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alisonlaw's review
Listen to my interview with [a:Xhenet Aliu|7016785|Xhenet Aliu|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1490891960p2/7016785.jpg] in Episode 22 of the Literary Atlanta podcast, released January 18, 2018.
novelvisits's review
5.0
{My Thoughts}
What Worked For Me
Dual Structure – Brass is really two stories that intertwine. Sometimes that works, but other times it can be a hot mess. Xhenet Aliu masterfully made it work in her debut novel. Hers is actually two different coming-of-age stories, that of a mother (Elsie) grappling with her life after high school and her daughter (Luljeta) in a very similar position seventeen years later. Chapters alternate between the two as each struggles with the disconnect between dreams and reality. Their stories are their own, but the influences on them, remarkably similar.
Strong Writing – There is so much to like about Aliu’s writing in Brass, starting with how she handled her two characters. Chapters alternated between the two with Elsie’s told in first person and Lulu’s in the rarely used second person. Choosing different points of view kept each story fresh and its own. Elise especially had a wonderful tongue-in-cheek delivery, never taking herself or her disappointments too seriously. It may sound odd to praise a writer for knowing her characters, but Aliu really knew these women, making each heartbreakingly real. My highlights were copious.
“Why is she crying, why is she the one saying she’s sorry, when you’re the one who fucked up her life…? But even if you don’t understand it, you’re grateful that she’s able to say it, because it feels good to hear. It makes you think that maybe you don’t understand much of anything at all, which feels awful and a little hopeful at the same time.”
Parallel Lives – Elsie and Lulu each have their own stories, and yet their lives each unfold along parallel lines. Disappointment lies at the heart of both their lives: Lulu in her mother’s solitude, her own awkwardness, and in the father missing from her life; Elsie’s in her own mother, the man she chose to love, and the struggle to survive. Disappointment triggers rage in each young woman as they fight against the unfairness life can hold. And finally, Bashkim, boyfriend, father, absent, each woman longs for him knowing that doing so is a poor choice. He finds just the right spot in both Elsie’s and Lulu’s young hearts.
What Didn’t
Nothing – Almost everything about Brass worked well for me. I could nitpick and find a minor flaw or two, but honestly that’s exactly what it would be.
{The Final Assessment}
I like coming-of-age stories and Brass was the genre at its best. It was a treat to know both Elsie and Lulu as they struggled to move into adulthood. I especially liked that Lulu’s journey also included Elsie as a mother and protector. In Elsie, the story came full circle; in Lulu, we know her start, and can only hope for her future. Theirs is a touching story, beautifully written. I highly recommend Brass. Grade: A
Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.
Original Source: https://novelvisits.com/brass-xhenet-aliu-review/
What Worked For Me
Dual Structure – Brass is really two stories that intertwine. Sometimes that works, but other times it can be a hot mess. Xhenet Aliu masterfully made it work in her debut novel. Hers is actually two different coming-of-age stories, that of a mother (Elsie) grappling with her life after high school and her daughter (Luljeta) in a very similar position seventeen years later. Chapters alternate between the two as each struggles with the disconnect between dreams and reality. Their stories are their own, but the influences on them, remarkably similar.
Strong Writing – There is so much to like about Aliu’s writing in Brass, starting with how she handled her two characters. Chapters alternated between the two with Elsie’s told in first person and Lulu’s in the rarely used second person. Choosing different points of view kept each story fresh and its own. Elise especially had a wonderful tongue-in-cheek delivery, never taking herself or her disappointments too seriously. It may sound odd to praise a writer for knowing her characters, but Aliu really knew these women, making each heartbreakingly real. My highlights were copious.
“Why is she crying, why is she the one saying she’s sorry, when you’re the one who fucked up her life…? But even if you don’t understand it, you’re grateful that she’s able to say it, because it feels good to hear. It makes you think that maybe you don’t understand much of anything at all, which feels awful and a little hopeful at the same time.”
Parallel Lives – Elsie and Lulu each have their own stories, and yet their lives each unfold along parallel lines. Disappointment lies at the heart of both their lives: Lulu in her mother’s solitude, her own awkwardness, and in the father missing from her life; Elsie’s in her own mother, the man she chose to love, and the struggle to survive. Disappointment triggers rage in each young woman as they fight against the unfairness life can hold. And finally, Bashkim, boyfriend, father, absent, each woman longs for him knowing that doing so is a poor choice. He finds just the right spot in both Elsie’s and Lulu’s young hearts.
What Didn’t
Nothing – Almost everything about Brass worked well for me. I could nitpick and find a minor flaw or two, but honestly that’s exactly what it would be.
{The Final Assessment}
I like coming-of-age stories and Brass was the genre at its best. It was a treat to know both Elsie and Lulu as they struggled to move into adulthood. I especially liked that Lulu’s journey also included Elsie as a mother and protector. In Elsie, the story came full circle; in Lulu, we know her start, and can only hope for her future. Theirs is a touching story, beautifully written. I highly recommend Brass. Grade: A
Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.
Original Source: https://novelvisits.com/brass-xhenet-aliu-review/
alexisrt's review
4.0
The plot is fairly simple: Elsie is 19 and waitressing in a depressed town when she gets pregnant by an Albanian immigrant. 17 years later, her daughter Luljeta, struggling to leave the same place, is trying to unravel her story. Intertwining the two plots in parallel narratives gives it some dramatic tension.
The characterization was good, but Aliu chose to write Elsie's narrative in the first person (fine) and Lulu's in the 2nd, and that choice becomes distracting as the novel wears on.
3.5
The characterization was good, but Aliu chose to write Elsie's narrative in the first person (fine) and Lulu's in the 2nd, and that choice becomes distracting as the novel wears on.
3.5
cami19's review
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
ridgewaygirl's review
5.0
In the decaying factory town of Waterbury, Connecticut, a young Lithuanian American girl gets a job as a waitress at the Betsy Ross diner. Her mother's an alcoholic, her younger sister has the brains and grades to get out of Waterbury, and Elsie's just hoping for a better life. Instead, she meets Bashkim, newly emigrated from Albania, where he left his wife behind in the hopes of a better life in the US.
A generation later, Elsie's daughter, Luljeta, also hopes for a better life somewhere else, but a rejection letter from the university she'd pinned her hopes on have her scrambling to find a reason to believe that she can make a better life for herself than the low income grind she has with her mother. Lulu goes in search of the father her mother won't talk about.
This may be a debut novel, but it's self-assured and well-written. Xhenet Aliu has managed something even seasoned authors struggle with; her two narrators sound different, but subtly so. She also writes with a dry humor and keen eye for detail. The characters inhabit a vivid, if run-down world and there's a lot of detail as to the cultural and social structures of the immigrant communities Lulu and Elsie live in, as well as the realities of always having to scramble to make the rent payment. I was impressed by this novel, loved that it shed light on people and places not usually given attention.
The addition of your mother's boyfriend, the postanarchist Professor Robbie, brings the total number of guests gathered for Christmas dinner to five, one more than the quartet of you, your mother, Mamie, and Greta, which had gathered for Thanksgiving and all other previous holidays you've sat through your entire life. Even with the addition of a Y chromosome, your Noel looks mostly like a nativity scene staged by a militant women's separatist group.
A generation later, Elsie's daughter, Luljeta, also hopes for a better life somewhere else, but a rejection letter from the university she'd pinned her hopes on have her scrambling to find a reason to believe that she can make a better life for herself than the low income grind she has with her mother. Lulu goes in search of the father her mother won't talk about.
This may be a debut novel, but it's self-assured and well-written. Xhenet Aliu has managed something even seasoned authors struggle with; her two narrators sound different, but subtly so. She also writes with a dry humor and keen eye for detail. The characters inhabit a vivid, if run-down world and there's a lot of detail as to the cultural and social structures of the immigrant communities Lulu and Elsie live in, as well as the realities of always having to scramble to make the rent payment. I was impressed by this novel, loved that it shed light on people and places not usually given attention.
The addition of your mother's boyfriend, the postanarchist Professor Robbie, brings the total number of guests gathered for Christmas dinner to five, one more than the quartet of you, your mother, Mamie, and Greta, which had gathered for Thanksgiving and all other previous holidays you've sat through your entire life. Even with the addition of a Y chromosome, your Noel looks mostly like a nativity scene staged by a militant women's separatist group.
mawalker1962's review
5.0
I rarely give a book a 5, but I loved this well-crafted and moving story about how families love and hurt each other, about mothers and daughters, about the ways poverty can breed a sense of hopelessness and about how people hold on to hope. I met the author at last year’s Delicious Reads event sponsored by Hub City Writers Project, and I’m happy to say that her book is as lovely as she is.
alison_marie's review
4.0
I was fortunate to receive an ARC of this from Goodreads. I'm a sucker for books set in my home state, and Xhenet Aliu so perfectly captures the feeling of the depressed, post-factory towns that dot not only Connecticut, but New England as a whole. Every character feels real and fully fleshed-out, from Elsie and Luljeta, our main narrators, to Greta and Mamie and Bashkim and his family. Brass is both an engaging family drama and a snapshot of life as a 17-year-old in a city gasping for life just as you're ready to come alive.
I can already tell this will rank among my favorite books of 2018, and I'm eager to read anything and everything Aliu writes.
I can already tell this will rank among my favorite books of 2018, and I'm eager to read anything and everything Aliu writes.
balletbookworm's review
5.0
After a whole zoo of being halfway thru the digital galley, having a problem with the file, the galley expiring, etc I have finally finished the last 70 pages of Brass. One of the few books to use a 2nd person POV narrator (Lulu) to good effect and in contrast to a 1st person POV (Elsie). It was very hard to predict how Aliu was going to wind up the narrative. Another knockout book from editor Andrea Walker at Random House.
bianca89279's review
4.0
Brass is a simple, yet very well executed novel, mostly focusing on the mother-daughter relationships, the American dream for Albanian immigrants and life in a small, dying small town in Connecticut.
The novel is told via alternate timelines and points of view, one for Luljeta, almost eighteen years old and the other one for her mother, Elsie, when she was the same age.
Genetic destiny has a way of showing up, so there's repeating patterns and mistakes. Derailing one's life is relatively easy when lacking material advantages and support networks.
For me, it was also interesting to read about the Albanian immigrants, especially since I'd never come across them in any books. Albania is one of those small, forgotten Eastern European countries that you never hear about and I say this as someone born in a similar country, but at least people know two, maybe three things about it, if they're over 40 and into world politics.
I was impressed with this novel, so I'll keep my eyes open for Aliu's next novel.
The novel is told via alternate timelines and points of view, one for Luljeta, almost eighteen years old and the other one for her mother, Elsie, when she was the same age.
Genetic destiny has a way of showing up, so there's repeating patterns and mistakes. Derailing one's life is relatively easy when lacking material advantages and support networks.
For me, it was also interesting to read about the Albanian immigrants, especially since I'd never come across them in any books. Albania is one of those small, forgotten Eastern European countries that you never hear about and I say this as someone born in a similar country, but at least people know two, maybe three things about it, if they're over 40 and into world politics.
I was impressed with this novel, so I'll keep my eyes open for Aliu's next novel.