Lauren Fox

Lauren Fox's novel, [Days of Awe], is the story of a friendship, of a family, of grief, of pain, of betrayal, and of acceptance. It is Isabel's story, as she grapples with the recent death of her best friend, the disintegration of her marriage, and the resentment of her daughter. I thought Isabel was a great character - believably flawed but good, exhausted by life but always striving to do better, and wryly funny, as well as self-aware. The novel's main flaw, to me, was that I occasionally got confused by the muddled timeline so that I wasn't sure when what was being described happened in terms of previous events. As a flaw, it's a pretty minor one, though. This was an all-around satisfying read - funny and sad and bittersweet and tender. I will be looking for more by Ms. Fox.

4 stars… (more)

This is a book about four generations plowing through life and trying to make the best of it starting with Klara & Julius, then Annelise and Walter, then Ruth and Mel and finally Claire & Matthew. The author introduced bits an pieces of their lives and how they were tied together. It portrayed the great toll it took on the Jewish families during WWII and what they had to do to survive through the horrors of war.

As a young girl worker for her family bakery, Annelise was in love with her childhood friend, Max. It broke her heart when he stopped coming by to see her only to show up with another young lady. Fifty years later, she saw their names listed on the Auschwitz column with those that had died. Annelise survived the war and died when she was 88.

Years later, Claire found a pile of letters - those collected and saved in the family over the years. She asked her mother, Ruth, if she was going to read them. It sounded like her mother was more interested in type of toothpaste she had at the time. Claire continued to ask, "Did you read the letters?" Her mother said, "No, I already know what happened."

While parts felt disjointed, that's how our mind works. We have deep thoughts but say different things on the surface. It's cleverly written that made me pause a few times but then it all made sense moving along. The Author's Notes are a must.



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