Lucky Us

A Novel

By: Amy Bloom

Narrated by: Alicyn Packard

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND O: THE OPRAH MAGAZINE

“My father’s wife died. My mother said we should drive down to his place and see what might be in it for us.”

So begins this remarkable novel by Amy Bloom, whose critically acclaimed Away was called “a literary triumph” (The New York Times).

Lucky Us is a brilliantly written, deeply moving, fantastically funny novel of love, heartbreak, and luck. Disappointed by their families, Iris, the hopeful star and Eva the sidekick, journey through 1940s America in search of fame and fortune. Iris’s ambitions take the pair across the America of Reinvention in a stolen station wagon, from small-town Ohio to an unexpected and sensuous Hollywood, and to the jazz clubs and golden mansions of Long Island.

With their friends in high and low places, Iris and Eva stumble and shine though a landscape of big dreams, scandals, betrayals, and war.

Filled with gorgeous writing, memorable characters, and surprising events, Lucky Us is a thrilling and resonant novel about success and failure, good luck and bad, the creation of a family, and the pleasures and inevitable perils of family life, conventional and otherwise. From Brooklyn’s beauty parlors to London’s West End, a group of unforgettable people love, lie, cheat and survive in this story of our fragile, absurd, heroic species.

©2014 Amy Bloom (P)2014 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Lucky Us is a remarkable accomplishment. One waits a long time for a novel of this scope and dimension, replete with surgically drawn characters, a mix of comedy and tragedy that borders on the miraculous, and sentences that should be in a sentence museum. Amy Bloom is a treasure.”—Michael Cunningham

“These two things about Amy Bloom’s surprise-filled Lucky Us are indisputable: It opens with a terrific hook and closes with an image of exquisite resolution.... Changes occur because characters fall in and out of love, trouble and, yes, luck. And even when the bad luck is devastating, they dust themselves off and inventively move on.”—Janet Maslin, The New York Times

“Bighearted, rambunctious . . . a bustling tale of American reinvention . . . [a] high-octane tale of two half-sisters who take it upon themselves to reverse their sorry, motherless fortunes . . . If America has a Victor Hugo, it is Amy Bloom, whose picaresque novels roam the world, plumb the human heart and send characters into wild roulettes of kismet and calamity.... There are few American novelists writing today who can spin a yarn as winningly. . . . Welcome to America, dear reader. Lucky us.”—The Washington Post

Much like Amy Bloom's other titles

Where does Lucky Us rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This was an enjoyable listen. It was not one of the best I've ever listened to but also not the worst. This is what, as a librarian, I call a gentle read. Yes, there was some sadness but nothing tragic, jarring or detrimental to the overall story. Nice progression of the story with a happy ending.

If you’ve listened to books by Amy Bloom before, how does this one compare?

Bloom used the similar technique of introducing a character, using them for a while in the story & then giving us their life's story & final ending in a quick look forward. She creates the characters with a full life story but can't seem to fit their whole narrative into the novel so she hurriedly "wraps them up" in a quick couple of paragraphs. It makes it look like her editor tells her to cut down the book because it is too long.

If you could take any character from Lucky Us out to dinner, who would it be and why?

It would probably be Gus. He led a very interesting life. Despite all the hardships & injustices he carried on and came out fairly well adjusted.

I Liked It, Damn It!

This is not a typical linear story and it takes some actual thought from the reader. I think that’s why it has so many bad ratings. The narrator is great and the story is enjoyably different. The depiction of the time period is informative and accurate as well as entertaining. I love the characters and the atmosphere the author created. Give the book a chance and be willing to think for yourself.

Somewhat like being in the Oz Poppy Field

I think I'll stick with my first assessment: Fascinatingly Weird. Or the Strange Plot Twist Road to the Rainbow at the End of the Road to Perdition.

Every time you think you have the story figured out, you get slammed with a Plot Twist from out of nowhere. Any less of a writer couldn't have dished it up and served it so well. Who won't like it? Practical readers without fortitude or patience, or maybe just with much bettet sense than me, or maybe with less of a sense of humor. I'm not even really sure why I liked it, other than that I love the ability to look (through great writing) at a wide variant of American life in the forties. I love how the tone is so light and matter of fact despite all the heavy subjects. And I truly deeply wanted things to work out for little Evie in the end. She is special and steadfast in her own way, so the only comparison I have is that she gives us a look at life and love and death in the 40s via a sort of Forrestina Gump voice who does Strange Childhood, Peas and Carrots Half Sister, Hollywood, and Jersey, with Jazz, Jewish, and Germanic undertones.

Warning: Probably not for the Super Southern Conservative? But hey, if you read Fifty Shades- and based on sales numbers I think everyone in the world did- then I don't really see the difference. Just take it with a grain of salt.

Charming

The characters are wonderful, quirky and have hearts of gold-plated larceny. I enjoyed the melange of personalities.

Enjoyable

What made the experience of listening to Lucky Us the most enjoyable?

I hadn't listened to any new fiction on audible (sticking to non fiction and books I had already read) until I got this one on vacation and I found it very engaging, good story,and it really sold me on the audiobook for new fiction idea. I recommend this book!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Fransisco....I really was interested him and wished I had more of him!

What about Alicyn Packard’s performance did you like?

She reads well and doesn't get goofy with the voices, but does emphasize the differences.

If you could rename Lucky Us, what would you call it?

I have no idea! LOL

Meh

Characters were fun, but the story was uninteresting and disjointed. Too many characters; it became really confusing and quite tedious.

hmmm just hmmm

I don't like saying bad things about books but I really don't know where to go with this one. It had good individual storyline that were crammed together in an attempt to do something but failed and instead of subcomming to failure it just pushed on with more additional storyline and bizarre details.

If only I could give it 0 stars.

Hated it! This book is nothing like the description. Terrible story. Depressing and boring. Regret reading it.

Improbable disjointed story with flat characters

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

The sisters relationship was the strongest part of the book.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Not sure.

Would you be willing to try another one of Alicyn Packard’s performances?

I'm trying to actually read this book now to see if the performance might have added to what turned me off about this book.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Lucky Us?

The section on Danny when Eva was telling him his life story. The reader already knew his life story so why retell it in babyish language --and using the adjective "amazing" a million times? Why tell about his experiences in school since the character really led nowhere other than being a prop for the Eva character.

Any additional comments?

The characters weren't fleshed out enough. Why did they do what they did? Why was Eva a slave to everyone around her? Why did Eva and Iris have a falling out? Why did Francisco leave Hollywood? Why did Clare get involved with Edgar and then lose interest the minute he got sick?

I don’t get it

I only listened to this book because it was for book club. I guess I don’t really understand the point to this story. Was there a plot? I don’t actually like to give bad reviews and maybe I just like stories that feel like there is a purpose to them. I finished this book and just thought, huh…ok. That’s it. I definitely don’t recommend.