Unusually for me, I came to Amy Bloom’s writing through her short stories. Her first collection, Come to Me, was published when I was still a bookseller and I was interested by Bloom’s background as a psychotherapist, made much of when I was pitched the book. I think she was still practising then. It seemed to me after reading her stories that she must be a very fine therapist indeed: they were quietly empathetic, understanding of human weakness. From her biographical notes it looks as if Bloom has long since given up her practice and is writing full-time but Lucky Us has that same empathetic quality which makes flawed characters so attractive, and there are many in this novel, often pretending to be someone completely different from the person they are.
It opens strikingly with Eva, delivered to her father’s door and left there with only a small suitcase to show for her twelve years with her mother. Edgar’s wife has died leaving him with Iris, Eva’s sixteen-year-old half-sister and Eva’s mother has spotted an opportunity. Tangled relationships, already, and we’re not even through the first chapter – there will be many more to come. Stretching over a decade from 1939, Lucky Us follows Eva from her unceremonious arrival following her eccentric route through all kinds of permutations of family which takes her to Hollywood with Iris then east across the country into the welcoming, generous arms of the Torellis, before tragedy propels her into life as a fortune-teller easing the sorrows of New York ladies, then eventually to an entirely satisfactory if surprising resolution.
It’s a thoroughly enjoyable ride – from descriptions of decadent Hollywood parties to stories of life in a German displaced persons camp, Bloom’s writing is vibrant and her characterisation astute. She knows how to turn a stylish phrase but it’s not showy stuff, and all the better for that. The daughter of ‘a mother who dropped [her] off like a bag of dirty laundry’ and a father ‘ who was not above stealing from [her]’, Eva is quietly smart, mature and capable under the most difficult of circumstances while Iris, seemingly steely in her determination to be a star, finds herself derailed by passion, behaving in an unforgivable fashion. Poignancy is laced with a pleasingly sly humour and after a little awkwardness with its structure – at least for me – it flows beautifully. A long way from psychotherapy then – although there’s a nice moment when Eva neatly turns her fortune-telling into an effective bit of therapy – but just as humane and empathetic as her early work.
And that’s it for me for a week or so. I’m off to the land of cream teas and alpacas for a spot of walking and no doubt some reading.
I’m surrounded by writers making flawed characters seem empathetic at the moment. I’ve just finished ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’ for a day school on Sunday and I’m still trying to figure out how Highsmith makes me sympathise with Tom Ripley.
I’ve seen a couple of other very positive reviews of this. Would it make a good book group read, do you think? Otherwise I’m not going to get round to it in the near future.
Have a good break and eat some cream teas for me, won’t you.
I’ve not read the Ripley books, Alex, but I remember watching John Malkovich in Ripley’s Game. Malkovich played Ripley as totally amoral, and did it very well, but perhaps that’s not the case in Highsmith’s books. I think Lucky Us would make a good book group choice – lots of character development and an interesting structure.
Cream teas where indeed consumed and I wish I could share some of those calories with you, and of course their deliciousness, too!
It sounds like an interesting read, though unlikely to make it onto my pile at the moment which is gathering dust as the new school term and all its many demands has wiped out my reading energy. Aiming to finish my August book this weekend and get back into the weekly rhythm!
Have a lovely weekend.
Thanks, Claire, and I hope you’ve hit your stride. A new term is always challenging, not too mention a new academic year.
I had never heard of the author, but I am always willing to read a psychotherapist’s works! However, it sounds like a complex and emotionally tiring read…
Perhaps it might be better to try her short stories, Elena, if the psychotherapy aspect attracts you.
I enjoyed this very much too. Amy Bloom does that thing of writing an unpretentious sentence that is still somehow rather special. Hope you are having a fantastic holiday!
Lovely holiday, thanks, Victoria, and I’m so glad you enjoyed the Bloom, too. I think she gets more attention in the States than she does in the UK – it would be nice to think that Lucky Us brought her a few more British readers.
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