Review: Away by Amy Bloom
In January Magazine’s fiction section, contributing editor David Abrams talks about Away by Amy Bloom. Says Abrams:Tucked into the first ten pages of Away, Amy Bloom’s new novel there is a scene of such horrific intensity, reading it you feel as if your eyes have been splashed with lye. For the rest of this epic, sprawling novel, those few gore-soaked pages will dominate your consciousness.The full review is here.
And that’s just the way it should be, since that scene is the most pivotal one in young Lillian Leyb’s life. Her entire family has just been wiped out during the Russian pogrom, butchered right before her eyes as she feigned death.
Labels: David Abrams, fiction
posted by Linda L. Richards at 10:00 AM
2 Comments:
I'm in the middle of reading Away and it is indeed a powerful book. But I'm curious about one thing - in all her talk about research, Bloom doesn't mention the true story of Lillian Alling, a Russian woman who hiked from New York (in 1927) to the Bering Strait and subsequently disappeared. She did spend a winter in jail in Hazelton, etc. and much has been written about her, speculating on her motives; she has fascinated many researchers, but most details are lacking. A great inspiration for a novel - but I don't see the actual woman acknowledged in the promotional material about Away. Just curious. Have I missed something?
Sheila Peters
Smithers
Bloom does cite the book "The Woman Who Walked to Russia" (among several others) in the acknowledgment section at the end of her book "Away."
E. Topitzer
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