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Carolyn O
, September 19, 2017
I really enjoyed this layered coming-of age story about a girl learning about her family history while also discovering truths about herself. What I loved best was the complexity of the characters. The mother/daughter relationship in particular is very strong. Livvy's mom is not perfect, but neither is she a stereotypical disaster. She is a woman struggling with private demons and Livvy's character is realistic enough to feel both frustration and empathy in response. The grandmother, whose own youth is deeply linked with the atrocities of the Holocaust, is another well done, complicated character, and the author does a wonderful job telling her story while avoiding neat answers and tidy conclusions. It's hard to write about such a dark period in world history without simplifying the issues or coming off sounding preachy. I applaud Ms. Schulman for her graceful, thought provoking handling of a difficult topic with this book. Highly recommend!
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