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You Are One Of Them (2013)

by Elliott Holt(Favorite Author)

3.52 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1594205280 (ISBN13: 9781594205286)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Penguin Press HC, The

review 1: This is the story of Sarah, who grew up in the 1980s in Washington DC, during the tensions with Russia. She writes a letter to the president of Russia asking him to stop making life so difficult. Her friend Jenny decides to write a letter, too. Jenny becomes an international sensation when the president writes a public reply to her. Jenny and her family travel to Russia at the invitation of the president. A few months later, Jenny and her family die in a plane crash. Sarah goes into their house a few times, as a part of her mourning. Jenny was the only close friend she ever really had. During one visit to their house, Sarah finds the letter she wrote the the Russian president all crumpled up and shoved behind Jenny's bulletin board. Her letter was never even sent.... more Sarah is very hurt. Years later, when Sarah is about 20, she receives a letter from a Russian woman who knew Jenny when her family visited. The woman, Svetlana, implies that Jenny is still alive & living in Russia. Sarah decides to go to Russia to see what is going on. Sarah visits many places in Russia & sees a lot of good and bad things. (The setting is very true to life from my own experience in Russia in 1995). After several months, Svetlana finally arranges for Sarah to meet Jenny, who is called Zoya now. Sarah is so torn. On the one hand, this woman Zoya could be Jenny- she looks kind of like her & she knows a lot about their childhood friendship. On the other hand, Zoya is harder than Jenny ever was & she doesn't know certain things like the name of the friend Jenny replaced Sarah with. Zoya wants Sarah to give her thousands of dollars. Sarah goes to the pool to see Zoya & see if she has the birthmark that Jenny had. But after thinking about it, she leaves without ever looking. It doesn't matter to Sarah anymore if Jenny is alive or not. It is time to leave that part of her life behind. She doesnt' give Zoya any money. She leaves Russia & has her mom shut down their foundation. It is time to start her own life.
review 2: A multi-layered novel that rang a lot of bells for those of who grew up during the Cold War. While the defector metaphor and the Cold War allusions are central to this coming-of-age story, I think what nearly got this novel a fourth star from me was the consistent narrative voice. So many of today's authors lack the confidence to write 300 pages in one voice, but Holt's Sarah keeps us reading ...well, mostly. The reason I withheld that star was because, as one other reviewer here wrote, I felt done 2/3 way through. less

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