Lucky Us by Amy Bloom

Eight people attended the January book club for Lucky Us by Amy Bloom.  One person is quoted as saying she is "wishy/washy" on how she really liked it and wondered why the author picked the title as "Lucky Us."  She said she even wondered why the zebra was on the lion on the book cover.  She summarized it as Eva had managed their life together and, at the end, we are a family and lucky to have each other.  One member thought the title might be written sarcastically "lucky us," we got out of this.  Many commented that they didn't like it, didn't hate it, probably wouldn't recommend it.  One person read another of Amy Bloom books and liked it. Read reviews and thought she would be 'blown away' by this book and she wasn't.  She felt the "writer knew how to tell a story" but she didn't like the characters.  Another said, "I thought it was interesting, but took awhile to get into it, not a big fan of the lifestyle or some of the characters." 

It was good to see how Eva handled the situation.  Someone in the group said they thought Eva was a heroine, with everything she went through.  

We discussed the family life of Eva and Iris.  We were shocked by her mother, surprised by Dad and the other characters that made up the family.  We felt Eva was the stable one in the family, "she couldn't tell anything bad" and "made it believable and possible."  We talked about the sisters relationship. Iris was older, she wasn't a mother to Eva, though. "A sister's responsibility isn't the same as a mother" someone said.  "Eva was concerned with others, Iris was concerned with herself" another shared.   We did like the ending when all those who were close to Eva were together.