"I appreciate that many of the stories are interlinked"

Excellent. Some stories are funny, but even those aretouched with poignancy. Some are heartbreaking. All are enlightening,fascinating, well worth reading. I do highly recommend this book and just wishI'd been able to do so when it was first released.

Of course it's not too late. Go get it now!

I appreciate that many of the stories are interlinked, referencing towns,events, and even characters from others. But even with those additional cluesI'm not sure I understood the author's intent in all the stories.

For example, I wonder about the Roma mother, and whether she'll actually everget around to helping her daughter to find a way to a better life. The endingseems intentionally ambiguous....

The story about brothers definitely made an impact on me. The ending, gosh. Butbefore that, I loved this bit: "I lived in his shadow for years, nevermeeting his expectations. Anton always looked down at me, I thought. Thisbothered me greatly, more now than before." What an intelligent, andvaluable, insight, that children can overlook slights & other hardships,but adults can remember them with pain. Think about that.

A character says: "Today, antisemitism is virtually absent in the country,and most Bulgarians have a very favorable opinion of Israel." I wonder ifthat's still true, as the far-right takes over many European offices, and asthe war expands past Gaza on its first anniversary.

I hope to share this marvelous book with some of the members of my bookclub.

Review posted on Goodreads