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amymorgan's review
5.0
Thank you Edelweiss for my review copy of this book. This book was amazing! This is the next must read for fans of The Nix.
Elsie dreams of nothing more than saving enough money from her job at the Betsy Ross Diner so she can get a car and get out of Waterbury, CT to start a new life. The brass mills have shut down and life in this town is nothing but a dead end.
Bashkim is a line cook at the Betsy Ross. He left a wife behind in Albania to make a better life in America. Chasing the American dream, anything is better than living in a country where you aren't even allowed to own your own cows because nothing belongs to the people. In a country where there is no dreams or freedom everything in America looks pretty good right now.
An unlikely pair Elise and Bashkim soon find themselves expecting a baby. Even though Bashkim claims he wants a life with Elise and the baby circumstances intervene and Elise becomes unsure of her or her daughters place in Bashkim's world. After a deciding event makes Elise strike out on her own to raise her daughter without Bashkim she spends the next 17 years raising her daughter Luljeta on her own.
Luljeta spends her life believing whatever her mother has told her about her father and does not seem overly affected by his absence in her life. Until one day Luljeta learns that her mother has been less than truthful in regards to her father and his family.
Told from alternating points of view this is an engaging story of a mother and daughter and each one's unique struggle to realize their dreams which are not as different as they may think.
Elsie dreams of nothing more than saving enough money from her job at the Betsy Ross Diner so she can get a car and get out of Waterbury, CT to start a new life. The brass mills have shut down and life in this town is nothing but a dead end.
Bashkim is a line cook at the Betsy Ross. He left a wife behind in Albania to make a better life in America. Chasing the American dream, anything is better than living in a country where you aren't even allowed to own your own cows because nothing belongs to the people. In a country where there is no dreams or freedom everything in America looks pretty good right now.
An unlikely pair Elise and Bashkim soon find themselves expecting a baby. Even though Bashkim claims he wants a life with Elise and the baby circumstances intervene and Elise becomes unsure of her or her daughters place in Bashkim's world. After a deciding event makes Elise strike out on her own to raise her daughter without Bashkim she spends the next 17 years raising her daughter Luljeta on her own.
Luljeta spends her life believing whatever her mother has told her about her father and does not seem overly affected by his absence in her life. Until one day Luljeta learns that her mother has been less than truthful in regards to her father and his family.
Told from alternating points of view this is an engaging story of a mother and daughter and each one's unique struggle to realize their dreams which are not as different as they may think.
cindywilk's review
4.0
Oprah recommended it.
Celeste Ng blurbed it.
So of course, I had to read it.
Sometimes as children we forget that our parents have lived whole other lives without us.
A story about the relationship between a mother and daughter, Brass has as much humor as it does heart.
Aliu is a fantastic story teller and I’m excited to see what she will come out with next.
Celeste Ng blurbed it.
So of course, I had to read it.
Sometimes as children we forget that our parents have lived whole other lives without us.
A story about the relationship between a mother and daughter, Brass has as much humor as it does heart.
Aliu is a fantastic story teller and I’m excited to see what she will come out with next.
smd's review
4.0
This had some of my favorite novel components: more than one generation of mother daughter relationships, blue collar town, struggle, American dream...it was like a Bruce Springsteen song off The River album.
I loved the writing, the story itself was a little secondary to that.
Free e-book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I loved the writing, the story itself was a little secondary to that.
Free e-book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
mirandacactusreads's review
4.0
Loved the alternating narratives in first and second person from Elsie to Luljeta! The book had a great cast of unique women, who were complicated characters with not always the clearest of motives or the most well thought out choices. I think this made the story what it is--a well-rounded, character driven portrait of people who are afraid of the consequences of their actions but do their best with what they have. I also think the ending was pretty predictable; however, it was satisfying.
purelykara's review
4.0
A story of a mother and a daughter and how your path sometimes winds it’s way differently than we expect. Chapters were told in alternating voices of the mother and the daughter. I loved that you could see the mom’s path unfolding to bring her daughter in the world and the daughter attempting to discover her father and who she is. It was a beautifully told story, one I couldn’t put down. Very much a story of the “American Dream”.
marplellous's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Domestic abuse
wellwortharead's review
4.0
Told from two alternating points of view two decades apart this is the story of Elsie, the single mom who started out with high hopes and good intentions when she fell in love with a married man.
"It was 1996, the middle of March, a brutal part of the year when spring was supposed to hit but didn't, when I'd given up on ever being warm again."
Elsie's only daughter Luljeta both loves and hates her mother, never quite feeling like she fits in anywhere. She has been told very little about her father and now that she is growing from child to young woman decides to find out the truth for herself.
Part love story, part coming of age tale, part family drama but without being sappy this bittersweet novel touched my heart and hit my funny bone with sarcastic wit.
I received an advance copy for review.
"It was 1996, the middle of March, a brutal part of the year when spring was supposed to hit but didn't, when I'd given up on ever being warm again."
Elsie's only daughter Luljeta both loves and hates her mother, never quite feeling like she fits in anywhere. She has been told very little about her father and now that she is growing from child to young woman decides to find out the truth for herself.
Part love story, part coming of age tale, part family drama but without being sappy this bittersweet novel touched my heart and hit my funny bone with sarcastic wit.
I received an advance copy for review.
booknrrd's review
4.0
Brass is the story of a mother and daughter from the faded town of Waterbury, Connecticut. The mother is the daughter of Lithuanian-American immigrants. The daughter is half-Albanian. The novel alternates between past and present and Elsie and Luljeta's stories.
I wished we could have spent a bit more time with each character before moving back to the other one. The structure just didn't work for me. It took me out of the story too often. Otherwise it was great. 3.5 stars.
I wished we could have spent a bit more time with each character before moving back to the other one. The structure just didn't work for me. It took me out of the story too often. Otherwise it was great. 3.5 stars.
abookishtype's review
3.0
Teenagers may be the most infuriating people on the planet. Even while they’re confused, hormonal, inexperienced, and terrified, they’re always more than ready to charge ahead into bad decisions. When I was a teenager, I muddled along as best I could but still made a lot of mistakes. Now that I’m older, even though I am not a parent, I want to shout at them when they’re about to do something irreparable. This was certainly true as I read Xhenet Aliu’s Brass. This novel follows a mother and a daughter in two different time periods, so we see them both as teenagers at critical times in their lives. I felt a kind of reluctant hope as I read their stories because I very much wanted them to break out of their family’s poverty and escape the traps an existence with nothing to do but have sex, drink, and work their lives away...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.