoveries is newer DNA testing. 

 

From Barnes and Noble review of Family Tree:

         

For as long as she can remember, Dana Clarke has longed for the stability of home and family. Now she has married a man she adores, whose heritage can be traced back to the Mayflower, and she is about to give birth to their first child. But what should be the happiest day of her life becomes the day her world falls apart. Her daughter is born beautiful and healthy, and in addition, unmistakably African-American in appearance. Dana’s determination to discover the truth about her baby’s heritage becomes a shocking, poignant journey. A superbly crafted novel, Family Tree asks penetrating questions about family and the choices people make in times of crisis.