Why I read it: 2024 Reading Challenge

Where to even start with this one? I wanted to like it more—I really did. But if I’m being honest with myself, the only reason I finished it was because I needed it to meet my 2024 reading goal.

This book centers around a grandmother telling her adult grandson (who is struggling to find his place in the world) tales of her life spanning from when she was a young girl in Austria just prior to World War II, to her young adulthood adventures in sunny Venice, California. 

Right off of the bat, I was nervous the book might include explicit details about the Holocaust, which is a sensitive topic for me. When starting this book, I knew it was going to be a bit of a challenge due to that sensitivity, but I was ready to embrace it. Good news – there was shockingly little content about the Holocaust. Maybe 2-3 mentions, at most. So if this is something that is also scaring you off, don’t let it. 

Unfortunately, I somehow read 259 pages of…nothing—and yet so many words? There was seemingly endless name-dropping that felt cluttered, though maybe that was intentional to highlight the disconnection between the grandson and grandmother. This did seem to improve as the book went on, but I can’t tell if I got better at reading the writing or if that was the author’s intent.

The biggest miss, though, was that the entire book takes place during the pandemic—which feels a little too soon for me (and what on earth was that mask strip-tease scene?). Throughout the novel, parallels are drawn between the grandmother’s guilt about escaping Vienna ahead of the Holocaust and the grandson’s guilt about fleeing New York during the pandemic. I’m sorry, but these are not the same and the forced metaphor felt disingenuous. That said, I can acknowledge that two vastly different events, varying in severity, could evoke similar emotions and feelings.

On a more positive note, I absolutely loved the typeface chosen for this novel—I wish I could track it down, but I haven’t been able to find it anywhere (if you have a lead, let me know in the comments!). The story also made me miss my grandparents and served as a warm reminder to hold them close. One notable quote that stuck with me was on page 65, “…even when it’s got you tight in its grip, history can pass you by. Especially when you’re a child.”

TL;DR: Would I recommend it to a friend? No. But if someone was looking for a quick read that made them want to get closer to their grandmother? Absolutely.