November 29, 2008 12:51 pm
I received a copy of Who By Fire by Diana Spechler as part of a radio blog show that Book Club Girl hosts each month. It was a great discussion and I was so grateful for a chance to discuss the book. If you’d like to check out the discussion, click here.
As for the book, I have to say that didn’t know much about the book before diving into it. I signed up with Book Club Girl based on the small bit I had read about it, so I had absolutely no expectations as far as what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised.
Here’s the blurb from Barnes and Noble:
“Bits and Ash were children when the kidnapping of their younger sister, Alena – an incident for which Ash blames himself – caused an irreparable family rift. Thirteen years later, Ash is living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel, cutting himself off from his mother, Ellie, and his wild-child sister, Bits. But soon he may have to face them again; Alena’s remains have finally been uncovered. Now Bits is traveling across the world in a bold and desperate attempt to bring her brother home and salvage what’s left of their family.”
This is most definitely a story of grief but it’s also a story of hope. The story is told from multiple points of view and I found this to be extremely effective. I noticed too that as the story picked up, the alternating chapters became shorter and shorter…which of course added to the urgency of the situation and for some odd reason gave me hope that all would turn out well for these characters.
With characters as flawed as these, I still found myself liking them and to me that is what I love about this book. Spechler did a wonderful job of creating realistic characters. I wanted them to come out on top… I wanted them to resolve their issues. Simply put, I cared about them.
Book groups will have plenty to discuss if they add this book to their reading lists and I’ve heard that she is currently working on her next novel! I can’t wait to read it.
For more info on Diana Spechler, click here to visit her website.
Posted by Ti
Categories: Book Review
Tags: Book Review, Diana Spechler, Who By Fire
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I can’t wait to read this one.
By bermudaonion on November 29, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Oh yay! I’m glad you liked it.
By softdrink on November 29, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Like Kathy, I can’t wait to read this one. It is definitely going on my wish list.Shana< HREF="http://blog.literarily.com" REL="nofollow">Literarily<>
By Shana on November 29, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Ti, I’ll be back to your review as soon as I get it read. Looks like y ou liked it which is good enough for me for now.
By Dar on November 30, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I really liked *Who By Fire*, but haven’t finished my review yet — busy, busy, busy this time of year! I loved how Diana Spechler built all the characters; the draft of my review calls them ‘wonderfully flawed.’
By dawn on November 30, 2008 at 8:02 pm
I read this one for the Book Club Girl discussion, too, but haven’t yet written my review. I really enjoyed it. The characters drove me batty some times, but they were likeable, too.–Anna< HREF="http://diaryofaneccentric.blogspot.com/" REL="nofollow">Diary of an Eccentric<>
By Anna on December 1, 2008 at 8:54 pm
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By Books Read in 2008 « Book Chatter on January 4, 2010 at 7:20 am
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