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A review by rhodered
Grand Central: Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion by Sarah Jio, Kristina McMorris, Erika Robuck, Sarah McCoy, Amanda Hodgkinson, Jenna Blum, Pam Jenoff, Karen White, Melanie Benjamin, Alyson Richman
2.0
I probably would have enjoyed this a lot more if the title and cover art weren't misleading. All the stories do take place in 1945 and Grand Central Station does play a role to a greater or lesser extent in all of them. And, yes, there are reunions. But the story arcs for nearly all of the stories are not about the reunion itself, but of a character's development as they think through the past prior to the reunion (if there is one, there isn't always.) The focus is generally on a single character's personal moment of growth, rather than a couple's moment. Most of the stories are also sad, filled with betrayals of some kind, or just very sad life stories. For example, one is a woman fleeing from an abusive husband, another a teen discovering her father is a bigamist. Many of the stories are about Jewish refugees -in fact they far outnumber the returning soldiers in this book.
Most of the stories are very well written and insightful, even moving, definitely above typical story collection standards. So much so that I found myself turning to research several authors in Goodreads to see what else they have done that I could get. And, many of the historic details are spot on, which is always a pleasure.
Nevertheless, what I was in the mood for this evening was what the book title and cover promised --love, reunited couples, returning soldiers, lovers turned strangers turning into lovers again. Even relief and happiness. Only a single one of these stories had that focus, and even it was focused far more on the past backstory than the book's present, and was told from the point of view of a child, rather than the couple in question.
So this book gets two stars for broken promises. Standing on its own merits, differently titled, I think it might have been a 3.5 with several of the stories hitting a 4 and two sitting at 1.
Most of the stories are very well written and insightful, even moving, definitely above typical story collection standards. So much so that I found myself turning to research several authors in Goodreads to see what else they have done that I could get. And, many of the historic details are spot on, which is always a pleasure.
Nevertheless, what I was in the mood for this evening was what the book title and cover promised --love, reunited couples, returning soldiers, lovers turned strangers turning into lovers again. Even relief and happiness. Only a single one of these stories had that focus, and even it was focused far more on the past backstory than the book's present, and was told from the point of view of a child, rather than the couple in question.
So this book gets two stars for broken promises. Standing on its own merits, differently titled, I think it might have been a 3.5 with several of the stories hitting a 4 and two sitting at 1.