historical fiction
This story is told from two alternating points of view—that of 19-year-old Dottie and her 42-year old mother Rose. They both consider themselves to be Modern Girls. They live in a poor Jewish area of New York City during the mid-1930s. Both find themselves unexpectedly, and inconveniently, pregnant.
The characters were interesting and convincing. Life in that time period and neighborhood jumped off the page with the clear writing. And the dilemmas were intriguing and caused me to want to read further to see how they played out.
And then the story just ended with only partial resolution and no sequel planned. It became obvious to me as I neared the end of the novel that there was not going to be a satisfying conclusion and it tainted my entire opinion of the book. Why bother writing an incomplete story? There are very real concerns at the end, which is why I feel it’s incomplete. It leaves me feeling like Jennifer S. Brown hit some deadline (although, this is her only novel so that can’t be true). And with no announced sequel, it just seems like a cop-out to me. Did the author not know how to give closure to these characters? Did she feel she hit a word limit that indicated the end? It makes no sense to me and I’m assuming that her publisher and readers will eventually convince her to write a sequel. However, if she truly did not intend one, then it’s bound to be a disappointment like so many other forced sequels. Alas, I get ahead of myself. My dissatisfaction at the end simply overtakes any other thoughts I might be able to voice about this otherwise enjoyable novel.
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