The two-family house : a novel

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Title:

The two-family house : a novel

Author:

Loigman, Lynda Cohen, author.

ISBN:

9781250076922

9781250118165

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

viii, 290 pages ; 25 cm.

Subject Term:

Sisters-in-law -- Fiction.

Jewish families -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction

Genre:

Historical fiction.

Summary:

Brooklyn, 1947: In the midst of a blizzard, in a two-family brownstone, two babies are born, minutes apart. The mothers are sisters by marriage: dutiful, quiet Rose, who wants nothing more than to please her difficult husband; and warm, generous Helen, the exhausted mother of four rambunctious boys who seem to need her less and less each day. Raising their families side by side, supporting one another, Rose and Helen share an impenetrable bond forged before and during that dramatic winter night. When the storm passes, life seems to return to normal; but as the years progress, small cracks start to appear and the once deep friendship between the two women begins to unravel. No one knows why, and no one can stop it. One misguided choice; one moment of tragedy. Heartbreak wars with happiness and almost, but not quite, wins. Moving and evocative, Lynda Cohen Loigman's debut novel The Two-Family House is a heart-wrenching, gripping multigenerational story, woven around the deepest of secrets.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove)	FICTION LOI	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	FICTION LOI	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

"An emotional but dreamy novel that...will transport you far, far away from your next dreary Monday morning. You may do a lot of sobbing, but don't worry, you'll be smiling by the end." --Bustle, "12 Spring Break Reads To Help You Escape Normal Life"

**Buzzfeed, "14 Of The Most Buzzed-About Books"

**Popsugar, "6 Books You Should Read"

"A novel you won't be able to put down." --Diane Chamberlain, New York Times bestselling author

Brooklyn, 1947: In the midst of a blizzard, in a two-family brownstone, two babies are born, minutes apart. The mothers are sisters by marriage: dutiful, quiet Rose, who wants nothing more than to please her difficult husband; and warm, generous Helen, the exhausted mother of four rambunctious boys who seem to need her less and less each day. Raising their families side by side, supporting one another, Rose and Helen share an impenetrable bond forged before and during that dramatic winter night.

When the storm passes, life seems to return to normal; but as the years progress, small cracks start to appear and the once deep friendship between the two women begins to unravel. No one knows why, and no one can stop it. One misguided choice; one moment of tragedy. Heartbreak wars with happiness and almost, but not quite, wins. Moving and evocative, Lynda Cohen Loigman's debut novel The Two-Family House is a heart-wrenching, gripping multigenerational story, woven around the deepest of secrets.

Author Notes

Lynda Cohen Loigman is the author of The Matchmaker's Gift, The Wartime Sisters, and The Two-Family House . She received a B.A. in English and American Literature from Harvard College and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. She grew up in Longmeadow, MA, and now lives in Chappaqua, NY.

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Loigman debut novel is an engrossing family saga set in post-war Brooklyn. It focuses on two families that are inextricably linked by blood, marriage, and a long-held secret. Brothers Abe and Mort took over their family box business when their father died, even though Mort had his heart set on studying mathematics. The brothers share a two-family house with their children and wives. As the story opens in 1947, wives Rose and Helen are themselves as close as sisters, happily bringing up their children together. Rose and Mort have three young daughters, and Helen and Abe, on the top floor, are bringing up four sons. Then, the two women get pregnant at the same time, deliver their babies together during a horrible blizzard, and make an instant decision to swap the babies that will change all of their lives forever. The story follows the brothers, their wives, and the children through decades. Loigman's use of shifting perspectives allows readers to witness first-hand the growing consequences of long-festering secrets and the insidious lies that cover them up. This historical family drama has a dark underbelly, but Loigman's decision to let the reader in on the secret allows the setting and mood of the novel take over as the characters move haltingly toward redemption and peace. Agent: Kathleen Zrelak, Goldberg McDuffie Communications. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

A debut novel explores the intertwining lives of two Brooklyn families. Mort and Abe are brothers, and when they buy a Brooklyn brownstone together, their wives become fast friends. Abe's family lives upstairs, and Mort's lives downstairs. The families share work (Mort and Abe run their father's company together), play, and many meals. They also share certain frustrations. Mort's wife, Rose, bears three daughters, but Mort is desperate for a son and treats Rose cruelly in the meantime. On the other hand, Helen, who is married to the more gregarious Abe, has had four sons but longs for a daughter: she's lonely in her all-male household. Then Rose and Helen get pregnant at the same time. One winter night when their husbands are away and a blizzard has shut down New York, they both go into labor. That night, they make a decision that alters the course of their families' lives. Afterward, of course, nothing is the same. Loigman's debut novel is concerned with robust sentiments: hope, betrayal, yearning, disappointment. But she undermines those sentiments with banal details, like the color of a kitchen table, while skimping on details about her characters' inner lives. Loigman's writing doesn't quite support the emotional weight that the narrative requires of it; frequently, the prose buckles beneath the load. Intensity is expressed with exclamation points, which do much to raise the volume of the prose but little to heighten its potency or fervor. During one key scene, characters shout back and forth at each other: " That's a terrible thing to say!' Don't you dare raise your voice to me!' Heyquit yelling at her!' " That Loigman mistakes clamor for vigor is unfortunate. She had the beginnings of a powerful work here. This compelling novel strains beneath its own aspirations and never quite comes to life. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Rose and Helen share a very special bond. Their husbands are brothers, and they are raising their children, seven between them, in a shared duplex. When both women become pregnant again at the same time, then deliver only minutes apart while trapped at home in a blinding snowstorm, it seems the experience will only bring them closer. But Rose sinks into depression, becoming more isolated and petulant even as Helen increases efforts to help her. While their youngest children grow closer each year, Rose and Helen's relationship becomes fraught and eventually estranged. Behind the rancor is the impulsive decision of a moment, a choice they will have to live with for a lifetime, even as it destroys their friendship and creates a rift between their families, even when tragedy takes that which they hold most dear. This is a rich emotional journey through the heartache of regret and longing. In her first novel, Loigman uses complex characters to deconstruct the anatomy of family relationships and expose deep-rooted emotions, delivering a moving story of love, loss, and sacrifice.--Ophoff, Cortney Copyright 2016 Booklist

Library Journal Review

In the middle of a snowstorm in 1950s Brooklyn, two sisters-in-law go into labor at the same time. Their husbands are both stuck in the city on business. Two babies are born, a girl and a boy, and a fateful decision is made that will change the course of both families forever. Beginning in 1947 and ending in 1970, the narrative alternates between the two brothers, Mort and Abe, their wives, Rose and Helen, and two of their daughters, Judith and Natalie. © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (4)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

Library Journal Review

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