At her 85th
birthday, Addie Baum is looking back and telling her grand-daughter what her
life was like. Being born as the third daughter of European immigrants, the
only one born in the new world, she could attend school and get an education when
her older sisters had to start working early. Her parents had quite different
ideas from what a girl’s life should be like, but Addie went her own way, attended
evening classes, worked as a secretary and even a journalist. Just the men were
not that easy and it took some time before she, after having become a real
Boston girl, found the perfect match.
Anita Diamant
narrates the life of modern American, a woman who seized her chances but
nevertheless had an understanding for the points of view of her elder sisters
and parents who were born and raised in the old world. Nevertheless not all is
presented through rose-coloured glasses, quite the opposite, the hard and ugly
sides of life are not left out and Addie does not get everything she wants. In
this way, the story gets more and more authentic and convincing. The characters
are all drawn with care and love, they are not easy, sometimes inconvenient and
even annoying, but this is why the story is lively and a remarkable piece of
work.
