Am Reading: “Lucky Us” by Amy Bloom

Sometimes, a book has a way of hijacking you from your life. I love when that happens.

Amy Bloom's "Lucky Us" first entered my orbit over the weekend via one of those infernal lists (that we're also guilty of around these parts) of new must-reads. The time period in which the novel is set—1939-1949—is one of my preoccupations, so. Note to self, I thought. Then on Tuesday, with half an hour to kill, I popped into Barnes & Noble to grab a coffee, and there on the front table was "Lucky Us," beckoning me.

Oh, I'll just read a few pages while I'm waiting for my coffee, I thought. With my Nook, I can read for free in the store, so I downloaded the book, read the first few pages, at which time my coffee was ready, and it was time to leave. So I hit "purchase" real quick before I left the store. Aaaand we're off. Or at least, I was.

The first two sentences: "My father's wife died. My mother said we should drive down to his place and see what might be in it for us."

The first person narrator here is 12-year old Eva, whose mother leaves her with the newly widowed Edgar and his 16-year old daughter Iris and takes off. Without much preamble, at least of the narrative sort, the half-sisters seem to bond, and when Iris decides to leave Ohio and head to Hollywood intent on film stardom, Eva joins her.

Did you notice how I slipped in that bit about how the girls were from Ohio? This is my clumsy approximation of how Bloom socks the reader with surprising revelations, both about her characters and what happens to them. It's a story that leaps from one point of view to the next, from one place to the next, often without prelude. In addition to Eva's first person storytelling, we have third person limited omniscient and letters among the characters. But gaps and holes serve a purpose, as do rests in a musical score or empty space on a canvas—as inextricable counterpoint to the action or subject. In this sense, these gaps mimic how we experience life in the moment, doing the best we can despite incomplete understanding.

This is partly why I don't want to tell you too much about the plot. I'm itching to, but no. This is a novel to jump into blind and trust. A few things it won't hurt to know: This isn't a war story; though it takes place in the shadow of World War II, the war is more background than foreground. It's a book about creating your self and your family and finding your way in a world that can be unforgiving but still beautiful and redemptive.