This story begins when a mother and her daughter take off on a trip. It is a summer of rapidly changing winds, volcanic rumbles, and sudden tempests. They’ve landed in Sicily, near the ancient ruins where the mother’s grandmother worked long ago on an archaeological dig. The narrator’s marriage has collapsed, her mother is losing her memory, and her daughter is on the threshold of adolescence, starting to ask difficult questions and form complex memories. How do you begin again? the narrator wonders, pondering her family line. How do you begin again if you got the beginning wrong?
Delightful wit ... I take some not insignificant degree of comfort in the fact that an artist of Luiselli’s remarkable thoughtfulness and intellect is around to document whatever will come, especially whatever will end.
A tale about mothers and daughters that draws parallels between the stages of both literature and life; it suggests that unexpected turns and the challenge of finding the right ending are vital to each ... Unfolds in 24 parts, emulating the structure of the Odyssey ... Musings on time travel lead to occasional narrative cul-de-sacs, and some of Ms. Luiselli’s declarations about writing provoke bafflement ... Affecting, open-ended.
Intriguing and accomplished ... Sustains a vital idea: storytellers who sustain and create collaborative knowledge defend themselves from and sometimes vanquish the violence and danger that necessitate flight.
