Review: Leaving Lucy Pear by Anna Solomon

By EbooknerdReviews on July 2, 2024

This book was my book club's June selection.

From the book description:
"One night in 1917 Beatrice Haven sneaks out of her uncle's house on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, leaves her newborn baby at the foot of a pear tree, and watches as another woman claims the infant as her own. The unwed daughter of wealthy Jewish industrialists and a gifted pianist bound for Radcliffe, Bea plans to leave her shameful secret behind and make a fresh start. Ten years later, Prohibition is in full swing, post-WWI America is in the grips of rampant xenophobia, and Bea's hopes for her future remain unfulfilled. She returns to her uncle's house, seeking a refuge from her unhappiness. But she discovers far more when the rum-running manager of the local quarry inadvertently reunites her with Emma Murphy, the headstrong Irish Catholic woman who has been raising Bea's abandoned child—now a bright, bold, cross-dressing girl named Lucy Pear, with secrets of her own."

First, let me start by saying the writing in this book is very beautiful, and that the author clearly has a gift for language and world-building. Turn-of-the-century coastal Massachusetts was very vibrantly brought to life through the descriptions of the environment and the characters' stories. It was very interesting, especially as the fictional world was weaved together with real-life events, like the Sacco and Vanzetti affair.

But what really bogged down the book for me was that there ended up being too many characters and too many storylines to keep track of. I wish the author had focused on one or two major plot lines and stuck closer to them. I ended up confused and unable to follow a lot. There also was a lot of implication in the book. Things that just went unsaid; things I think happened, but maybe they did, maybe they didn't. I couldn't really tell. I guess we were just supposed to know?

But overall, it wasn't a terrible book, maybe just not for me. Perhaps someone else who was more into very descriptive literary historical fiction would be more apt to enjoy it.

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