Author: Nancy Richler
Format: Paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publish Date: January 29, 2013
Source: I received a copy from the publisher; however, this did not affect my review.
What's the Story?:
From Goodreads.com: "In the wake of World War II, a young, enigmatic woman named Lily arrives in Montreal on her own, expecting to be married to a man she’s never met. But, upon seeing her at the train station, Sol Kramer turns her down. Out of pity, his brother Nathan decides to marry her instead, and pity turns into a deep—and doomed—love. It is immediately clear that Lily is not who she claims to be. Her attempt to live out her life as Lily Azerov shatters when she disappears, leaving a new husband and a baby daughter with only a diary, a large uncut diamond – and a need to find the truth Who is Lily and what happened to the young woman whose identity she stole? Why has she left and where did she go? It's up to the daughter Lily abandoned to find the answers to these questions, as she searches for the mother she may never find or truly know."
My Two Cents:
"The Imposter Bride" is the story of Ruth, who has grown up without her mother. Her mother, Lily, disappeared and left her behind. Ruth has always felt like she has been missing out by not having her mother around and not knowing why she disappeared. Ruth grows up in a tight knit family who doesn't seem to want to tell her the truth.
I love a story filled with family secrets and this definitely fit the bill for me. Lily was a really mysterious character and I really enjoyed reading about her and how she disappeared and why she did what she did throughout the book. I did wish that we got a little more closure because I still did not quite understand why she abandoned Ruth but went on to have a fairly normal life (I don't want to give anything away about what that normalcy looked like as that is part of the mystery of the book; you will just have to read for yourself).
The timeline in the book was a little bit confusing to me and I kept having to go back to she what happened when. There were several parts of the book that were flashbacks for various characters but it was not outwardly clear as to when these things were taking place in the book.
I did like seeing how Ruth deals with losing her mother. You really get to see her true colors because of it and it turns her into a very interesting character!
I enjoyed this book too - it was beautifully written with insight into Jewish life in mid-20th-century Montreal. Not a setting I'd read about before. Like you, I would have liked additional detail on why Lily made the choices she did.
ReplyDeleteThis has been on my radar forever, but for some reason I can't seem to make myself read it. It appears to have elements I love in a story, but is it overcome with a sense of melancholy? That's my fear.
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