I am thrilled to find this review, written by the author of NEXT TIME LUCKY: Lessons of a Matchmaker, Siggy Buckley. Siggy recently appeared on NPR with Melissa Ross' First Coast Connect on Home Swapping and her book on dating. This is what she wrote for my novel, Apart From Love:
Love is Part of It., October 17, 2014
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This review is from: Apart From Love (Kindle Edition)
Another great work by multi-artist (or as the French say "artiste complet"): U. Poznanzky who is a wonderful painter, sculptor, poet and in general master of words and intriguing plots. This novel weaves three individual story lines into one like a tapestry that takes shape in front of your eyes, adding color and depth with each new chapter.
It took me a while to get warmed up to the three main characters: the philandering father, Lenny, who divorced his wife Natasha who mysteriously left the scene. Anita, his new unlikely wife-- except for her physical likeness to Natasha and Lenny's, Ben who appears on the scene again after 10 years of absence. Anita is pregnant when the story starts. The secret around Natasha is soon revealed to Ben, to Anita, surprisingly, only later.
Natasha, a former concert pianist suffers from early dementia and is in a home, yet Lenny still loves and cares for her. Ben can't believe the shell of his mother that remains. The reader witnesses the terrible effects this disease has on people, both the patient as well as the family.
An illicit bond develops between Ben and Anita who are of the same age while Ben is alienated from his father. This family set-up- the three live in the same apartment- will not end happily of course.
While I found the story fascinating, the characters well developed and intriguing, I found the middle part a bit too long winded. Leaving out some of the flashbacks would have remedied that impression. The end left me somewhat unsatisfied. Of course, there is not always a happy -end in real life either. Overall, I recommend Apart from Love as a really good novel.
It took me a while to get warmed up to the three main characters: the philandering father, Lenny, who divorced his wife Natasha who mysteriously left the scene. Anita, his new unlikely wife-- except for her physical likeness to Natasha and Lenny's, Ben who appears on the scene again after 10 years of absence. Anita is pregnant when the story starts. The secret around Natasha is soon revealed to Ben, to Anita, surprisingly, only later.
Natasha, a former concert pianist suffers from early dementia and is in a home, yet Lenny still loves and cares for her. Ben can't believe the shell of his mother that remains. The reader witnesses the terrible effects this disease has on people, both the patient as well as the family.
An illicit bond develops between Ben and Anita who are of the same age while Ben is alienated from his father. This family set-up- the three live in the same apartment- will not end happily of course.
While I found the story fascinating, the characters well developed and intriguing, I found the middle part a bit too long winded. Leaving out some of the flashbacks would have remedied that impression. The end left me somewhat unsatisfied. Of course, there is not always a happy -end in real life either. Overall, I recommend Apart from Love as a really good novel.
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