Review of I'll Be Right Here by Amy Bloom

I'm a huge Amy Bloom fan, and while I appreciated the strong main female character here and the World War II-era crises, for me, the story felt somewhat disjointed and flagged in pacing for me as it addressed various events of the characters' later years.

Gazala must be crafty, humble, and alert to get by as a Jew while World War II envelops Paris. When she emigrates to New York City, she is befriended by two strong young sisters, Anne and Alma, and Gazala's adopted brother Samir joins them in Manhattan.

I'll Be Right Here tracks decades in their lives, including victories, pain, unorthodox choices, and love.

I was invested in Gazala's young life; the concessions, cleverness, and compromises necessary during desperate times; and particularly her ability to navigate a potentially deadly and complex wartime crisis with sometimes ruthless focus.

The story meandered through subsequent years, and I didn't feel immersed in the novel; I was told that deep feelings (of friendship, loyalty, romantic love, or familial love) existed, but I didn't become invested so that this felt real. Gazala feels like a faded, only formerly strong character well before her actual demise.

I appreciated the highlighting of various shapes of relationships. I had significant difficulty getting past the fact that an adoptive sibling pair fell in love, while appreciating that the unprecedented trauma of World War II and the importance of human connection were essential factors in this.

I received a prepublication edition of this title, which was published June 24, courtesy of NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group.

Amy Bloom Love

Bloom is also the author of White Houses, which I gave 5 Bossy stars, the heartbreakingly beautiful In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss, Away, Lucky Us, Come to Me: Stories, and A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You: Stories.