When I learned that the majority of this story was set in the neighborhoods of Chicago's North side, mostly Boys Town, it put me over the edge and I HAD to read it - my old 'hood! Of course, being a finalist for the National Book award is a pretty glowing endorsement. I must confess that it took me awhile to get into the story. There are so many characters and the dual timeline felt confusing at first. The main character of the past set in Chicago is Yale, and I adored him from the get go. His friend Fiona is the main character of the present day timeline set in Paris, but we don't get a good sense of her character in the past until at least halfway through the book. It was excellently plotted, so I could see why we had to wait to get her full story, and it all came together in a beautifully heartbreaking way. It was just hard for me to care as much about her for most of the book because I felt like I didn't know her. By the end, though, she was so relatable and I was absolutely moved to tears by this magnificent portrait of friendship and love.
"How this show might begin to convey it all, the palimpsest that was her heart, the way things could be written over but never erased. She was simply never going to be a blank slate."
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