Author: Nancy Richler

While we were in Courtenay/Comox I had a chance to visit one of my favourite thrift stores – they always have a good selection of books. I don’t believe I’d heard of this book but it was a finalist for the 2012 Giller Prize so already a winner in my mind.

Lily arrives in Montreal via Palestine only to be rejected by the man she intended to marry; stepping up to fill the gap is Sol’s brother Nathan. Ruth is the daughter of this marriage but her mother deserts her and her family when Ruth is only a few months old. The book tells not only the story of Ruth as she grows up, but also the back story of her mother.

I was afraid the book would leave me hanging for the details of why Lily abandoned her new-found family but all the loose ends were tied up nicely.

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