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Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All
National Book Award 2019 Finalist! From the author of Printz Medal winner Bone Gap comes the unforgettable story of two young women one living, one dead dealing with loss, desire, and the fragility of the American dream during WWII. When Frankie s mother died and her father left her and her siblings at an orphanage in Chicago, it was supposed to be only temporary just long enough for him to get back on his feet and be able to provide for them once again. That s why Frankie's not prepared for the day that he arrives for his weekend visit with a new woman on his arm and out-of-state train tickets in his pocket. Now Frankie and her sister, Toni, are abandoned alongside so many other orphans two young, unwanted women doing everything they can to survive. And as the embers of the Great Depression are kindled into the fires of World War II, and the shadows of injustice, poverty, and death walk the streets in broad daylight, it will be up to Frankie to find something worth holding on to in the ruins of this shattered America every minute of every day spent wondering if the life she's able to carve out will be enough. I will admit I do not know the answer. But I will be watching, waiting to find out. That s what ghosts do.
1 pages, Audio CD
First published October 1, 2019
402 people are currently reading
14940 people want to read
About the author
Laura Ruby
29 books805 followersRaised in the wilds of suburban New Jersey, Laura Ruby now lives in Chicago with her family. Her short fiction for adults has appeared in various literary magazines, including Other Voices, The Florida Review, Sycamore Review and Nimrod. A collection of these stories, I'M NOT JULIA ROBERTS, was published by Warner Books in January 2007. Called "hilarious and heart-wrenching" by People and "a knowing look at the costs and rewards of remaking a family," by the Hartford-Courant, the book was also featured in Redbook, Working Mother , and USA Today among others.
Ruby is also the author of the Edgar-nominated children's mystery LILY'S GHOSTS (8/03), the children's fantasy THE WALL AND THE WING (3/06) and a sequel, THE CHAOS KING (5/07) all from Harpercollins. She writes for older teens as well, and her debut young adult novel, GOOD GIRLS (9/06), also from Harpercollins, was a Book Sense Pick for fall 2006 and an ALA Quick Pick for 2007. A new young adult novel, PLAY ME, is slated for publication in fall of 2008. Her books have sold in England, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Denmark, Serbia and Montenegro. THE WALL AND THE WING is currently in development with Laika Studios for release as an animated feature.
Ms. Ruby has been a featured speaker at BookExpo, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) annual convention, the Miami Book Festival, the Florida Association of Media Educators (FAME) convention, the Midwest Literary Festival, the International Reading Association's annual convention, and Illinois Reading Council annual conference, among other venues, and she has presented programs and workshops for both adults and children at numerous schools and libraries.
Currently, she is working on several thousand projects, drinking way too much coffee, and searching for new tunes for her iPod.
Ruby is also the author of the Edgar-nominated children's mystery LILY'S GHOSTS (8/03), the children's fantasy THE WALL AND THE WING (3/06) and a sequel, THE CHAOS KING (5/07) all from Harpercollins. She writes for older teens as well, and her debut young adult novel, GOOD GIRLS (9/06), also from Harpercollins, was a Book Sense Pick for fall 2006 and an ALA Quick Pick for 2007. A new young adult novel, PLAY ME, is slated for publication in fall of 2008. Her books have sold in England, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Denmark, Serbia and Montenegro. THE WALL AND THE WING is currently in development with Laika Studios for release as an animated feature.
Ms. Ruby has been a featured speaker at BookExpo, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) annual convention, the Miami Book Festival, the Florida Association of Media Educators (FAME) convention, the Midwest Literary Festival, the International Reading Association's annual convention, and Illinois Reading Council annual conference, among other venues, and she has presented programs and workshops for both adults and children at numerous schools and libraries.
Currently, she is working on several thousand projects, drinking way too much coffee, and searching for new tunes for her iPod.
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April 5, 2022DNF @ 40%
December 2, 2019
The more I read this novel, the more I grew disenchanted by it. It’s the kind of book that tries to tackle many things, but ends up failing at giving justice to all of them. It opened with a ghost narrating a story of Frankie, a girl abandoned by her father in pre-WWII Chicago orphanage. Life there was rough, nuns were cruel, etc. This part I really liked and if the book stayed with Frankie, I would have liked the story much more. But Frankie’s story got diluted by the ghost drama, detours into romance and war narratives, evil stepmothers, some kind of nonsensical fairy tales, racism and feminism, and sins and deranged nuns, madness and illicit affairs, passing, on and on. I never could figure out what the whole thing was about. Until the last 10%, where the narrative finally sharpened its focus and sped up to deliver its thesis, which, you guessed it, was “men are garbage, girls are victims.” I don’t mind this message in principle, but this was a very convoluted and unsatisfying way of getting to this point. National Book Award judges clearly disagree with my take. I am confident they are totally wrong.
July 2, 2019
Let’s talk about how good this book is. The writing is gorgeous, the story compelling. Our narrator is a GHOST telling the story of an orphan—but also revealing her own tragic story in the process.
But the book is about more than that. It’s about what it means to be a woman, then and now. It’s about the secrets we are forced to keep and the ones we impose on ourselves. It’s about forgiveness and justice. It’s about survival and loneliness.
Beautifully written and wonderfully told. XO
But the book is about more than that. It’s about what it means to be a woman, then and now. It’s about the secrets we are forced to keep and the ones we impose on ourselves. It’s about forgiveness and justice. It’s about survival and loneliness.
Beautifully written and wonderfully told. XO
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October 3, 2019I haven't been blown away by a lot of YA this year -- it's been fine, but not spectacular.
This was, however, spectacular. Smart and savvy and clever and creative and powerful. A ghost story wrapped in a story of an orphan during World War II Chicago, this is a story about all of the doors hiding wolves girls have to face in the world. The wolves are all different, but all the same. It's also a story of love, of passion, of human connection.
Beautifully written and lush and evocative.
More soon.
This was, however, spectacular. Smart and savvy and clever and creative and powerful. A ghost story wrapped in a story of an orphan during World War II Chicago, this is a story about all of the doors hiding wolves girls have to face in the world. The wolves are all different, but all the same. It's also a story of love, of passion, of human connection.
Beautifully written and lush and evocative.
More soon.
October 27, 2019
I finished this yesterday and have been wavering on how I want to rate it. It was a good look at the treatment of young women and girls in turn of the century America as well as the racism at that time. I’m not sure I understood the point of the ghost narrator other than to further emphasize the struggles women faced during this time period. Those two parallel story lines were more distracting for me, however, and I would have preferred a story that focused on one or the other.
July 2, 2019
The story of two girls: one living, one dead, separated by class and time but both struggling with what it means to be a woman in this world and what it means to be human and alive. Both are punished for their sexuality and suffer violence at the hands of those who should have kept them safe, but both have rebellious streaks and push back against the forces that limit their power. It's the story of unwanted girls mistreated girls abandoned girls who refuse to accept their fate and who know in their hearts that folktales legends and stories always tell the truth.
Laura Ruby has built a totally believable ghost world where spirits filled with loss and longing replay their final moments, obsess over their deaths, fixate on the living, and pass easily through walls. And she has done so with the smart and lyrical prose you should expect from her by now.
I lucked into an ARC of this, read it immediately, read it again underlining favorite passages, then went online to pre-order a copy in advance of its October pub date. What more can I say? Read this book when it comes out, if not sooner. (If you're local I'll loan you my ARC if you don't mind all the underlined passages)
Laura Ruby has built a totally believable ghost world where spirits filled with loss and longing replay their final moments, obsess over their deaths, fixate on the living, and pass easily through walls. And she has done so with the smart and lyrical prose you should expect from her by now.
I lucked into an ARC of this, read it immediately, read it again underlining favorite passages, then went online to pre-order a copy in advance of its October pub date. What more can I say? Read this book when it comes out, if not sooner. (If you're local I'll loan you my ARC if you don't mind all the underlined passages)
October 30, 2019
Frankie, her sister Toni and her brother Vito are all living in a Chicago orphanage run by nuns in the last years of the Great Depression and through WWII. We follow Frankie's story as she grows up and out of the orphanage and as she's observed by the ghost of a girl who died from the Spanish Flu in 1918.
The hardship that Frankie has to endure, first with the nuns, and then with America on a war footing, not to mention a father who's neglectful at best and abusive at worst, makes for a compelling story of survival. And that harsh realism is brilliantly underlined by our very unreliable ghost narrator who seems to grow in strength at the same time that Frankie grows into her own.
It's a powerful book that (barely) fictionalizes a real world person whose struggles deserve to be known. The only thing that leaves it less than a five star book is inherent in its premise. Because it's based on a real world person, the events of her life, like in the real world, don't really tell anything like a coherent plot (plot is for the ghost parts). Instead, we get to see Frankie endure and grow against a seemingly endless stream of random (and often tragic) events.
Still, it's clever and odd, and a wonderful mix of biography and fantasy. Well worth a read.
The hardship that Frankie has to endure, first with the nuns, and then with America on a war footing, not to mention a father who's neglectful at best and abusive at worst, makes for a compelling story of survival. And that harsh realism is brilliantly underlined by our very unreliable ghost narrator who seems to grow in strength at the same time that Frankie grows into her own.
It's a powerful book that (barely) fictionalizes a real world person whose struggles deserve to be known. The only thing that leaves it less than a five star book is inherent in its premise. Because it's based on a real world person, the events of her life, like in the real world, don't really tell anything like a coherent plot (plot is for the ghost parts). Instead, we get to see Frankie endure and grow against a seemingly endless stream of random (and often tragic) events.
Still, it's clever and odd, and a wonderful mix of biography and fantasy. Well worth a read.
July 15, 2020
One day, a package arrived in the mail for me from Amazon Prime. I don't have a Prime account, so I thought my sister sent me a package because she'd told me there was another book she wanted us to read together. Sure enough, it was a book, but when I texted my sister, she told me she hadn't sent me anything. I checked my orders, but I hadn't ordered anything or been charged with anything by mistake. I wasn't sure what to do--did I keep the book or send it back? It came in my name. I thought maybe it was something to do with Goodreads, and I decided to keep it.
Then, about a week later, I got another package! I opened it, and it was another book I hadn't ordered. Then, it hit me when I saw the title of that book. A co-worker of mine is pregnant and expecting to give birth in September. I'm scheduled to cover her class when she goes on maternity leave, and she'd told me she would send me these books back in March or April. I completely forgot because most things are not memorable in covid time.
Somehow, even though I now know where this book came from, I'll never forget the feeling of receiving it as if by magic, and that's appropriate because Laura Ruby is a conjurer.
In her author's note, Ruby tells us how this book was inspired by her late mother-in-law's stories of growing up during World War II in an orphanage. Ruby also says, though, that "it is...a story about girls. Girls with ambitions, brains, desires, talents, hungers. It is a story about how the world likes to punish girls for their appetites, and even for their love."
This book is also about stories, and there are great stories within it. Two of the main characters tell each other and themselves fairy tales, fairy tales of which, as Ruby says about her own novel, "Every word is fiction. And every word is true." Fairy tales help the characters make sense of the depravities they've suffered for being girls who didn't do what they were told, for being girls who had their own hopes and dreams and wanted to forge their own paths despite the obstacles put in front of them by society's expectations of them.
The two main plots are both very strong, and they both kept me wanting to know more. There are so many twists and turns and reveals that keep the book entertaining. I read quickly whenever I read because I wanted to know more and because Ruby's writing is so smooth and beautiful.
What stands out to me more than the plots, though, are the friendships, the friendships among girls. The strength of these girls. The way they stand together and fight together. The way they fight each other but make things right. The way they struggle and suffer and go through so much yet maintain the desire to live and to keep living. The last fifty pages are the best pages of the entire novel. The climaxes and resolutions of both plots are gorgeous. I held back tears as I read the conclusion to three different stories, really, though two are part of the same plot. I loved everything about the ending.
I was going to rate this 4.5 stars, but I couldn't think of a single reason to drop the rating. I love the writing, the characters, the plot, and the history. I love the different stories, the representation of diversity (each character of a minority background is represented with love and care, not diminished or put to the background, and the ending of one thread is so moving and honest that it gives great recognition to one of the minority cultures), and the themes. I love the progression of each plot and how there is so much conflict to keep the book moving but also beautiful passages of strong and moving writing. There were parts throughout the book that brought tears to my eyes, that made me laugh, that made me stop and think. Maybe one criticism is that some parts about the war were sort of skimmed over, but the war is meant to be in the background because it was in a very big way for the women who stayed behind while the men went across the ocean to fight.
Overall, I think this book was excellent. It was brought to me by magic, and it maintained its aura from start to finish. I strongly recommend it to readers who think that girls deserve to live their lives without being questioned for their wants and desires, told they "can't" or "shouldn't," that girls should be celebrated for being wise and intelligent, funny, charming, desirable and desiring, to people who think that girls deserve a fair chance to be themselves, to tell their own stories, and to be the heroes of their own stories.
Then, about a week later, I got another package! I opened it, and it was another book I hadn't ordered. Then, it hit me when I saw the title of that book. A co-worker of mine is pregnant and expecting to give birth in September. I'm scheduled to cover her class when she goes on maternity leave, and she'd told me she would send me these books back in March or April. I completely forgot because most things are not memorable in covid time.
Somehow, even though I now know where this book came from, I'll never forget the feeling of receiving it as if by magic, and that's appropriate because Laura Ruby is a conjurer.
In her author's note, Ruby tells us how this book was inspired by her late mother-in-law's stories of growing up during World War II in an orphanage. Ruby also says, though, that "it is...a story about girls. Girls with ambitions, brains, desires, talents, hungers. It is a story about how the world likes to punish girls for their appetites, and even for their love."
This book is also about stories, and there are great stories within it. Two of the main characters tell each other and themselves fairy tales, fairy tales of which, as Ruby says about her own novel, "Every word is fiction. And every word is true." Fairy tales help the characters make sense of the depravities they've suffered for being girls who didn't do what they were told, for being girls who had their own hopes and dreams and wanted to forge their own paths despite the obstacles put in front of them by society's expectations of them.
The two main plots are both very strong, and they both kept me wanting to know more. There are so many twists and turns and reveals that keep the book entertaining. I read quickly whenever I read because I wanted to know more and because Ruby's writing is so smooth and beautiful.
What stands out to me more than the plots, though, are the friendships, the friendships among girls. The strength of these girls. The way they stand together and fight together. The way they fight each other but make things right. The way they struggle and suffer and go through so much yet maintain the desire to live and to keep living. The last fifty pages are the best pages of the entire novel. The climaxes and resolutions of both plots are gorgeous. I held back tears as I read the conclusion to three different stories, really, though two are part of the same plot. I loved everything about the ending.
I was going to rate this 4.5 stars, but I couldn't think of a single reason to drop the rating. I love the writing, the characters, the plot, and the history. I love the different stories, the representation of diversity (each character of a minority background is represented with love and care, not diminished or put to the background, and the ending of one thread is so moving and honest that it gives great recognition to one of the minority cultures), and the themes. I love the progression of each plot and how there is so much conflict to keep the book moving but also beautiful passages of strong and moving writing. There were parts throughout the book that brought tears to my eyes, that made me laugh, that made me stop and think. Maybe one criticism is that some parts about the war were sort of skimmed over, but the war is meant to be in the background because it was in a very big way for the women who stayed behind while the men went across the ocean to fight.
Overall, I think this book was excellent. It was brought to me by magic, and it maintained its aura from start to finish. I strongly recommend it to readers who think that girls deserve to live their lives without being questioned for their wants and desires, told they "can't" or "shouldn't," that girls should be celebrated for being wise and intelligent, funny, charming, desirable and desiring, to people who think that girls deserve a fair chance to be themselves, to tell their own stories, and to be the heroes of their own stories.
October 29, 2019
Frequently heartbreaking, this excellent story by Laura Ruby left me both wrecked and hopeful. I loved this story of Frankie. She, older brother Vito and younger sister Toni are left by their father in an orphanage upon the scandalous death of their mother. There, though it was not a particularly loving environment, Frankie, Vito and Toni had their friends and routines. Then their father takes Vito out of the orphanage with him after remarrying, leaving Frankie and Toni behind.
There's also a ghost, who's been watching Frankie for years at the orphanage, and has her own issues that keep her brooding and wandering the city.
Laura Ruby impressed me with her story Bone Gap; I loved her prose, and incisive, brilliant way with emotions and relationships. I was a little worried going into this book that I would not like this book as much as I had Bone Gap. No worries. The ghost's story and Frankie's tale are rife with betrayals and masterfully interwoven. Both young women have different truths they need to find out about themselves and their families, and Ruby handles the sentiments skilfully.
This book was brilliant, poignant, and beautifully written. I loved this book.
There's also a ghost, who's been watching Frankie for years at the orphanage, and has her own issues that keep her brooding and wandering the city.
Laura Ruby impressed me with her story Bone Gap; I loved her prose, and incisive, brilliant way with emotions and relationships. I was a little worried going into this book that I would not like this book as much as I had Bone Gap. No worries. The ghost's story and Frankie's tale are rife with betrayals and masterfully interwoven. Both young women have different truths they need to find out about themselves and their families, and Ruby handles the sentiments skilfully.
This book was brilliant, poignant, and beautifully written. I loved this book.
October 4, 2019
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
Thirteen Doorways is such a genuinely gorgeous book, I hardly know where to begin. Look, it's gut-wrenching, let's get that out of the way. I mean, it's orphans during WWII, you're probably not expecting sunshine and roses, right? The thing is, as hard as it is at times to read, there is a really inspirational aspect to it as well. It left me hopeful, that maybe humanity isn't doomed. Our mistakes are plenty, but there's still good, there's something worth fighting for.
The characters are incredibly well developed, I rooted for them from the start. And not just because of their circumstances, but because I genuinely cared about them as characters. The story is told mainly through Frankie, one of the young women at the orphanage, and well, a ghost named Pearl. I have mixed feelings about paranormal, so I am extra happy to report that the author handled this magnificently. I absolutely was as invested in Pearl's story and observations, as she had such a special and unique insight into both Frankie and the world around them.
And the stories were compelling, of course. Frankie is trying to keep her sister and herself safe in the middle of incredibly tumultuous times. There is a war raging around them, and they fear especially for all male family and friends, as they see young men in their own orphanage being drafted (and volunteering) for the war. I cannot comprehend the terror, frankly. Between worrying about your daily existence, and a looming global battle, Frankie had unfathomable courage.
The range of emotions that this book made me feel was epic. I laughed, I cried, I was angry, happy, inspired. I haven't read anything with such impact in quite some time.
Bottom Line: This is one of the rare books I would recommend to quite literally everyone I know. It's such a heartfelt, touching novel with current-era takeaways that should definitely not be missed.
Thirteen Doorways is such a genuinely gorgeous book, I hardly know where to begin. Look, it's gut-wrenching, let's get that out of the way. I mean, it's orphans during WWII, you're probably not expecting sunshine and roses, right? The thing is, as hard as it is at times to read, there is a really inspirational aspect to it as well. It left me hopeful, that maybe humanity isn't doomed. Our mistakes are plenty, but there's still good, there's something worth fighting for.
The characters are incredibly well developed, I rooted for them from the start. And not just because of their circumstances, but because I genuinely cared about them as characters. The story is told mainly through Frankie, one of the young women at the orphanage, and well, a ghost named Pearl. I have mixed feelings about paranormal, so I am extra happy to report that the author handled this magnificently. I absolutely was as invested in Pearl's story and observations, as she had such a special and unique insight into both Frankie and the world around them.
And the stories were compelling, of course. Frankie is trying to keep her sister and herself safe in the middle of incredibly tumultuous times. There is a war raging around them, and they fear especially for all male family and friends, as they see young men in their own orphanage being drafted (and volunteering) for the war. I cannot comprehend the terror, frankly. Between worrying about your daily existence, and a looming global battle, Frankie had unfathomable courage.
The range of emotions that this book made me feel was epic. I laughed, I cried, I was angry, happy, inspired. I haven't read anything with such impact in quite some time.
Bottom Line: This is one of the rare books I would recommend to quite literally everyone I know. It's such a heartfelt, touching novel with current-era takeaways that should definitely not be missed.
November 17, 2019
I've liked the other books Laura Ruby has written (Bone Gap, York series), but this one not so much. This is a coming of age story about an adolescent girl growing up in an orphanage in Chicago during World War II. Frankie, her brother and sister are abandoned by their father after the death of her mother, as he marries another woman with her own family. There is an interwoven ghost story, some themes of adolescent love, war, abuse by the nuns, and discrimination against women. Basically, too many themes and too many ideas, which ultimately did not work for me.
May 15, 2022
This is told from the POV of a ghost and it follows Frankie, abandoned and left in an orphanage by her father during WWII in Chicago. I went into this expecting an emotional historical with a paranormal element. And I really liked the setting and learning about the girls' lives were like in the orphanage. I was also intrigued by the ghost, who she was, and how she came to be stuck wondering around. There were also moments where I was like wow, this writing is beautiful.
Somewhere around the halfway mark this book started to lose me. I wasn't expecting/wasn't a fan of how the book started to feel like it was trying so hard to convey this deep, poetic, feminist message about how there are metaphorical wolves behind every doorway a girl opens. It didn't have the intended impact on me. I feel like there are other WWII books with similar themes that I've enjoyed much more than this one.
Somewhere around the halfway mark this book started to lose me. I wasn't expecting/wasn't a fan of how the book started to feel like it was trying so hard to convey this deep, poetic, feminist message about how there are metaphorical wolves behind every doorway a girl opens. It didn't have the intended impact on me. I feel like there are other WWII books with similar themes that I've enjoyed much more than this one.
December 18, 2019
Stunning and strange, at once luscious and harsh, with the contrast of the narrator's descriptions of ghosts in rich gowns with long flowing hair and the orphans she is drawn to with their rough plain dresses and cropped locks. This is a story about love, and identity, about family, and friendships. An unexpected story, sad and glorious. I hate to go into detail, because I don't want to spoil anything. But if you, like me, read and loved Bone Gap, read this immediately.
November 3, 2019
This book is beautiful and sad, full of surrealism and yet fully grounded in real life. I will often say things like, "I don't need any more WWII historical fiction," but books like this remind me that I just need books that take their period seriously, that open it up to you and make it feel absolutely real. I enjoyed BONE GAP but I liked THIRTEEN DOORWAYS even more.
The ghost-as-narrator device still isn't used all that often, which I think is for the best. If you're going to use it you need to have a good reason and you need to do something interesting with it. Here Ruby does exactly that. Even though the ghost spends most of her time watching our protagonist, Frankie, the device works well then and I always enjoyed when the ghost's own story came into the picture.
Adult readers who avoid YA shouldn't avoid a book like this. Ruby's prose is deft and lovely, even though the book is about teenagers it brims with emotion.
The ghost-as-narrator device still isn't used all that often, which I think is for the best. If you're going to use it you need to have a good reason and you need to do something interesting with it. Here Ruby does exactly that. Even though the ghost spends most of her time watching our protagonist, Frankie, the device works well then and I always enjoyed when the ghost's own story came into the picture.
Adult readers who avoid YA shouldn't avoid a book like this. Ruby's prose is deft and lovely, even though the book is about teenagers it brims with emotion.
October 28, 2019
I had to think hard about whether to tag this YA, because it didn't feel particularly YA-y to me, so I didn't. One reason for that is that it felt to me that it had a very slow start, with my interest only starting to pick up around page 100, more than 1/4 in the book. For the first 100 pages, there was plenty of atmosphere, and things happened, and things were recalled, but neither of the two main characters seemed to have much of a goal. The teen ghost narrator seemed to just kind of float around aimlessly and the teen girl the ghost seemed most interested in, Frankie, just seemed to have a hard time at the orphanage. It wasn't until after page 100 where the characters started to have motivations.
Even after that, I can't say this book grabbed me. I liked the themes, and liked the mood, I liked a lot of the writing, I liked the feeling of really being in Chicago during WWII, but I'm guessing this story will soon slip away from me, like a ghost.
Even after that, I can't say this book grabbed me. I liked the themes, and liked the mood, I liked a lot of the writing, I liked the feeling of really being in Chicago during WWII, but I'm guessing this story will soon slip away from me, like a ghost.
June 10, 2022
‘Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All’ is one of my favorite book titles ever. The story follows to sisters left behind in a Catholic orphanage during the WWII. I was sold by the idea that the novel represented the many doors women attempt to open, full of hopes and dreams, only to find wolves behind them.
BUT, as you may guess from the rating, this did not do it for me. I started reading this without checking the synopsis and maybe that impacted my reading experience? I’m not sure. The narrator is a ghost, which is quite nice (I thought), but it gets confusing. I also could not get into the characters and I did not care one bit about Frankie.
Whereas I do think some of the topics (racism, feminism, patriarchy…) brought up are incredibly important, Thirteen Doorways tried to do too much and did not succeed in most of what it attempted to do (for me). I don’t think I’ll remember much of it tomorrow when I wake up 🙃
BUT, as you may guess from the rating, this did not do it for me. I started reading this without checking the synopsis and maybe that impacted my reading experience? I’m not sure. The narrator is a ghost, which is quite nice (I thought), but it gets confusing. I also could not get into the characters and I did not care one bit about Frankie.
Whereas I do think some of the topics (racism, feminism, patriarchy…) brought up are incredibly important, Thirteen Doorways tried to do too much and did not succeed in most of what it attempted to do (for me). I don’t think I’ll remember much of it tomorrow when I wake up 🙃
September 17, 2019
Even if you didn't like Bone Gap, I am absolutely begging you to give Thirteen Doorways a try.
Granted, I loved Bone Gap, but I recognize the magical-realism-lite vibe isn't for everyone. This book is similarly dreamy and beautiful, but it's grounded in real stories and histories. Every character is vibrant and full, and while I'm not normally a huge fan of YA historical fiction, particularly WWII, the perspective is fresh and unique. I absolutely adored this. It's gorgeously written and full of gut-punching descriptions and revelations.
Also, can we talk about that TITLE? Holy wow.
Granted, I loved Bone Gap, but I recognize the magical-realism-lite vibe isn't for everyone. This book is similarly dreamy and beautiful, but it's grounded in real stories and histories. Every character is vibrant and full, and while I'm not normally a huge fan of YA historical fiction, particularly WWII, the perspective is fresh and unique. I absolutely adored this. It's gorgeously written and full of gut-punching descriptions and revelations.
Also, can we talk about that TITLE? Holy wow.
October 6, 2019
this one’s a finalist for the National Book Award, and for good reason. Frankie’s father leaves her and her sister, Toni, at an orphanage to be sure they’ll be cared for. but then he shows up one day, and he’s married, and he’s leaving town—without them. Frankie and Toni are alone in the world with their friends and the ghosts that watch over one. this one gave me chills all over my entire body. I highly recommend.
January 18, 2020
This book blew me away because it did the previously unthinkable ~ it made me love a story narrated by a GHOST. Excellent and original historical fiction with multiple storylines based on the author’s MIL’s real childhood. Well, real childhood plus ghosts 😉
October 16, 2019
I don't know if it's my tastes or the content being published more now but I've been reading SO many books in the past year involving religious institutions that are actually pretty analytical of them. Some more than others but still a pretty interesting shift.
The switching of POVs between our alive character and our dead character didn't totally work for me all the time. They were going through a lot of similar things but I didn't find their voices to be all that different from each other. At times I forgot which of them I was reading for a few lines. I had to pause and reread.
The strongest take away for me was the role of women of the time. Frankie was by far the most interesting and likable character in the book. Then there's Toni, the nuns, Frankie's step mother, her own mother and then our less than alive friend. They all represented pretty much all of the options women had: mental hospital, find a husband and keep em for survival, be boy crazy, shunned and disowned for being out of social norms. It's pretty depressing but interesting really. Frankie & Toni's dad was a particularly manipulative piece of garbage but he did seem to fit the time and social norms sadly.
The ending was abrupt and a bit chaotic but it honestly strengthened the book for me. Frankie and Toni's ending being clean and organized wouldn't have fit this whole book. I liked that there was that final show down between them and everyone else.
The switching of POVs between our alive character and our dead character didn't totally work for me all the time. They were going through a lot of similar things but I didn't find their voices to be all that different from each other. At times I forgot which of them I was reading for a few lines. I had to pause and reread.
The strongest take away for me was the role of women of the time. Frankie was by far the most interesting and likable character in the book. Then there's Toni, the nuns, Frankie's step mother, her own mother and then our less than alive friend. They all represented pretty much all of the options women had: mental hospital, find a husband and keep em for survival, be boy crazy, shunned and disowned for being out of social norms. It's pretty depressing but interesting really. Frankie & Toni's dad was a particularly manipulative piece of garbage but he did seem to fit the time and social norms sadly.
The ending was abrupt and a bit chaotic but it honestly strengthened the book for me. Frankie and Toni's ending being clean and organized wouldn't have fit this whole book. I liked that there was that final show down between them and everyone else.
June 30, 2019
When I wasn’t reading this, I was thinking about it, it’s that good. I love a good historical fiction (which this was!), but when you throw ghosts into it I’m SOLD. 10/10 WOULD RECOMMEND!
I cared about every character — I was angry, sad, elated for them. I cried and laughed and grinned, and at times was thoroughly creeped out (which I love!). Frankie is such a beautifully nuanced character, and I loved her wittiness and humor. I wanted to shake Toni at times, and I cannot tell you how deeply I felt for them, and Pearl, and Marguerite, and Loretta, and all the women who had to overcome so much during this period in time.
The writing really captured all the feelings my Granny talked about when she mentioned the war and the Depression. Desperation, grief, anger but also hope and love. Laura Ruby is a fantastic storyteller and man, I loved the writing so much.
A super solid 5/5 stars for me
I cared about every character — I was angry, sad, elated for them. I cried and laughed and grinned, and at times was thoroughly creeped out (which I love!). Frankie is such a beautifully nuanced character, and I loved her wittiness and humor. I wanted to shake Toni at times, and I cannot tell you how deeply I felt for them, and Pearl, and Marguerite, and Loretta, and all the women who had to overcome so much during this period in time.
The writing really captured all the feelings my Granny talked about when she mentioned the war and the Depression. Desperation, grief, anger but also hope and love. Laura Ruby is a fantastic storyteller and man, I loved the writing so much.
A super solid 5/5 stars for me
June 24, 2020
It's not a perfect book but I can't remember ever really getting impatient with it or wanting to put the book down so I don't have a reason not to rate it a 5!
This book is a ghost story when it comes right down to it. Our narrator is named Pearl, and she's the ghost telling the story. Pearl flits around 1940's Chicago but is repeatedly drawn to several places in particular. The lake, a little wooden house with a happy young couple, and an orphanage. Pearl watches.Sometimes she tries to get people to see her, but mostly she's a spectator.
One of the people that Pearl watches most is Frankie, a young girl living in the orphanage along with her little sister Toni and older brother Vito. Frankie's mother is dead, but her father is not. It wasn't all that unusual for parents who could not care for their children to put them into orphanages, and that's what's happened here. In fact, Frankie's dad visits his children every other weekend and brings them extra food and toys.
Frankie is based on the author's mother in law, who was in fact put into an orphanage by her own father. One of the saddest parts of the book is seeing and understanding that so many children were given up by their parents for reasons ranging from destitution to disinterest. How horrible to feel that your own parents don't want you. Frankie has a good sense of herself, but she's essentially institutionalized and doesn't know how to trust or rely on herself because she's never been allowed to develop her independence. An independent child is a lot of trouble for an institution- they don't go along with the procedures that are always followed to make things easier for those in charge.
Frankie finds ways to have joy in her life despite being overseen by those who don't care and those who resent her happiness.
Meanwhile, Pearl is slowly coming to understand more about herself and her own story, finding that the story she's told herself all along may not be everything there is to know.
A lot of the book involves blind spots- places that people can't or don't want to look because of the pain in seeing memories or people as they truly are. It's about girls who are constrained and what happens to them when they struggle in those constraints.
It's also a gorgeous story in itself. I am so over WWII books, but I really enjoyed this one. Perhaps because the war, while always there, is not the focus of the book. The characters really came alive, flawed, frightened, fascinating. I'm very up for another book by this author now- she's really impressed me.
This book is a ghost story when it comes right down to it. Our narrator is named Pearl, and she's the ghost telling the story. Pearl flits around 1940's Chicago but is repeatedly drawn to several places in particular. The lake, a little wooden house with a happy young couple, and an orphanage. Pearl watches.Sometimes she tries to get people to see her, but mostly she's a spectator.
One of the people that Pearl watches most is Frankie, a young girl living in the orphanage along with her little sister Toni and older brother Vito. Frankie's mother is dead, but her father is not. It wasn't all that unusual for parents who could not care for their children to put them into orphanages, and that's what's happened here. In fact, Frankie's dad visits his children every other weekend and brings them extra food and toys.
Frankie is based on the author's mother in law, who was in fact put into an orphanage by her own father. One of the saddest parts of the book is seeing and understanding that so many children were given up by their parents for reasons ranging from destitution to disinterest. How horrible to feel that your own parents don't want you. Frankie has a good sense of herself, but she's essentially institutionalized and doesn't know how to trust or rely on herself because she's never been allowed to develop her independence. An independent child is a lot of trouble for an institution- they don't go along with the procedures that are always followed to make things easier for those in charge.
Frankie finds ways to have joy in her life despite being overseen by those who don't care and those who resent her happiness.
Meanwhile, Pearl is slowly coming to understand more about herself and her own story, finding that the story she's told herself all along may not be everything there is to know.
A lot of the book involves blind spots- places that people can't or don't want to look because of the pain in seeing memories or people as they truly are. It's about girls who are constrained and what happens to them when they struggle in those constraints.
It's also a gorgeous story in itself. I am so over WWII books, but I really enjoyed this one. Perhaps because the war, while always there, is not the focus of the book. The characters really came alive, flawed, frightened, fascinating. I'm very up for another book by this author now- she's really impressed me.
March 1, 2021
Lowering to 2.5 Stars! I finished this a week ago, and don't remember ANYTHING about this book. I also struggled while reading this and almost DNF, so I have to bring this rating down.
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3.5 Stars!
*This is probably the most beautifully written 3.5 star rated book I have read. I enjoyed parts of this book so much, but I think I need to read it again to really appreciate the writing, symbolism, and themes in this book.
This book is so unique and very hard to describe! This is the first book I’ve read by this author, but it will not be my last! It didn’t quite come together for me until the end, and even after I finished the book, I found myself with some lingering questions…
Summary-Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All follows the story of Frankie during the years of 1941-1946. After Frankie’s mother died, her father couldn’t afford to keep the three children, so he placed them in an orphanage in Chicago until he can figure things out financially and until he can care for them properly. Frankie and her younger sister Toni start to feel even more abandoned after their father remarries another woman with three other kids of her own, and they move to Colorado to start a new life together. They also took Vito with them, Frankie and Toni’s older brother, leaving the two girls completely alone in the orphanage. The book follows Frankie’s story over the next 4 years, but what makes this book unique is that her story is told from the perspective a ghost named Pearl who is trying to figure out what happened in her own past and why she continues to walk the streets of Chicago.
Overall Thoughts- This book combines two genres that I don’t normally gravitate towards: historical fiction and magical realism. People who loved “The Night Circus” would probably love this book as well!! Even with this book being out of my comfort zone, I was still surprised how much I enjoyed this, and I can see why people love this book. However, I almost didn’t finish this book around the 50% mark, so I can also see why this book has some lower ratings as well. I found this book to be very unique and different, and I ended up finishing this in just a couple of days.
I feel like this book is a mix of the movies “Ghost” and “The Sixth Sense” as well of a mix of books “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” and “Lovely War” and the truth is, all of these books and movies listed above did things better than this book. I still found parts of this book to be stunning, but it wasn’t until the end of the book that I even understood the purpose of this book, and by then, it was almost too late for me to really care what was being said. This book isn’t necessarily about orphanages or WWII…it’s about self-discovery, and what it was like for women and girls during this time period.
I was very intrigued with our narrator being a ghost! I thought for sure the author had a point to this, and I couldn’t wait to find out how Pearl’s story was going to intertwine with Frankie’s. I was a bit disappointed when I found out that their stories were so very loosely tied together. In fact, one could argue that the ghost’s narrations weren’t necessary, but I think it added a very neat layer to the book. It just didn’t quite wrap up in the perfect little bow like it did for other people who loved this book.
Writing- The thing that stood out the most to me was the craft behind this book. It was so unique, beautifully written, well researched, and also eye opening and thought provoking. When we are hearing the story of Frankie, it’s written in 3rd person format, but when we are in Pearl’s point of view, it switches to a 1st person format and removes all quotation marks and even some punctuation. This gives these chapters a very “dreamlike” feel to them, which is incredible and brilliant that the author could make me feel like I was in the point of view of a GHOST!! I’m in awe of how well-crafted this book is.
I also enjoyed the historical aspects of this book. I didn’t know parents who couldn’t afford to look after their kids could drop their kids off at orphanages.
Recommendation-I’m not sure who I would recommend this book to or what for. If you’re looking for a WWII book, there are better books out there. If you’re looking for books about orphanages and the treatment of the kids, there are better books out there. I guess I would say I would suggest this book to people who are wanting to see what it was like being a woman in this time period. I would also say this book would be best read by older readers or very mature high school readers.
If you re-read the first chapter of the book after you read the entire book, it does end on a hopeful feeling. I ended up reading the last 100 pages twice because I found myself more pulled into Pearl’s story.
Pearl’s Story: I think…
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3.5 Stars!
*This is probably the most beautifully written 3.5 star rated book I have read. I enjoyed parts of this book so much, but I think I need to read it again to really appreciate the writing, symbolism, and themes in this book.
This book is so unique and very hard to describe! This is the first book I’ve read by this author, but it will not be my last! It didn’t quite come together for me until the end, and even after I finished the book, I found myself with some lingering questions…
Summary-Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All follows the story of Frankie during the years of 1941-1946. After Frankie’s mother died, her father couldn’t afford to keep the three children, so he placed them in an orphanage in Chicago until he can figure things out financially and until he can care for them properly. Frankie and her younger sister Toni start to feel even more abandoned after their father remarries another woman with three other kids of her own, and they move to Colorado to start a new life together. They also took Vito with them, Frankie and Toni’s older brother, leaving the two girls completely alone in the orphanage. The book follows Frankie’s story over the next 4 years, but what makes this book unique is that her story is told from the perspective a ghost named Pearl who is trying to figure out what happened in her own past and why she continues to walk the streets of Chicago.
Overall Thoughts- This book combines two genres that I don’t normally gravitate towards: historical fiction and magical realism. People who loved “The Night Circus” would probably love this book as well!! Even with this book being out of my comfort zone, I was still surprised how much I enjoyed this, and I can see why people love this book. However, I almost didn’t finish this book around the 50% mark, so I can also see why this book has some lower ratings as well. I found this book to be very unique and different, and I ended up finishing this in just a couple of days.
I feel like this book is a mix of the movies “Ghost” and “The Sixth Sense” as well of a mix of books “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” and “Lovely War” and the truth is, all of these books and movies listed above did things better than this book. I still found parts of this book to be stunning, but it wasn’t until the end of the book that I even understood the purpose of this book, and by then, it was almost too late for me to really care what was being said. This book isn’t necessarily about orphanages or WWII…it’s about self-discovery, and what it was like for women and girls during this time period.
I was very intrigued with our narrator being a ghost! I thought for sure the author had a point to this, and I couldn’t wait to find out how Pearl’s story was going to intertwine with Frankie’s. I was a bit disappointed when I found out that their stories were so very loosely tied together. In fact, one could argue that the ghost’s narrations weren’t necessary, but I think it added a very neat layer to the book. It just didn’t quite wrap up in the perfect little bow like it did for other people who loved this book.
Writing- The thing that stood out the most to me was the craft behind this book. It was so unique, beautifully written, well researched, and also eye opening and thought provoking. When we are hearing the story of Frankie, it’s written in 3rd person format, but when we are in Pearl’s point of view, it switches to a 1st person format and removes all quotation marks and even some punctuation. This gives these chapters a very “dreamlike” feel to them, which is incredible and brilliant that the author could make me feel like I was in the point of view of a GHOST!! I’m in awe of how well-crafted this book is.
I also enjoyed the historical aspects of this book. I didn’t know parents who couldn’t afford to look after their kids could drop their kids off at orphanages.
Recommendation-I’m not sure who I would recommend this book to or what for. If you’re looking for a WWII book, there are better books out there. If you’re looking for books about orphanages and the treatment of the kids, there are better books out there. I guess I would say I would suggest this book to people who are wanting to see what it was like being a woman in this time period. I would also say this book would be best read by older readers or very mature high school readers.
If you re-read the first chapter of the book after you read the entire book, it does end on a hopeful feeling. I ended up reading the last 100 pages twice because I found myself more pulled into Pearl’s story.
Pearl’s Story: I think…
February 23, 2020
I won an ARC of this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Historical fiction isn't a genre I gravitate toward, but something about this story had me interested enough to enter to win a copy.
It was fantastic. This is a story about girls, about loss, about love, about trauma, and about life. The balance between the two protagonists, whose stories are carefully interwoven and mirror each other in a lot of ways, is exceptional. The relationships feel real and complicated without being lost in the message Laura Ruby is trying to convey. She shows so many kinds of relationships and emotions. I find that authors often attempt to showcase one kind of relationship, such as terrible parents or wonderful parents, siblings who are best friends or siblings who hate each other, etc. But the relationships in this book hit all those notes, with some evolving throughout the story and others staying consistent. It feels very genuine and true to life, at least from my experiences.
Laura Ruby is a refreshingly subtle writer. That's not to say the issues the characters face are subtle (or even the "villains"), but the stance Ruby takes is clear without smacking the reader over the head with it. There's an obvious right and wrong, with clearly heinous acts and awful people, but we experience those through the emotions of the characters. She makes her characters very human, and they struggle in a realistic way. Their struggle is what the audience is supposed to learn from instead of Ruby spoonfeeding us what to think.
I think Ruby's subtlety as a writer is also demonstrated by her portrayal of female roles. Women could/were expected to fill a variety of fairly rigid societal, professional, and familial roles during the 1940s. It's easy to overlook how thoroughly these roles are represented, explored, and often challenged in this book, and that's because Ruby doesn't wave a flag and call attention to every detail she includes. She doesn't straight up say, "Look at how this person faced this consequence, isn't it awful?!" Instead, she shows the experiences of the characters and lets the audience draw conclusions from them. I very much appreciate that because it feels like she trusts the reader to recognize these things on their own.
I can't recommend this book enough and really hope to see more people pick it up. I'm definitely going to grab a finished copy for myself.
It was fantastic. This is a story about girls, about loss, about love, about trauma, and about life. The balance between the two protagonists, whose stories are carefully interwoven and mirror each other in a lot of ways, is exceptional. The relationships feel real and complicated without being lost in the message Laura Ruby is trying to convey. She shows so many kinds of relationships and emotions. I find that authors often attempt to showcase one kind of relationship, such as terrible parents or wonderful parents, siblings who are best friends or siblings who hate each other, etc. But the relationships in this book hit all those notes, with some evolving throughout the story and others staying consistent. It feels very genuine and true to life, at least from my experiences.
Laura Ruby is a refreshingly subtle writer. That's not to say the issues the characters face are subtle (or even the "villains"), but the stance Ruby takes is clear without smacking the reader over the head with it. There's an obvious right and wrong, with clearly heinous acts and awful people, but we experience those through the emotions of the characters. She makes her characters very human, and they struggle in a realistic way. Their struggle is what the audience is supposed to learn from instead of Ruby spoonfeeding us what to think.
I think Ruby's subtlety as a writer is also demonstrated by her portrayal of female roles. Women could/were expected to fill a variety of fairly rigid societal, professional, and familial roles during the 1940s. It's easy to overlook how thoroughly these roles are represented, explored, and often challenged in this book, and that's because Ruby doesn't wave a flag and call attention to every detail she includes. She doesn't straight up say, "Look at how this person faced this consequence, isn't it awful?!" Instead, she shows the experiences of the characters and lets the audience draw conclusions from them. I very much appreciate that because it feels like she trusts the reader to recognize these things on their own.
I can't recommend this book enough and really hope to see more people pick it up. I'm definitely going to grab a finished copy for myself.
September 25, 2019
Many thanks to EdelweissPlus and the publisher for providing me with a DRC of this title to review. All opinions are my own.
If you had asked me at about 10% into this book if I was going to keep going, or even what I thought of it in general, I would have told you it was DANGEROUSLY close to being in my small DNF pile. The only thing that kept me going were: a. the author (I LOVED Bone Gap ), b. other reviews who mentioned a similar struggle getting going, and c. the buzz surrounding this book and potential award list talk. I am SO GLAD I kept going. By the time I got past 25%, I was hooked. The last half flew by. Highly recommend for readers who are interested in the time period(s), magical realism, ghosts, feminism, allegories, life in general.
My ONE complaint: I cared about one of the story lines so much more than the other one, which made it hard to stay as invested, especially at the end. I liked Frankie well enough, but the story of Pearl and her ghost, her history, her death, everything, was incredibly engaging and one that I didn't want to give up to read about Frankie's family.
Overall, this is a solid book with a twist on a ghost story. Highly recommend.
If you had asked me at about 10% into this book if I was going to keep going, or even what I thought of it in general, I would have told you it was DANGEROUSLY close to being in my small DNF pile. The only thing that kept me going were: a. the author (I LOVED Bone Gap ), b. other reviews who mentioned a similar struggle getting going, and c. the buzz surrounding this book and potential award list talk. I am SO GLAD I kept going. By the time I got past 25%, I was hooked. The last half flew by. Highly recommend for readers who are interested in the time period(s), magical realism, ghosts, feminism, allegories, life in general.
My ONE complaint: I cared about one of the story lines so much more than the other one, which made it hard to stay as invested, especially at the end. I liked Frankie well enough, but the story of Pearl and her ghost, her history, her death, everything, was incredibly engaging and one that I didn't want to give up to read about Frankie's family.
Overall, this is a solid book with a twist on a ghost story. Highly recommend.
October 29, 2019
This book casts a spell that stays long after the last story page and the author's note have been read. A ghost story and an historical novel, a meditation on how our lives are lived over the lives of those who have gone before us, about the endurance of prejudice and oppression, the triumph of love and self-love, the slipperiness of memory, the rock of truth. This story that takes place during WWII and in the decades leading up to it about two sisters rejected by their father and growing up in a Catholic orphanage, their strategies for survival, and the ghost who watches them from the afterlife, is so beautifully drawn. As the worlds overlap, memories are recovered and secrets revealed, we see all the young women in this story strengthen and endure - and reach for happiness. The language is beautiful, the pacing and construction of the novel brilliant. A page turner. One to be kept on the shelf and reread. Brava!
October 19, 2019
I finished this minutes ago and I need to write down how it made me feel. At first I held this book and tried to sleep but I couldn't, so here I am.
This book is ferociously beautiful, a supernova explosion of the most gorgeous, compelling, fierce writing - ever, in my memory of reading. It's a well-written work that hadn't particularly shaken me until the last 50 or so pages, but holy hell (apt). It's the most gratifying and emboldening ending.
I just love it. I have no words.
This book is ferociously beautiful, a supernova explosion of the most gorgeous, compelling, fierce writing - ever, in my memory of reading. It's a well-written work that hadn't particularly shaken me until the last 50 or so pages, but holy hell (apt). It's the most gratifying and emboldening ending.
I just love it. I have no words.
November 25, 2019
This is a story about young women who dare to hope in the face of life's smothering difficulties. This is a story about injustice, betrayal, pain, and loss, but this is also a story about friendship, love, laughter, and loyalty. Most of all, this is a story about persevering even while knowing it would be easier to simply give up.
January 24, 2020
Because I've married into an Italian family and have had the pleasure of hearing many stories from the older generations, this book spoke to my heart..... This is a story, but it follows so close to the realities I know happened to many families during this time...
Popsugar 202 Challenge - 20+ Letters in Title
Popsugar 202 Challenge - 20+ Letters in Title
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