I can’t make up my mind about this book.

Alice Hoffman’s book “The Museum of Extraordinary Things” was better than this one. Even though at the time I complained about Hoffman’s heavy emphasis on descriptions (I listened to that one as an audiobook, not doing that again), the historical tale really brought alive the world of immigrants to New-York and the days of the sweatshops. It’s a book I remember well, which is why I decided to try another by the same author.

The writing is beautiful (though I do like more dialogue!) and the message of the book related to dealing with loss and pain is powerful, yet not “Kitsch”.

But some parts of it just don’t seem believable to me. They just don’t make sense. I looked at some reviews online after I finished it, and it seems I’m not the only one who had trouble with this issue, and with the first chapter in particular.

Nonetheless, it’s easy to read and at no point did I want to stop reading.