This novel is a funny, sweet, and poignant memoir by Bess Kalb of the like I’ve never read before. It comprises photographs, voice mails, emails and memories as a deep, enduring love from Bess’ grandmother, Bobby Bell, to Bess. From the timeline, Bess was born, her grandma was her winner – she probably not have be victorious with Bess’ mother, but heart for heart, granddaughter and grandma loved each other, and when in 2017, Bess’ grandmother died, everyone, involving Bess’ grandpa, were smashed.
The pure bond between granddaughter and grandmother was intense and sincere; Bobby’s voice was critical, pragmatic, and bossy– but forever loving. A novel filled with humor, history as we grasp Bobby’s uniqueness and roots, this novel is a moving memoir that I suggested.
It’s a timeless mirror image on four generations of women (her great-grandmother, mother grandma, and herself) as told through the voices of her grandmother, who passed away several years ago. Such a funny, fun, and sweet story. A book about four generations of women in USA, but centered around the relationship between the youngest (Bess) and her grandma.
My version: This is the narrative of what occurs when a teenage girl (Bess’s great-grandmother Rose) emigrates alone in threatening circumstances to escape the slaughter in Belarus and has a daughter after the youngest of her four boys are already in their teens. This is one kid too many for Rose. Her family is pretty poor, life is tough, and Rose basically deceive off the naming and make rise of Barbara to her youthful twin boys who have a high old time with the task but aren’t exactly mothers.
When Bobby is getting bigger and had given birth to a daughter, Robin, she admits to having no mom type of feeling for her daughter. She says that she doesn’t mean to excuse herself when she states that at the time, as a formerly intellectual and lively young woman with a future, she was downgrade to a villa in Nowheresville with a bunch of children and no buddies, and she just couldn’t get along the mother routine. In my view, if you state that, then you are indeed trying to excuse yourself.
As the narrative progressed, you did note that in spite of Bobby’s unfriendly manner and tendency to hold responsible Robin for everything false with their relationship, Robin nevertheless phoned her mom for support whenever she was in trouble. So you realized it couldn’t have been all bad. And that relationship gets much nicer after the born of Bess, when the bond with a granddaughter strikes Bobby like lightning.
In this novel, Bobby reminds Bess of the experiences they went through, and she delivers–in messages, texts and phone calls, and unforgettable heart-to-hearts brought strongly to the page–her signature wisdom.
With poignancy and humor, Bess Kalb gives us verification of the special bond that can skip a generation and go through beyond death. This novel is a feat of extraordinary imagination and ventriloquism by a remarkably talented author.
