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Love Invents Us
A sharp and funny, rueful, and uncompromisingly real tale of growing up—from National Book Award finalist Amy BloomA chubby girl with smudged pink harlequin glasses and a habit of stealing Heath Bars from the local five-and-dime, Elizabeth Taube is the only child of parents whose indifference to her is the one sure thing in her life. When her search for love and attention leads her into the arms of her junior-high-school English teacher, things begin to get complicated. And even her friend Mrs. Hill, a nearly blind, elderly black woman, can't protect her when real love — exhilarating, passionate, heartbreaking — enters her life in the gorgeous shape of Huddie Lester. With her finely honed style and her unflinching sensibility, Bloom shows us how profoundly the forces of love and desire can shape a life.
224 pages, Paperback
First published December 30, 1996
114 people are currently reading
1848 people want to read
About the author
Amy Bloom
66 books1,267 followersAmy Bloom is the New York Times bestselling author of White Houses; Come to Me, a National Book Award finalist; A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You, a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist; Love Invents Us; Normal; Away; Where the God of Love Hangs Out; and Lucky Us. Her stories have appeared in The Best American Short Stories, O. Henry Prize Short Stories, The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction, and many other anthologies. She has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, O: The Oprah Magazine, Slate, Tin House, and Salon, among other publications, and has won a National Magazine Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 246 reviews
July 25, 2020
I picked up this novel to read after having owned it for years, not knowing anything about its plot; only aware that I’d purchased it after reading a short story or two of Amy Bloom’s that had really impressed me. She’s a very strong, perceptive, and surprising writer; I never knew where he slender but richly envisioned novel was going to take me next. I think she’s a bit more successful here in her first-person voice than in her third-person voice (she switches between the two in this novel), but regardless, I very much appreciate how she allows her characters to live and breathe, often behaving in ways that are believably confusing to themselves; and I very much appreciate that she examines and interrogates complex and challenging issues here without ever leaning into judgmental hand-wringing or polemics. I’d definitely like to continue seeking out her work.
September 12, 2022
Bold, compellingly unpretentious, and pleasantly nonjudgmental, with an authentic main POV to appreciate. Captivatingly lifelike with its fumbling complexity of relations and mixed emotions.
This definitely felt like a good one to start with the author. 4 to 5 stars.
(And, inspired another, long overlooked read, too: Lolita, which feels like a completely opposite view in comparison, driven by intimidatingly deceptive moralizing, while ostentatiously sycophantic with its prose; all absent from this here plain-spoken book).
This definitely felt like a good one to start with the author. 4 to 5 stars.
(And, inspired another, long overlooked read, too: Lolita, which feels like a completely opposite view in comparison, driven by intimidatingly deceptive moralizing, while ostentatiously sycophantic with its prose; all absent from this here plain-spoken book).
March 11, 2015
I had not heard of Amy Bloom when I opened this book, which had been loaned to me by a friend. At first I was not quite sure what to make of it. The book is divided into three sections: the first and third are first person narratives told over a period of thirty years or so by Elizabeth Taube, who is in middle school at the beginning of the book. That first section deals with Elizabeth as a seventh grader. The opening of the book is a bit creepy, and much of what follows, especially in that first section of the novel, also is a bit creepy. Elizabeth is the ignored child of a financially successful couple; her father hides behind his copy of The Wall Street Journal and her mother is more interested in appearances than in her daughter. In the opening chapter Elizabeth is dressed in her underwear, standing on a footstool in a furrier’s dressing room trying on furs. Mr. Klein, the furrier, purrs about how beautiful Elizabeth is, how these furs were made for her, how the boys must admire her. Totally creepy. But Elizabeth is pudgy and unloved and no boys admire her, in fact, no one at all admires her. Elizabeth states directly that neither her mother nor her father ever said she is admirable in any way. Mr. Klein, who attends to Elizabeth outside as well as inside his shop, driving her home and gifting her with fine chocolates, clearly is an admirer of the sort we do not admire. We suspect this narrative is going no place good, yet Bloom pulls back, at least for now. Mr. Klein is not, as it turns out, actually a child molester, though we can only imagine what he might be thinking.
What is brilliant here is the voice Bloom has invented for Elizabeth. She is direct and matter of fact. She reports what she does and what happens to her without making moral judgments. She is clear that her parents do not tell her how wonderful she is and she is clear that she loves the attention that comes from being loved. And she lives full of desire, not only for love but for things as well. She steals, but calls what she does “Taking.” She has no moral crisis here either. She is an outcast at school, but her voice does not show any deep hurt, even though she tells us how hard her life has become. She seeks love where she can find it, and not everywhere she finds it is appropriate. And again Bloom is brilliant as she describes a love relationship Elizabeth has with Max Stone, her middle school math teacher. What in the real world is a repulsive relationship somehow does not repulse readers because Bloom lets us see the complexity of the characters through the perspective of the very needy Elizabeth. Not that readers approve, but Bloom makes us understand and even sympathize with characters who do terrible things but who are clearly struggling. There are many love relationships in the book, some exciting and passionate, some healing and nurturing, all necessary for Elizabeth whose lack of love from birth onward threw her into a deep dependency on others to love her and by their love to “invent” her. And Bloom helps soothe our objections by giving all eighteen chapters titles taken from gospel music, hymns, and other songs. One of my favorite characters, Mrs. Hill, sings only one song, which also is a favorite of mine: “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.” Bloom uses lyrics from that song (“I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free”) as a chapter heading, working all sides of all we feel.
The second and longest section of the book is a third person narrative. Much like the “Time Passes” section in Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse, this is where we move through the three decades or so that the book covers. Things move quickly—people age, grow up, move on and out, marry, get sick, and die. We follow all the characters we met in the beginning and see how things changed between and among them as they pass through those three decades. The third and final section of the novel is again first person and very short. We get a good sense of how Elizabeth feels and understands what has happened in her life and in the lives of those she has loved. But Bloom pulls back at the very end with a final sentence that surely must vex many readers because Elizabeth refuses to tell all. If all you want is to tie up loose ends, you might rebel, but if you want to feel how life really feels to Elizabeth, you just might feel, as I do, that that last sentence is exactly right. I started reading this book being not at all sure whether or not it would be worth reading, but I ended up convinced of Bloom’s genius and looking around for her two later novels, one of which (Lucky Us) was just published last summer.
4.5/5.0
What is brilliant here is the voice Bloom has invented for Elizabeth. She is direct and matter of fact. She reports what she does and what happens to her without making moral judgments. She is clear that her parents do not tell her how wonderful she is and she is clear that she loves the attention that comes from being loved. And she lives full of desire, not only for love but for things as well. She steals, but calls what she does “Taking.” She has no moral crisis here either. She is an outcast at school, but her voice does not show any deep hurt, even though she tells us how hard her life has become. She seeks love where she can find it, and not everywhere she finds it is appropriate. And again Bloom is brilliant as she describes a love relationship Elizabeth has with Max Stone, her middle school math teacher. What in the real world is a repulsive relationship somehow does not repulse readers because Bloom lets us see the complexity of the characters through the perspective of the very needy Elizabeth. Not that readers approve, but Bloom makes us understand and even sympathize with characters who do terrible things but who are clearly struggling. There are many love relationships in the book, some exciting and passionate, some healing and nurturing, all necessary for Elizabeth whose lack of love from birth onward threw her into a deep dependency on others to love her and by their love to “invent” her. And Bloom helps soothe our objections by giving all eighteen chapters titles taken from gospel music, hymns, and other songs. One of my favorite characters, Mrs. Hill, sings only one song, which also is a favorite of mine: “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.” Bloom uses lyrics from that song (“I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free”) as a chapter heading, working all sides of all we feel.
The second and longest section of the book is a third person narrative. Much like the “Time Passes” section in Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse, this is where we move through the three decades or so that the book covers. Things move quickly—people age, grow up, move on and out, marry, get sick, and die. We follow all the characters we met in the beginning and see how things changed between and among them as they pass through those three decades. The third and final section of the novel is again first person and very short. We get a good sense of how Elizabeth feels and understands what has happened in her life and in the lives of those she has loved. But Bloom pulls back at the very end with a final sentence that surely must vex many readers because Elizabeth refuses to tell all. If all you want is to tie up loose ends, you might rebel, but if you want to feel how life really feels to Elizabeth, you just might feel, as I do, that that last sentence is exactly right. I started reading this book being not at all sure whether or not it would be worth reading, but I ended up convinced of Bloom’s genius and looking around for her two later novels, one of which (Lucky Us) was just published last summer.
4.5/5.0
April 26, 2011
This is one of those books when you get to the end and you are shocked that you read the whole thing. What a waste of good reading time. I didn't like Elizabeth or understand her decisions and the author made no effort to explain it. Some story lines would begin in the middle as though the reader was just supposed to magically know what was happening or what the characters were talking about. I don't see myself ever bothering with another book by Amy Bloom if this is her trademark style.
June 27, 2012
I'm a fan of Amy Bloom, but sometimes I wonder if that's mostly because I'll never get over one of her first short stories, "Love Is Not A Pie." What is best about her, for me, is in that first collection of stories: she writes about what is taboo directly and from a startling point of view that makes me appreciate the transcendence of love over our conventional limits. Plus, she writes so beautifully, she'd be irresistible no matter what she was writing about.
Love Invents Us contains some of her familiar, cherished themes--love between a white woman and a black man, sex scenes that make you weep with desire, flawed characters who try to correct tragic mistakes but who maybe just make things worse, the transcendence of love over everything else, and all of this without ever once being corny.
My problem started after I finished this novel; I was looking for the next chapter. Open-ended is not okay after investing hundreds of pages of my life. I found myself hunting for clues. Maybe the title, maybe that's what all this is about. All these seemingly disjointed vignettes about love and longing and disappointment? They must be connected because once we love selflessly, love invents us, dictates our every choice.
Looking back, I don't understand the chapter titles, which give no clue about what is to come. I'm not sure if the novel's trajectory is chronological or just a sort of laundry list of loves and disappointments. It's a first-person narrative, but not consistently so. The last chapter is especially split between the two main characters (are they the two main characters?), and the last line is like a slap in the face.
A last line of a novel should not be a refusal to tell the story.
Love Invents Us contains some of her familiar, cherished themes--love between a white woman and a black man, sex scenes that make you weep with desire, flawed characters who try to correct tragic mistakes but who maybe just make things worse, the transcendence of love over everything else, and all of this without ever once being corny.
My problem started after I finished this novel; I was looking for the next chapter. Open-ended is not okay after investing hundreds of pages of my life. I found myself hunting for clues. Maybe the title, maybe that's what all this is about. All these seemingly disjointed vignettes about love and longing and disappointment? They must be connected because once we love selflessly, love invents us, dictates our every choice.
Looking back, I don't understand the chapter titles, which give no clue about what is to come. I'm not sure if the novel's trajectory is chronological or just a sort of laundry list of loves and disappointments. It's a first-person narrative, but not consistently so. The last chapter is especially split between the two main characters (are they the two main characters?), and the last line is like a slap in the face.
A last line of a novel should not be a refusal to tell the story.
January 19, 2014
I wrote this down in my reader-response journal and sometimes re-read it on the train, bus, or just when I feel the need to shed a quick tear, which is more often than I care to admit.
"The organ came in on cue and everyone stood up as the lady in gray sang again, sang the only hymn Mrs. Hill had ever sung, in her cracked, phlegmy voice. She sang it so often Elizabeth learned the words, and hummed along, not wanting to intrude or do the wrong thing until Mrs. Hill called her into her bedroom one evening and said, 'Sing,' and they had sat up together in Mrs. Hill's bed, their hands in a pile and night falling fast, singing, 'Why should I feel discouraged, why do the shadows come/why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home/When Jesus is my portion, my constant friend is he/for his eye is on the sparrow and I know he's watching me/and I know he's watching me-e-e-e,' and Mrs. Hill touched Elizabeth's face with paper-dry fingertips and said, 'You're the sparrow girl,' and Elizabeth thought that this was family, dirty dishes and unappreciated treasures, the low friendly buzz of TV and two stiff fingers tapping her cheek, a full embrace of all-believing, all-hoping, all-enduring love in the face of deceit and pretense and the unchangeable past and the inevitable end."
The protagonist thinks these thoughts at the funeral of her friend. I don't believe in God or even have religion, but this part of the book made me want to be in a church with these kinds of thoughts in my head. Ah, Amy Bloom . . .
"The organ came in on cue and everyone stood up as the lady in gray sang again, sang the only hymn Mrs. Hill had ever sung, in her cracked, phlegmy voice. She sang it so often Elizabeth learned the words, and hummed along, not wanting to intrude or do the wrong thing until Mrs. Hill called her into her bedroom one evening and said, 'Sing,' and they had sat up together in Mrs. Hill's bed, their hands in a pile and night falling fast, singing, 'Why should I feel discouraged, why do the shadows come/why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home/When Jesus is my portion, my constant friend is he/for his eye is on the sparrow and I know he's watching me/and I know he's watching me-e-e-e,' and Mrs. Hill touched Elizabeth's face with paper-dry fingertips and said, 'You're the sparrow girl,' and Elizabeth thought that this was family, dirty dishes and unappreciated treasures, the low friendly buzz of TV and two stiff fingers tapping her cheek, a full embrace of all-believing, all-hoping, all-enduring love in the face of deceit and pretense and the unchangeable past and the inevitable end."
The protagonist thinks these thoughts at the funeral of her friend. I don't believe in God or even have religion, but this part of the book made me want to be in a church with these kinds of thoughts in my head. Ah, Amy Bloom . . .
August 6, 2017
"Well, you can't get much more behind than you are, I guess. You're not going to be a mathematical genius, Miss Taube. You better cultivate your other talents."
Devoured this one. I shouldn't have liked it; the plot shouldn't have worked, and it should have been riddled with clichés. But it did work. And the writing.
This was actually a great book to read right after workshop, because all the things that really get harped on in workshop – point of view shifts, tense shifts, adjectives, etc. - Bloom does, providing a really lovely lesson in "anything can be done, if it's done well." With provocative and clear prose, the story is clearly in capable hands, and that makes reading an absolute pleasure. Such a pleasure that I'd already bought another of her books before I was quite through with this one.
Devoured this one. I shouldn't have liked it; the plot shouldn't have worked, and it should have been riddled with clichés. But it did work. And the writing.
This was actually a great book to read right after workshop, because all the things that really get harped on in workshop – point of view shifts, tense shifts, adjectives, etc. - Bloom does, providing a really lovely lesson in "anything can be done, if it's done well." With provocative and clear prose, the story is clearly in capable hands, and that makes reading an absolute pleasure. Such a pleasure that I'd already bought another of her books before I was quite through with this one.
September 5, 2018
this book was weird... since the first page you get that this book will be weird and odd and maybe uncomfortable... we see Elizabeth a elementary school girl modeling coats in her underwear to an older man, one that is clearly sexually atracted to her.... and you have and idea that this book will not be an easy read, that is will be more troubled...
I did't liked that everything in Elizabeth life was about sex when it shouldnt be... even the kids she meets (kids that are really kids and kids that may be in puberty) it's all about sex...
I'm not shure I liked this book... but I have a strange obsession of finishing a book I started :S
I did't liked that everything in Elizabeth life was about sex when it shouldnt be... even the kids she meets (kids that are really kids and kids that may be in puberty) it's all about sex...
I'm not shure I liked this book... but I have a strange obsession of finishing a book I started :S
January 3, 2017
A coming of age novel that is both beautiful and uncomfortable at the same time, showing how love shapes us and comes in many different forms. A book I would like to re-read and an author I will definitely follow.
April 10, 2022
Got up to page 52 and had had enough. It’s like Harriet the Spy, but much disgusting. I don��t see any redeeming value in this particular book. I gave it two stars initially just to be polite, but why? It got one just because there’s no other possibility.
July 27, 2008
I picked this up in a used bookstore a couple of weeks ago because I loved the title (I believe the title: love *does* invent us), and I have read great short stories by Bloom. On reading the 1st page, I realized that I had read this novel before, a few years ago (a library copy? or have I bought it a second time?). I reread it, over about a 24 hr period. Partly procrastinating (who wants to pack for a move, after all, or put together their reappointment dossier?!), but partly because its a very fast read. Lovely prose. Not sure I find the main characters believable, and the kind of love that "invents" them turns out to be more sexual (with the exception of the young Jewish upper-middle class protagonist's relationship with an old blind poor black lady) than is really the case for me or most people, I would venture, but the novel is a pleasure, and it has some things absolutely right.
February 27, 2012
I've got to say, I hated this book. The only actual love that seemed to be in this book was with Mrs. Hill. All the other relationships seemed to be all about sex. Plus, Bloom seemed extremely racist and homophobic. She kept making it clear that this is a black man and that it should be a surprise that a black man is successful. Then, when Elizabeth's son comes up, she uses the word queer and faggot, two very discriminatory words. Plus, she made baby Max a stereotypical homosexual, doing cartwheels.
I just found this book very lustful and prejudice.
I just found this book very lustful and prejudice.
December 11, 2020
I am unable to finish this book. For me, the problem is less the writing than the themes which Bloom decided to explore. The topics which she chose made me uncomfortable, so rather than finishing this I am going to read another book from my Want to Read shelf.
February 26, 2017
I just didn't like this ... at all ...
September 5, 2018
Bleak, senseless...
March 26, 2008
This is the second of Bloom's books that I have read. I didn't like it as much as I thought I would, but it was still worth the read. This story was bleak, the characters were damaged and it was moving, in an odd, depressing, Bloom-like way.
I'm not exactly sure why it didn't grab me, but the novel felt .... listless, which I guess echoed the character's own lives. I felt similar to how I did with her short stories, as if it wasn't fleshed out enough. I wanted some of her short stories to be full length novels, but upon reading a novel of hers - I'm still left with that dissatisfied feeling, like I didn't truly get to know anybody. I'm not sure if this is because the POV jumps and changes the entire novel (omniscient style, it even ends in first person, which was disconcerting), or because it simply needed more depth. Maybe it's a fault of my own, I couldn't take it as it was and appreciate it as a short novel. I just love me them meaty thick volumes of despair. Short ones leave me hanging, achey for more.
The first part, I loved. The second I found a little tedious and the ending seemed a little disconnected from the rest of the novel. I felt deflated after I finished reading it. I guess this could well be her intention though.
I do love her writing, it's well written, beautiful, prose. It's sad and wistful and just what I enjoy. I just wish there was that little bit more oomph.
I'm not exactly sure why it didn't grab me, but the novel felt .... listless, which I guess echoed the character's own lives. I felt similar to how I did with her short stories, as if it wasn't fleshed out enough. I wanted some of her short stories to be full length novels, but upon reading a novel of hers - I'm still left with that dissatisfied feeling, like I didn't truly get to know anybody. I'm not sure if this is because the POV jumps and changes the entire novel (omniscient style, it even ends in first person, which was disconcerting), or because it simply needed more depth. Maybe it's a fault of my own, I couldn't take it as it was and appreciate it as a short novel. I just love me them meaty thick volumes of despair. Short ones leave me hanging, achey for more.
The first part, I loved. The second I found a little tedious and the ending seemed a little disconnected from the rest of the novel. I felt deflated after I finished reading it. I guess this could well be her intention though.
I do love her writing, it's well written, beautiful, prose. It's sad and wistful and just what I enjoy. I just wish there was that little bit more oomph.
December 24, 2008
Beautiful prose, but the story is too disjointed and then it just ends. The main character is very difficult to relate to - she drifts through life with no purpose, no energy or love for life. Not a story of optimism, hope or faith. I felt terribly betrayed that I had invested days on my life in these characters, hoping that she would end up with the love of her life, and than, after 15 years, he reappears, and the story just ends. Not fair. (And the part about he rson was just weird and random.) If there was a deeper point to all fo this, I missed it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2009
This book was terrible. I thought that by Amy Bloom it would be worth reading but it was awful. Haltingly written with a story line that was replusive I was sorry I used a credit for it from my paperbackswap account.
Maybe it's just me, but I really disliked this book on every level.
Maybe it's just me, but I really disliked this book on every level.
August 6, 2022
Amy Bloom is a masterful writer. In Love Invents Us she will make you think about your own life and realize that you have had experiences that parallel hers and some of those experiences are how you were invented. I admire the courage she displays. There's truth on every page.
I am currently studying to be a writer at 73 and regret that I won't have enough time to hone my craft to approach that of Amy Bloom.
BRAVO!
I am currently studying to be a writer at 73 and regret that I won't have enough time to hone my craft to approach that of Amy Bloom.
BRAVO!
February 21, 2025
2.5 stars this book was weird af
November 29, 2018
I have mixed thoughts on this book, and here are some of them. Re-reading, my points are kind of confusing and off, but I just spent three hours in this book and I'm trying to put my thoughts into words..
I'll preface this by saying that I read it in a few hours, and I felt compelled to finish it. It was an easy and quick read. I am ultimately glad that I decided to read it.
The good:
This book tackled interesting sexual concepts that I enjoy in a book. What I mean by this is not that I enjoy reading about crude, pedophilic relationships, but rather, I love the idea of bringing taxing, complicated relationships that challenge what we know as a society, into a book. I love how it makes me think, makes me learn. An example: Elizabeth has wealthy parents, who happen to neglect the company she keeps. They let her, in elementary school, get picked up by an older man who has her pose nude in his furs. They then allow her to get rides from a male teacher, every single day, with no question. It's odd, and unfathomable to me. However; this really happens, and you see the journey of adulthood in Elizabeth and the characters involved, and how various relationships affected Elizabeth. It should be talked about. It, unfortunately, happens a lot more often than we think.
'
This author very tastefully touched on this topic. It was not crude, though of course, the subject matter is taboo and controversial.
What I didn't enjoy:
Elizabeth's self-journey. I wish it focused a bit more on the issues Elizabeth felt. She was overweight as a child (which, we see complications with food in the beginning and her bullying, but she grows up and becomes hot?) The cover on the back focuses on this overweight girl. In reality, that doesn't just leave you. As a chubby-turned-"normal" woman, you deal with internal struggles from the self-image issues. I don't know, I would have liked to have seen more of that relationship.
Confusing perspectives. Some chapters would begin with what was happening to Huddie, as well as hinted at Max's backstory. I think that it would have been an easier transition if an entire chapter at a time were focused on these viewpoints, not just excerpts. It's confusing for the reader.
I would have loved to have seen more of Huddie's struggle to his transition to being sent to Alabama. I thought that's where it was going for "part two", but it didn't happen that way. i didn't know I needed that. I would have rather have had more information about Huddie's transition, or not have had what we were given. it was seemingly...pointless. As a reader, I would've liked more of an explanation, especially since this is an opportunity for racial education. Her ethnicity was a concern for the family. It would have been really insightful to see the struggle between the family dynamic, what Elizabeth caused, between the family.
Huddie's loyalty to his wife was unconvincing, but, his relationship with Elizabeth in adulthood seemed extremely forced and odd. He went to fantasizing about his wife and life, then back to being in bed with Elizabeth. I love seeing the internal struggle within a character, it shows growth, but this did nothing to grow Huddie nor the plot. I hated their relationship at this time. I say this because of the ending, where Huddie comes back, again. How did they start speaking again? What happened?
Also, wait, Elizabeth went to going on a vacation with her best friend, to going to college? What? We were under the impression she went. And her going...again...didn't really feel conducive to the story.
I understand the importance of ambiguity for the respect of the book and its characters, but I wish I had been given more to end the novel with. Who was Max's father, was it Max's son? I felt like Max (J.R) 's sexuality was forced into the plot as well. I wish that time was spent answering some other questions. The ending lacked that special feeling the reader wishes that there was more of closure or even a cliffhanging. The ending just really did not do it for me.
If I could, I would give this book 2.5 stars. I liked this book, but I did not love it. My heart, at points, ached for Elizabeth. At other points, I just did not understand where the author was going with some of the plotlines. Instead of the huge gaps in time, I would have liked to see some expansion on chapters as they ended.
I'll preface this by saying that I read it in a few hours, and I felt compelled to finish it. It was an easy and quick read. I am ultimately glad that I decided to read it.
The good:
This book tackled interesting sexual concepts that I enjoy in a book. What I mean by this is not that I enjoy reading about crude, pedophilic relationships, but rather, I love the idea of bringing taxing, complicated relationships that challenge what we know as a society, into a book. I love how it makes me think, makes me learn. An example: Elizabeth has wealthy parents, who happen to neglect the company she keeps. They let her, in elementary school, get picked up by an older man who has her pose nude in his furs. They then allow her to get rides from a male teacher, every single day, with no question. It's odd, and unfathomable to me. However; this really happens, and you see the journey of adulthood in Elizabeth and the characters involved, and how various relationships affected Elizabeth. It should be talked about. It, unfortunately, happens a lot more often than we think.
'
This author very tastefully touched on this topic. It was not crude, though of course, the subject matter is taboo and controversial.
What I didn't enjoy:
Elizabeth's self-journey. I wish it focused a bit more on the issues Elizabeth felt. She was overweight as a child (which, we see complications with food in the beginning and her bullying, but she grows up and becomes hot?) The cover on the back focuses on this overweight girl. In reality, that doesn't just leave you. As a chubby-turned-"normal" woman, you deal with internal struggles from the self-image issues. I don't know, I would have liked to have seen more of that relationship.
Confusing perspectives. Some chapters would begin with what was happening to Huddie, as well as hinted at Max's backstory. I think that it would have been an easier transition if an entire chapter at a time were focused on these viewpoints, not just excerpts. It's confusing for the reader.
I would have loved to have seen more of Huddie's struggle to his transition to being sent to Alabama. I thought that's where it was going for "part two", but it didn't happen that way. i didn't know I needed that. I would have rather have had more information about Huddie's transition, or not have had what we were given. it was seemingly...pointless. As a reader, I would've liked more of an explanation, especially since this is an opportunity for racial education. Her ethnicity was a concern for the family. It would have been really insightful to see the struggle between the family dynamic, what Elizabeth caused, between the family.
Huddie's loyalty to his wife was unconvincing, but, his relationship with Elizabeth in adulthood seemed extremely forced and odd. He went to fantasizing about his wife and life, then back to being in bed with Elizabeth. I love seeing the internal struggle within a character, it shows growth, but this did nothing to grow Huddie nor the plot. I hated their relationship at this time. I say this because of the ending, where Huddie comes back, again. How did they start speaking again? What happened?
Also, wait, Elizabeth went to going on a vacation with her best friend, to going to college? What? We were under the impression she went. And her going...again...didn't really feel conducive to the story.
I understand the importance of ambiguity for the respect of the book and its characters, but I wish I had been given more to end the novel with. Who was Max's father, was it Max's son? I felt like Max (J.R) 's sexuality was forced into the plot as well. I wish that time was spent answering some other questions. The ending lacked that special feeling the reader wishes that there was more of closure or even a cliffhanging. The ending just really did not do it for me.
If I could, I would give this book 2.5 stars. I liked this book, but I did not love it. My heart, at points, ached for Elizabeth. At other points, I just did not understand where the author was going with some of the plotlines. Instead of the huge gaps in time, I would have liked to see some expansion on chapters as they ended.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 25, 2018
read half, that's more than enough for me.
February 11, 2011
I wish, I really wish, I could write the review this book deserves. The review that is in my head, that I have trouble putting into words that make sense.
Truly, a very beautiful book. The heartbreaking points are plentiful, but in a way that we all experience at some point in our lives. The absolute ability of Bloom to accurately describe love and infatuation - even I felt in love during this book.
There is no judgment in this book, although much of the subject matter, someone could judge. A reviewer stated that on every page is something to think about, some line to be repeated. I found this to be true. Each page was profound, full of an array of emotions, but not those emotions forced down our throats by the likes to Picoult. Not manipulative. Rather, they are emotions felt by real people.
Bloom writes beautiful prose. This book was reminiscent of Anita Shreve, but not as dramatic, reminding me somewhat of A. M. Homes in her ability to come face to face with certain emotions we would maybe condemn, or not understand. Life moves on, even with a broken heart.
All in all, a beautiful read. This will not be my last Bloom book.
Truly, a very beautiful book. The heartbreaking points are plentiful, but in a way that we all experience at some point in our lives. The absolute ability of Bloom to accurately describe love and infatuation - even I felt in love during this book.
There is no judgment in this book, although much of the subject matter, someone could judge. A reviewer stated that on every page is something to think about, some line to be repeated. I found this to be true. Each page was profound, full of an array of emotions, but not those emotions forced down our throats by the likes to Picoult. Not manipulative. Rather, they are emotions felt by real people.
Bloom writes beautiful prose. This book was reminiscent of Anita Shreve, but not as dramatic, reminding me somewhat of A. M. Homes in her ability to come face to face with certain emotions we would maybe condemn, or not understand. Life moves on, even with a broken heart.
All in all, a beautiful read. This will not be my last Bloom book.
October 9, 2008
I picked this up on spec at Powells because someone had written an enthusiastic shelf talker for a more recent book by Amy Bloom. The book starts off a bit strangely as the narrator - who is in Grade 5 - spends her after school time trying on furs in her underwear for the admiration (and ONLY the admiration) of the elderly shop owner. The narrator is the single and not much loved child of a successful professional couple living in Great Neck, Long Island, in the sixties and her continued efforts to find love in all the 'wrong' places lead her to a life-altering affair with her high school English teacher. Sounds kind of dumb, but Amy Bloom writes divinely and about half way through as the book shifts from the first to the third person and suddenly turns into a genuine novel (it sort of felt like a David Sedaris long short story wannabe at first)the story really took off and left me sad & confused & wanting more. If you have ever loved or been loved, this is a book you should read. I HIGHLY recommend it.
November 21, 2011
This was the first book I've read by Amy Bloom, and I'm afraid my expectations were a bit high. She has tremendous descriptive talent--so many gorgeous, seemingly effortless, just right ways of putting things. The language was truly rare, and a wonderful pleasure. Storywise, however, I found the characterizations and character psychologies a bit obscure. I don't want to give anything away, but I found the central protagonist's motivations difficult to discern, and the fact that the POV rotated from her first person for her scenes, to third person in scenes that focused on the two other main characters--her high school sweetheart, and her high school teacher--a bit too safe. I wondered repeatedly what effect placing these POVs in first person would have had on the impact of the story. This one kind of fizzled for me, but I'll probably give the author the benefit of the doubt and give another of her books a go.
May 9, 2010
I've been avoiding writing this review because it breaks my heart to say anything negative about Amy Bloom, and I just don't see any way around it.
Maybe it's because I've read all her short stories voraciously and often. Her human subjects are so flawed, tortured, joyous and real that I found it to be a real emotional struggle to follow them through a novel-length piece. It did not help that several chapters were clearly re-writes of published stories. Basically by the final chapters I was rolling my eyes and going "what more does the author feel the need to put these characters through to teach us a lesson. And what's the lesson anyway."
I still think Bloom write and understands people, real people, better than pretty much any author out there. But maybe that's why she shouldn't write full-length fiction. People, when examined too closely, are a relentlessly sad topic.
Maybe it's because I've read all her short stories voraciously and often. Her human subjects are so flawed, tortured, joyous and real that I found it to be a real emotional struggle to follow them through a novel-length piece. It did not help that several chapters were clearly re-writes of published stories. Basically by the final chapters I was rolling my eyes and going "what more does the author feel the need to put these characters through to teach us a lesson. And what's the lesson anyway."
I still think Bloom write and understands people, real people, better than pretty much any author out there. But maybe that's why she shouldn't write full-length fiction. People, when examined too closely, are a relentlessly sad topic.
August 11, 2016
I like the sadness. A lot of sadness and longing here, sometimes for no apparent reason.
It felt like a memoir, only sadder. There was beautiful, spare writing throughout with a few absolutely fantastic descriptions ("And beneath those feet, my hands ... worn and rough as cedar bark. Ivory angel feet with opal nails and satin soles. And my hands became his steps."), but Bloom doesn't flaunt her skills, she teases, lets a reader peek. The simplicity of her writing makes such passages leap from the page.
Did I mention the book is a little sad? It is. Perhaps so much so because the narrator (who is sometimes the narrator and sometimes not, as the perspective shifts) is endearing. Recommended. I'd loan you mine, but I spilled coffee all over it.
It felt like a memoir, only sadder. There was beautiful, spare writing throughout with a few absolutely fantastic descriptions ("And beneath those feet, my hands ... worn and rough as cedar bark. Ivory angel feet with opal nails and satin soles. And my hands became his steps."), but Bloom doesn't flaunt her skills, she teases, lets a reader peek. The simplicity of her writing makes such passages leap from the page.
Did I mention the book is a little sad? It is. Perhaps so much so because the narrator (who is sometimes the narrator and sometimes not, as the perspective shifts) is endearing. Recommended. I'd loan you mine, but I spilled coffee all over it.
July 10, 2007
Not satisfying. Mostly this "novel" reads like a collection of stories, which is okay. And I was engaged until the last story, which has Elizabeth (the messed up central character, who steals and lies and sleeps with her English teacher, probably because her parents do a lousy job with her) receiving a visit from Huddie, the black guy she really has loved all along, while her son--no mention of who the father might be, but he's named after the English teacher who died long before the kid was conceived--who apparently at 8 is obviously gay. Didn't buy this ending.
May 30, 2011
Dark, edgy little novel whose name seems misguided. I can't come up with a better title, mind you, but it might help to know that by 'love,' she means the wholly dysfunctional, FUBAR variety that can derail one's life for good.
That said, the writing and character perspective is done really well. The emotional truth is evident on every page, and it was compulsively readable, if only to find out whether any of the characters would find redemption or lifelong heartache from circumstances out of their control from the start.
That said, the writing and character perspective is done really well. The emotional truth is evident on every page, and it was compulsively readable, if only to find out whether any of the characters would find redemption or lifelong heartache from circumstances out of their control from the start.
May 22, 2012
I haven't read this book in a long time... but I remember it like I just read it today. It was my go-to book when I needed a reading fix, something comfortable and unsettling at the same time. I could relate to Elizabeth and I hated the grown men who thought they loved her... I always wanted her to stay a child. I loved the writing, it was honest and blunt, no sugar coating. I will always remember it.
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