Away

Happy belated Thanksgiving! I hope you had a lovely holiday with family and friends. Our celebration was rather quiet this year--Aaron's in Africa, my brother and his wife are in Montana, and most of my extended family was feasting with the "other side" (of the family, that is)--but it was nice all the same. Good food, good conversation, and a spirited fooseball tournament... Who could complain?

Anyway, as the weather cools and I spend my evenings alone (16 days with an absent husband is no fun), I find myself reading more and more. Thought I'd share a few of my most recent good reads with you. Stay tuned--I'll post one at a time. Enjoy!

Away ~ Amy Bloom


When her husband and parents are killed in a Russian pogrom, young Lillian Leyb thrusts her three-year-old daughter out a bedroom window in the hope of saving her life. Miraculously, Lillian herself is not murdered, but when she is able to leave the house in search of her daughter, little Sophie is long gone. So begins a lifelong pursuit for Lillian, for though all evidence suggests her daughter is lost forever, Lillian's love for Sophie will not die. From New York to Chicago, Seattle, and finally up through the Alaskan wilderness, Lillian searches for her daughter. "Encompassing prison, prostitution and poetry, Yiddish humor and Yukon settings, Bloom's tale offers linguistic twists, startling imagery, sharp wit and a compelling vision of the past" (PW).


Away is a slim novel and a hurried read because from page one this reader longed for Lillian to find what she was looking for. I was so consumed by her deep, undying love for her daughter that I found myself urging Lillian on in her search. Her devotion is heartbreaking and her story is filled with sorrow and brokenness--it forced me to look at my own love for my children and ask myself: "How far would I go?" To the ends of the earth and back. I don't want to give anything away, but the ending was so bittersweet and satisfying, I want to read the book all over again just so I can savor the final pages.