I'll Be Right Here - by Amy Bloom (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - A sweeping, intimate novel about an unconventional and irresistible family, in prose "so finely wrought it shimmers" (Los Angeles Times)--from the New York Times bestselling author of In Love, White Houses, and Away

"Amy Bloom is at the height of her powers in this epic tale."--J. Courtney Sullivan, author of The Cliffs

"Bloom approaches each of her characters with empathy, insight, and sensitivity. She remains acutely aware of the absurdities of life, its harrowing hardships, and its fragile, fleeting joys."--The Boston Globe

Immigrating alone from Paris to New York after the crucible of World War II, young Gazala becomes friends with two spirited sisters, Anne and Alma. When Gazala's lost, beloved brother, Samir, joins her in Manhattan, this contentious, inseparable foursome makes their way into the twenty-first century, becoming the beating heart of a multigenerational found family.

The passing years are marked by the business of everyday existence and the inevitable surprises of erupting passions, of great and small waves of joy and despair, from the beginning of life to its end. Gazala and Samir make a home together, Anne leaves her husband for his sister, and Anne's restless daughter grows up to raise a child on her own and to join a throuple, becoming who she wants to be. Through it all, amid the tumult of these decades, the four friends and their best beloveds stand by one another, protecting, annoying, and celebrating themselves, steadfastly unapologetic about their desires and the unorthodox family they have created. As the next generation falls in and out of love, experiencing triumphs, mistakes and disappointments, the central pillars of their lives are the four indomitable elders they call the "Greats."

In I'll Be Right Here, Amy Bloom embraces the complexity and richness of humanity and the lawlessness of love, bringing her trademark voice, wry humor, and compassionate eye to the many, often mysterious ways we live as we love, and hope to be loved in return.

Review Quotes

"As Bloom has demonstrated throughout her stellar literary career . . . she can train her eye on any person, place, or object and render it sublime. Her prose is so finely wrought it shimmers. Again and again she has returned to love as her primary subject, each time finding new depth and dimension, requiring us to put aside our expectations and go where the pages take us. As readers, we're in the most adept of hands."--Los Angeles Times

"So much recent domestic fiction has been about women individuating, leaving, calling the whole thing off. This one gathers everyone in the garden for shandies."--The New York Times

"A wryly humorous, emotionally generously and expansively embracing author, Bloom approaches each of her characters with empathy, insight, and sensitivity. She remains acutely aware of the absurdities of life, its harrowing hardships, and its fragile, fleeting joys."--The Boston Globe

"Amy Bloom has practically patented this kind of grand dreaminess . . . epics spun out of intimate memories. Her latest is a sweeping, decades-spanning novel about love in all its unruly forms and the ways in which families are made and remade."--Electric Literature

"Rich, sensual . . . devastating . . . Bloom's suggestive prose awakens our senses. . . . a brisk, short read, and yet, somehow it gives us a family and a world."--BookPage, starred review

"Amy Bloom infuses every page of her newest novel with her singular wit and warmth. It is a chronicle of ordinary life made extraordinary through the beauty of Bloom's prose and the generosity of her vision."--Anthony Marra, New York Times bestselling author of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena

"An unforgettable story of family, friendship, love and loss by one of America's finest writers."--John Boyne, New York Times bestselling author of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and All the Broken Places

"Told with humor and heart, I'll Be Right Here reminds us of the sweet profundity of human connection."--Tayari Jones, New York Times bestselling author of An American Marriage

"I read this stunning novel in a single sitting and then moped around for days because I missed the characters so much."--J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of The Cliffs

"Every time Amy Bloom writes a book, another small miracle occurs. In I'll Be Right Here, she explores notions of pride, kindness, fearlessness, longing, belonging, and love. What else do we expect from a writer who wrings out our tired hearts and updates our souls?"--Colum McCann, author of Twist

"Chosen family spreads its branches over decades and continents . . . full of surprises, wild leaps and turns, and many fascinating people who love each other . . . Warm, rich, beautifully written."--Kirkus Reviews

"Moves fluidly . . . peeling back the layers of a lifetime of love and loss."--Booklist

"Stimulating . . . with [Bloom's] thoughtful and complex character development . . . It's a memorable portrait of a found family's fulfillment."--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Amy Bloom is the New York Times bestselling author of four previous novels: White Houses, Lucky Us, Away, and Love Invents Us; and three collections of short stories: Where the God of Love Hangs Out, Come to Me (finalist for the National Book Award), and A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You (finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award). Her most recent book is the widely acclaimed memoir In Love. She has written for magazines such as The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, Elle, and The Atlantic, and her work has been translated into seventeen languages.