a book about moving on and leaving things behind

Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel

I’m at a point now where I won’t read a book unless it’s by an author I truly love, or it has many positive reviews. Or it was recommended by Nancy Pearl. You gotta love a lady who does the reviewing process for you (oh, that’s right, that’s why you read my blog, right?). So this next book does not fit the first two criteria for me, but was recommended by Ms. Pearl, so I gave it a go. Last Night in Montreal, by Emily St. John Mandel, is about a woman who is constantly moving locations. She started this as a child when her dad took her from her mother’s home in the middle of the night. Each time Lilia moves towns, she changes the people she left behind, so there are several characters in the book whose lives are forever changed. Lilia is a strong, creative, beautiful woman, so she leaves many broken hearts and many unanswered questions in her wake. The people who meet her become victims of Lilia and her constant need to move away, and it left me wondering if anyone benefited from meeting the passionate Lilia. And the answer is actually no, but it doesn’t take away from the story. Lilia is a girl struggling to survive, and the tragedy of this makes a solemn, delicately beautiful book. Oh, and I didn't mention that the writing is beautiful, and I think that's what makes this book so touching.