Our January bookclub meeting was held at Olde World Bakery & Cafe in downtown Smithville. We met for
brunch and we all ordered a variety of items including strawberry crepes,
migas, egg sandwich, and breakfast burrito.
Once our plates were licked clean and we had finished catching up on our
personal lives, local news and gossip, we dove right into the world of the
USSR.
Synopsis:
Sarah Zuckerman had a few bright and shining moments in her
growing up years and the majority of them appeared to center around her
friendship with Jenny Jones. However,
Jenny’s life is cut short in an accident which just adds to Sarah’s list of
losses in her life. Jenny’s influence is
felt even into adulthood for Sarah and so after graduating college she travels to
Russia to begin a quest which may not answer the question Sarah initially
sought to resolve, but will eventually set her free.
Comments:
This fictional book was loosely based on true events which
occurred from 1983 through the late 1990’s.
We found it to be similar to how the television show “Law and Order”
creates their storylines. In addition to
that, the author had once lived in Russia while working as a copy editor,
similar to the book’s main character. We learned what Russia was really like during this time period as the country struggled to adapt to the marketplace demands of a Western world while chained to the economy and education of the old federation.
As we progressed in this novel, we came to understand that
the title “You Are One of Them” does not actually relate to Jenny Jones as the
reader may first believe. Sarah had
continued to view herself through the lens of childhood. She could not see that she had grown out of
the awkward stage, the misfit label, and the cloak of tragedy which had
shrouded her growing up years. Young Sarah
finds that those whom she dearly loves will soon leave her. These lost loves she refers to as defectors
came about through death, as with her sister and Jenny, and through divorce, as
with her father. Sarah even refers to
her home as “a museum, filled with relics” which looks back and not forward. She cannot shed the skin of her past in order
to confidently live and appreciate her adult life…at least not until her
fateful journey to Russia. There in the
bleakness of a Russian winter -- “There is something painfully honest about
winter: the skeletal trees, the brutal repetition of the cold. There are no empty promises, no hazy, humid
hopes. It’s reality, lonely and stark.”--
Sarah will finally be able to free herself from the past and move forward.
Memorable Quote:
“People believe in things until they don’t need to anymore.”
(p. 283 – Kindle)
“If regret had an odor, it would smell like an ashtray.” (p.
255 – Kindle)
“And I have come to believe that forgiveness is the key to
survival. It does no good to see
everything as a struggle between opposing factions. Few things are that simple.” (p. 102 –
Kindle)
FAB Rating: ***1/2 (3-1/2 out of 5 stars)
There was not much meat to chew on with this book. We likened it to a good beach/travel book
which you would purchase to pass the time while relaxing, never spending time contemplating its merits.
