December 8, 2007

  • I had high hopes for this one after reading a bunch of positive reviews.  I kept it on my to read list and then had my book club pick it for our next selection.  I can't wait to hear what the other girls thought because I was severely disappointed by Away.  Away starts off in a NYC of the 1920s.  For me, that was a promising start as I love books that can give me a historical flavor of one of my favorite cities.  Lillian is a Jewish immigrant from Russia who arrives in NYC and becomes the mistress of a father and son.  Her family was killed back home but then she learns that her little daughter escaped and is still alive back home.  She travels cross country to Seattle, Alaska, and up to Siberia in order to make her way back home to find her daughter.  It was during her travels that the book really fell apart for me.  Her life in NY wasn't riveting but I wasn't quite so dispirited while reading that bit.  As she travels to Seattle and beyond, the story is over the top with her meeting up with a prostitue and pimp, getting sent to a woman's prison/rehabilitation center, etc. It was too much packed into a 200 pg book and wasn't believeable.  I couldn't wait for the book to end.  Can you guess if she finds her daughter?  Do we care? Eh.

    Two out of five