Kate's review
Away by Amy Bloom
I read this novel quickly in just three days. The narrative style was challenging, but the story was captivating. Set in the 1920s and following the story of Lillian Leyb, the novel takes us from the scene of the murder of her family in a Russian pogrom to her immigration to New York, then across America and into Alaska.
Lillian does what she needs to, not just to survive, but to gain control over a seemingly chaotic and luckless existence. Lillian, and the narrator, take no moral stance on her experiences - however, debaucherous and questionable they might be - and in the end the reader is left feeling that because of this Lillian is empowered by experiences that would have left others feeling victimized.
A very intense and interesting novel.
Lillian does what she needs to, not just to survive, but to gain control over a seemingly chaotic and luckless existence. Lillian, and the narrator, take no moral stance on her experiences - however, debaucherous and questionable they might be - and in the end the reader is left feeling that because of this Lillian is empowered by experiences that would have left others feeling victimized.
A very intense and interesting novel.
