Customer Reviews
Disappointing 
2008-07-04
I've read all of Bloom's books: they have all been excellent, whether novels, short stories, or nonfiction. As soon as I saw her new book in the store I snatched it right up, even in hardcover. Alas, even Mighty Casey once struck out. The narrative here wandered with no apparent sense of direction, taking time off in the middle for an irrelevant and distracting "lesbians in prison" diversion.
Here are haunting portraits of the people the heroine leaves behind in New York, and lines that are worth the trudge to find. But I'm used to Bloom having a transcendent and unconventional vision to convey, and I didn't catch one here.
Read Even a Blind Man or Come to Me, and Bloom will knock you for a loop. I'll never forget Love Is Not a Pie. She seems to be taking a detour here, maybe trying out new dance steps. I miss the Amy Bloom I met through her other books, and will hope to come across her again.
Moving, for the first 100 pages... 
2008-07-03
I really liked this book at first. The writing was ethereal and fluid, pulling me in and carrying me through Lillian's story. I liked her character, and the characters around her in the first part of the book, where she is a broken hearted immigrant in NYC. Then she finds out that her daughter, whom she thought was dead, may still be alive in Russia. She takes a trek across the United States, heading for the Bering Straight with hopes of crossing to Siberia. Other reviewers have complained that its a ridiculous premise, but I didn't think so. I felt her pain for her daughter and believed she would be determined enough to make the trip.
But after she leaves NY, the book falls apart. She meets all of these characters, and the book is filled with graphic and gratuitous sex scenes that seem unnecessary as part of that narrative that had drawn me in. And in the end, this plucky determined character that I couldn't wait to get back to read about every day ends up going in a different direction than the one I got sucked into. Perhaps Bloom is trying to tell us that it's the journey that matters, but as a reader the climax of the novel left me feeling unsatisfied.
Love, love, loved it! 
2008-06-28
Full disclosure: I'm a huge Amy Bloom fan. That said, I read reviews of this book in hardcover and didn't buy it, as I'm not typically a fan of historical fiction. I should have known better, given the author's genius with human issues and the language.
While traveling this week, I saw the paperback version of Away in an airport bookstore and bought it on a whim. I finished it 48 hours later after having my nose in it at every free moment of my business trip. The last paragraph brought me to tears.
There are those on this website who see Lillian as unbelievable and flat. I couldn't disagree more. While her adventures are wild and varied, and she shows little emotion regardless of what befalls her, I find that people who have been traumatized do exhibit a flatness and lack of emotion that I'm sure Bloom understands (comprehends, appreciates, fathoms). Sorry, couldn't resist...that is just one of the techniques in this story that I enjoyed.
As a parent, I completely understood Lillian's obsession with finding her daughter, even if her cousin's tale of Sophie's fate might have been self-serving and untrue. Lillian saw that and still clung to the hope that Sophie might be alive.
Ultimately, after all she had endured, her love for John Bishop allowed her emotions to thaw and their marriage and the consequent children she bore let her accept the loss of Sophie, whether or not Sophie was still alive somewhere. I see this as akin to a child given up for adoption and never located. People learn to adapt over time, though like all grief, they carry it with them forever, and unexpected events trip it, e.g. losing John in the crowd momentarily in San Francisco years later.
Finally, I appreciated (admired, esteemed, derived pleasure from) Bloom's historical detail, whether or not it was all completely factual.
I recommend this bookly highly and eagerly await Amy Bloom's next tale.
Love it or hate it! 
2008-06-23
I received this book as a gift and knew nothing about it. It wasn't really what I expected but I was drawn in by the story and couldn't put it down. This book isn't always easy to read and it's not a warm and fuzzy story. Definitely on the dark side. There is a lot of sex but it isn't romantic at all. Lillian strikes me as a person who has been so traumatized by the loss of her family in Russia that she is practically dead inside. She doesn't seem to have the energy to care about herself. Then she finds out that her daughter may still be alive and she finds her reason to live. The middle part of the book was my least favorite because it was somewhat over the top. I could have used a touch more realism there. I thought the ending was great. I liked that it wasn't the expected ending but it made sense to me. I lent this to the person who gave it to me as a gift and she had almost the same reaction to it that I did. Very different story that at times is unsettling but kept my interest until the very end.
Good Start, Horrible Finish 2008-06-05
I must first preface this review with an explanation to the three stars I gave it. The first one hundred pages of this novel deserves four; the rest barely two, hence the generous rating of three stars. The beginning of the novel tells the story of Jewish immigrant Lillian, who has left a horrific past in Russia to start fresh in New York City. She manages to finagle a job as a seamstress for a theater company and ends up becoming involved with both the father and son who run it. Amy Bloom crafted this section well, doing a great job describing characters and the struggles a single woman new to this country experiences.
The last 140 pages recounts Lillian's solo journey towards Siberia to find her young daughter, whom she though was dead. It is written in such a way where the author is desperately trying to make it seem realistic to the reader, who in turn should recognize the obvious attempted manipulation taking place. It's extremely unlikely that a young, single, foreign woman could survive begging for cheap train passages, a severe beating on Skid Row, a threesome gone wrong, a woman's jail, trekking miles through the Alaskan wilderness with very little clothing and a map, several encounters with country men, and journeying alone on the Yukon River . I don't have problem with unrealistic fiction, as long as it is done right. This is not.
Bloom's most overused plot device is sex. Sex can be used effectively as a way to develop characters and plot, but unfortunately it is not employed well in Away. Sex is brought into every single new encounter Lillian has during her journey through America. Instead of making Lillian seem like a desperate woman willing to do anything to survive, these exploits end painting a picture of a very promiscuous woman, which I don't think Bloom intended.
Unfortunately, I would not recommend this book to others. The initial prase in received was not warranted.
Away by Amy Bloom 2008-07-24
This was a very easy read and I did not want it to end. Very good book, would recommend to anyone who likes to read.
Good but not great 2008-07-22
First, I assume some of the other reviewers understood the ending, which I am not sure I did. I thought I did until the last 2 sentences. Anyway, I disagree that her actions make no sense, any mother should be able to understand her desire to find her daughter, no matter the obstacles. However, I agree that the book starts off great and kind of loses its appeal. I am not usually shy about giving up on a book if I don't like it but in this case I did finish because I wanted to know what happened in the end. If you get the copy with the reader's club guide, I wouldn't read it in advance as it gives away some of the ending...as do some of the reviews here.
Away 2008-07-21
A couldn't-put-it-down novel about a courageous, committed woman who travels to the ends of the earth in search of her daughter. Her character is very finely drawn and pulls you into her life. A tour de force.
Disappointing, but had potential 2008-07-21
This book began with a lot of potential, however, I only kept reading it because I wanted to find out what happened at the end, and was unable to figure that out simply by turning to the last page of the book! The storyline was flimsy, although the plot was good, but I just felt there were too many loose ends that were quickly tied together at the end of a chapter. I'm glad I got this book from the library and didn't actually buy it!
Gritty And Poignant 2008-07-08
This is a quest novel with a difference. Like Brecht, Amy Bloom has provided a constructivist montage which captures a time and an experience in memorial fashion.
Lillian Leyb has survived the worst of horrors in Europe--the loss of her entire family, murdered in a pogrom by people they formerly considered neighbors. In the space of minutes, the 22-year-old Lillian becomes an orphan, a widow and the mother of a dead child. In response to a letter from a cousin she's never met Lillian sells what little there is left of her homestead and sails for New York in 1924 "...wearing a dead woman's coat, holding a dead man's leather bag" in search of Opportunity.
She soon discovers all is not sweetness and light. Like emigrants then (and now) she soon discovers going from one place to another does not necessarily make life perfect. The tenements are crowded. There are rats and noise and dirt. There is fierce competition for jobs. There is a new language to learn. There is prejudice. There is never enough money for all that is required in the new life.
Lillian's father had told her smart is good, pretty is useful but lucky is better than both. He also told her "You make your own luck." She believes that. She also believes in Opportunity. She outsmarts another girl to win a seamstress job. She woos a handsome actor who installs her in an apartment as his mistress only to learn he is gay and it is his father whose mistress she will be. Still, life is better and she accepts the arrangement.
Then a newly arrived relative informs Lillian her daughter is not dead but was rescued and taken to Siberia by another family.
Shaken, Lillian begins another quest to retrieve her daughter, crossing the country, going up to the Yukon, buying a boat and attempting to sail across the Bering Strait. Some have found this segment unrealistic. But I don't think so. Wouldn't most mothers go to any lengths to reunite with a lost child?
In addition to Lillian, who is a memorable, admirable character in her own right, there are a host of other wonderful characters in this novel. The Bursteins, father and son; Yaakov Shimmelman, whose friendship with Lillian restores purpose to his life for a time; the prostitute, Gumdrop, and her pimp, Snooky Salt; Chinky Chang, the grifter who also believes in Opportunity, among others.
This is a gritty, funny and poignant book and well worth the read.
