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A review by jennyshank
Brass by Xhenet Aliu
5.0
https://www.dallasnews.com/arts/books/2018/02/06/five-new-novels-wont-want-miss
by Jenny Shank, Special Contributor
Dallas Morning News, February 2, 2018
Aliu's first novel tells the parallel stories of Elsie, a young Lithuanian-American woman working at a diner in Waterbury, Conn., who falls for an Albanian immigrant dishwasher, and Luljeta, the daughter the pair had and Elsie raised alone. Aliu creates a vivid picture of gritty Waterbury, downtrodden since its brass mills shuttered. Elsie says she needs "a car and a ticket out of my mother's house and an epic sort of love you can get tattooed across your forearm without thinking twice about it," while Luljeta, 17 years later, is hoping her good grades will be her ticket into NYU.
It's clear from the outset that neither will get exactly what she wants, but the women's voices are instantly so compelling — first-person in Elsie's sections, second-person in Luljeta's -- you'll want to read on to find out how they ride out the wave of their failures.
These women are nail-tough yet vulnerable underneath, and readers will root for them to conquer their bullies, broken hearts and money troubles.
[I only had space to write this very short review for Dallas, but "Brass" impressed me more and more as it went on. Such an honest, moving evocation of two women.]
by Jenny Shank, Special Contributor
Dallas Morning News, February 2, 2018
Aliu's first novel tells the parallel stories of Elsie, a young Lithuanian-American woman working at a diner in Waterbury, Conn., who falls for an Albanian immigrant dishwasher, and Luljeta, the daughter the pair had and Elsie raised alone. Aliu creates a vivid picture of gritty Waterbury, downtrodden since its brass mills shuttered. Elsie says she needs "a car and a ticket out of my mother's house and an epic sort of love you can get tattooed across your forearm without thinking twice about it," while Luljeta, 17 years later, is hoping her good grades will be her ticket into NYU.
It's clear from the outset that neither will get exactly what she wants, but the women's voices are instantly so compelling — first-person in Elsie's sections, second-person in Luljeta's -- you'll want to read on to find out how they ride out the wave of their failures.
These women are nail-tough yet vulnerable underneath, and readers will root for them to conquer their bullies, broken hearts and money troubles.
[I only had space to write this very short review for Dallas, but "Brass" impressed me more and more as it went on. Such an honest, moving evocation of two women.]