There's a good, rich story here, but it doesn't make for the absorbing novel it should. Wenner, a fine journalist, hasn't quite made the leap to a successful fiction style. There's too much summary narration, and much too much explaining of themes, ideas, and characters' motivations; I wish she'd trusted the story itself to carry more of that weight. I feel sure it could.

This is a compelling book from the opening sentence: 'Two fires taught me lessons about my life, two fires separated by nearly six decades.' From beginning to end, the story of the Waldemas family sparks thought and inspires the imagination. Vivid characters-- Annie, her father Abe, her children and siblings-- people a narrative laced with ideas. This is a book about real, engaging people, to be sure, but it is also a meditation on family bonds and family secrets, the impact of anti-Semitism and the search for modern Jewish identity, not to mention reconciliation to the death of a loved parent. This is a novel worth reading. It provokes and it satisfies

Kate Wenner has written a book with many layers. Family tragedies and travails intertwine with religion, ethics and morality, justice, perserverance, and relationships. The gripping story hooks you in while she loads you with her own family history, lessons learned in life, how to deal with tragedy. Her story is so very believable and so easy to identify with. It was a book I could not put down, each chapter coaxing me to the next. It is also a book that, like fine food or wine, one does not forget the taste of. It is memorable and inspiring.