If you were told when you were going to die, would you believe it and anxiously await that day? Would it change how you live your life and color every decision from that point on?
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin is a captivating exploration of family connection and alienation, the power of faith and self-determination. The book begins in 1969 as four siblings sneak away from home to visit a woman purported to be able to tell the future. Specifically, she can predict the exact date when a person will die. The children, ranging in age from 7 to 13, nervously make their way to the woman’s home through the city streets. They are close-knit, from a caring home with hard-working second-generation immigrant parents. When they arrive at their destination, the woman tells them they each must enter alone- thus beginning a separation that will continue and grow after that day. The story is then divided into four parts, one for each main character, as they grow up under the pressing knowledge they have been given. Each of the Gold siblings are lovingly depicted by the author with great depth and complexity. They each find their way through tumultuous times, leading interesting lives filled with richness and making difficult choices. Their stories are inspiring and heart breaking, they orbit each other and overlap, but each one discovers their destiny alone. This is a wonderful book, well-written and thought-provoking.
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin is a captivating exploration of family connection and alienation, the power of faith and self-determination. The book begins in 1969 as four siblings sneak away from home to visit a woman purported to be able to tell the future. Specifically, she can predict the exact date when a person will die. The children, ranging in age from 7 to 13, nervously make their way to the woman’s home through the city streets. They are close-knit, from a caring home with hard-working second-generation immigrant parents. When they arrive at their destination, the woman tells them they each must enter alone- thus beginning a separation that will continue and grow after that day. The story is then divided into four parts, one for each main character, as they grow up under the pressing knowledge they have been given. Each of the Gold siblings are lovingly depicted by the author with great depth and complexity. They each find their way through tumultuous times, leading interesting lives filled with richness and making difficult choices. Their stories are inspiring and heart breaking, they orbit each other and overlap, but each one discovers their destiny alone. This is a wonderful book, well-written and thought-provoking.