Who are you if everything you know about yourself is based on a deception? This is the story of Ruth - a young woman growing up in mid-century Montreal who was abandoned by her mother, Lily Azerov, three months after her birth. Lily steps off the train in Montreal after the Holocaust to meet her future husband - he promptly rejects her. Sol's brother, Nathan likes what he sees, however and steps in to become the bridegroom. Lily is not what she seems. Like many who survived the horrors of WW2, the young woman has taken over the identity of another who died during this time. There are others who knew the real Lily Azerov and quickly surmise that this young woman is not Lily. Unable to live with her deception, Lily abandons her family. The story is told from a number of different perspectives - the most interesting being that of her daughter, Ruth. Ruth spends her adult life trying to understand who she is, who her mother is and what her place is in her loving and supportive family.
The characters of Ruth, her neighbour Ida and her daughter Elke, who keep Lily's secret are well fleshed out and interesting. Unfortunately, the story of Lily feels very vague and I was not able to find her to be a sympathetic character. It was disappointing, since Lily is the character upon which everything hinges.
I guess that since this book was shortlisted for the 2012 Giller Prize, I expected more. If I had bought it for a 'beach read', I would have had lower expectations and found it more satisfying.
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