…..by Nancy Richler

I read this book a couple of months ago and last night our book club met at the Runnymede Library to listen to Nancy Richler read excerpts from her novel, discuss her motivation for writing the book and take questions from the audience.

The presentation was part of The eh List Authors Series. This is a Toronto Public Library initiative that promotes successful authors and invites them to come to a designated location and speak to the library patrons in Toronto. 

Here is a brief summary of The Imposter Bride, taken from the Toronto Public Library website:

When Sol Kramer sees his intended bride, Lily Azerov, fresh from the Levant and waiting at the Montreal train station, he takes one look and he bolts. His brother Nathan is mortified. And charmed. Nathan steps up and proposes to the beautiful Lily himself. But Lily has a secret. She is not Lily Azerov. 

Nancy Richler carefully chose passages from her novel to share with the packed house at the Runnymede Library. Most of the audience had read the book, so she was delighted to discuss the theme, the characters and her own personal connections and experiences that helped her write this wonderful book.

Hearing how and why Nancy wrote this book made it even more special. It took her nine years to write this book. Some of the characters are loosely based on her own family and childhood friends. Having grown up in Montreal in the post war years in the 50s and 60s gives Nancy first hand experience of the broken Holocaust survivors and their struggles to make a new life in a new country. 

Most of the book is told in the voice of Lily’s daughter, Ruth. When Ruth was only 3 months old, Lilly abandoned her daughter and husband and disappeared for decades. On Ruth’s sixth birthday she receives a mysterious package from her mother with a stone inside. Over the years Ruth receives several parcels from her mother, each with a new stone inside and each return address is from a different city in Canada. Does Ruth ever meet her mother? You’ll need to read the book to find out.

Rating:  4 out of 5