Monday, April 30, 2012

2012 book 125

Joshua Henkin's World Without You
A year after their journalist son/brother/husband was killed in Iraq, a family reunites for his memorial and for the unveiling of his headstone. I love stories about mildly dysfunctional families reuniting for some reason or another, and this one didn't disappoint--there are all sorts of conflicts and secrets and disappointments to hash out. I had mildly mixed feelings about the portrayal of daughter Noelle, who randomly moved to Israel and fell into Orthodox Judaism (the family in theory is Jewish, but are exceptionally clueless even for Reform Jews--and I'm one, so I know) but her feelings of being adrift and apart from her sisters are pretty well drawn. There isn't a satisfying conclusion, but that's realistic too. B/B+.

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An e-galley was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in June.

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