I feel truly honored that Rich Weatherly, the author of Closed Doors, has posted a review of my novel, Apart From Love. This is what he writes:
The family saga, Apart From Love by Uvi Poznansky opens on a scene in the family home. The reader finds Ben, son of Lenny, the family patriarch, in a strange, tense situation. It is a tense situation because Ben has just been greeted by Anita, his father's bride. He finds Anita to be attractive if uneducated. She is a year younger than Ben who is 27.
As chapters progress through the saga, each is delivered as a first person account of the events taking place between Ben, Lenny and Anita. Readers of literary fiction with a biographical tone will find Apart from Love compelling. Uvi Poznansky paints vivid portraits of these primary characters and others with whom they interact.
We learn early on that Natasha, Ben's mother separated from Lenny. An element of tragedy is introduced when we learn from Lenny that Natasha has early onset Alzheimer's disease. Ben had been led to believe his mother had been traveling on a world concert tour. He is shattered to learn Natasha has been in a nursing home.
To me, Anita becomes the strongest character in the story. True, she doesn't have much education and she was abused at home. That said, we learn through her first person narratives that Anita has good common sense, is attractive and has strong character, especially when it involves protecting her unborn child. It seems she spends much of her time at home, along while Lenny is `away' writing and following his own self-interests. Maybe that is part of the attraction that begins to draw Ben and Anita together. One of the early hints comes as we see Ben and Anita performing an enthusiastic duet on the piano. By the end of the performance, both characters seem non-plused.
Additional tension develops when Ben discovers Lenny has plagiarized recorded memos from a tape recorder. This machine will eventually prove to provide a growing body of information which is revealed at the end of the book.
After Lenny and Natasha's separation, it seems Ben left home for an extended period of time. In the following excerpt you will get a glimpse of Uvi Poznansky's give of description and a feel for the lyrical prose she is capable of writing.
Excerpt - A special moment between Ben & his father at Venice Beach, Apart From Love by UviPoznansky
"My father just smiles, pouring me one cup of milk after another. "Well, now," he says, once I have gulped down the last one. "Lets get some fresh air." And so, an hour or so later, the old man and I are down at Venice Beach, which is nearly deserted, barely a soul around. There in front of us, closing in on an unclear horizon, is an autumn sun, reddening every ripple out there in the ocean, every little wrinkle here on the shore, and casting endless shadows, shadows made of vapor and dust, which seem to be flowing along, right over the surface. We stand side by side. We smell the salt ..."
I highly recommend, Apart From Love. When you read the book, I encourage you to savor each chapter, much like reading an important letter from a friend or family member. As you read each chapter you'll see a cohesive structure emerge. By the end you'll find a story where the whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts. Read it and enjoy!
Savor the ties and tensions between inseparable characters, February 4, 2013
By
This review is from: Apart From Love (Kindle Edition)
The family saga, Apart From Love by Uvi Poznansky opens on a scene in the family home. The reader finds Ben, son of Lenny, the family patriarch, in a strange, tense situation. It is a tense situation because Ben has just been greeted by Anita, his father's bride. He finds Anita to be attractive if uneducated. She is a year younger than Ben who is 27.As chapters progress through the saga, each is delivered as a first person account of the events taking place between Ben, Lenny and Anita. Readers of literary fiction with a biographical tone will find Apart from Love compelling. Uvi Poznansky paints vivid portraits of these primary characters and others with whom they interact.
We learn early on that Natasha, Ben's mother separated from Lenny. An element of tragedy is introduced when we learn from Lenny that Natasha has early onset Alzheimer's disease. Ben had been led to believe his mother had been traveling on a world concert tour. He is shattered to learn Natasha has been in a nursing home.
To me, Anita becomes the strongest character in the story. True, she doesn't have much education and she was abused at home. That said, we learn through her first person narratives that Anita has good common sense, is attractive and has strong character, especially when it involves protecting her unborn child. It seems she spends much of her time at home, along while Lenny is `away' writing and following his own self-interests. Maybe that is part of the attraction that begins to draw Ben and Anita together. One of the early hints comes as we see Ben and Anita performing an enthusiastic duet on the piano. By the end of the performance, both characters seem non-plused.
Additional tension develops when Ben discovers Lenny has plagiarized recorded memos from a tape recorder. This machine will eventually prove to provide a growing body of information which is revealed at the end of the book.
After Lenny and Natasha's separation, it seems Ben left home for an extended period of time. In the following excerpt you will get a glimpse of Uvi Poznansky's give of description and a feel for the lyrical prose she is capable of writing.
Excerpt - A special moment between Ben & his father at Venice Beach, Apart From Love by UviPoznansky
"My father just smiles, pouring me one cup of milk after another. "Well, now," he says, once I have gulped down the last one. "Lets get some fresh air." And so, an hour or so later, the old man and I are down at Venice Beach, which is nearly deserted, barely a soul around. There in front of us, closing in on an unclear horizon, is an autumn sun, reddening every ripple out there in the ocean, every little wrinkle here on the shore, and casting endless shadows, shadows made of vapor and dust, which seem to be flowing along, right over the surface. We stand side by side. We smell the salt ..."
I highly recommend, Apart From Love. When you read the book, I encourage you to savor each chapter, much like reading an important letter from a friend or family member. As you read each chapter you'll see a cohesive structure emerge. By the end you'll find a story where the whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts. Read it and enjoy!
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