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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Immigration Story, December 10, 2009
This review is from: Thirsty: A Novel (Hardcover)
Thirsty follows the life of Klara Bozic as she immigrates to a small town, Thirsty, from her home in Croatia. The story evolves over 40 years of her life. She meets her husband, Drago, and he seems like the dream of every young girl - until they get to America. Once there, he becomes abusive toward Klara and the façade crumbles. As the cycle begins to repeat for her daughter, Sky, Klara knows that something has to be done.
This book spans the time period from 1883 to 1919. The steel boom is underway and it was fascinating to learn about how these small towns thrived around the factories. The people that lived there were completely ruled by the factory. One of the things that was very interesting to me was the death whistle. This whistle went off every time that someone was killed in the factory - and all of the women in town would walk down to the factory to learn who it was. How sad! This book was so well researched - right down to all of the little details.
I immediately was drawn into Klara's life - her story was the story of many immigrant women who came to the United States. Domestic abuse was common and many dreamed of finding something better. I loved how O'Keeffe followed Klara as she evolved from a naïve young girl, moved into a broken, shell of herself, and then became empowered by the desire to break the cycle. O'Keeffe created a foil character for her in her neighbor Katherine. Katherine was an immigrant woman too but her husband was a perfect husband. He would even run over to break up fights at the Bozic household.
This book was immediately absorbing and I didn't want it to end. I loved that this book really made me feel much closer to my family heritage - which is a new feeling for me because I never really put much thought into it before.
This book was received from the publisher in exchange for a review and this was also posted on my blog.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful prose that turns a sad topic into a fascinating one, November 6, 2009
This review is from: Thirsty: A Novel (Hardcover)
At first, I was apprehensive about reading the novel when its description references abuse, a steel town, a depressing place, heartbreak. Yet, I found myself absorbed in Thirsty, which tells a lyrical story about the unbendable spirit of Klara, an immigrant from Croatia.
The story begins in 1883 in Croatia where Klara contends with an abusive father. Her eventual and equally abusive husband, Drago, enters the picture as a likable guy who romances her the old-fashioned way. However, soon after arriving in the dark town of Thirsty -- a town outside of Pittsburgh -- Drago changes and it's not good.
Klara feels let down as she thought America was supposed to be colorful, full of meadows and an uplifting kind of place. Her depressing beginnings of her life in America compel you to keep reading when you meet the locals: her best friend and husband, the town drunk and a black man who owns a store.
She has three children during the Thirsty's 40-year journey of her life. O'Keeffe's writing arouses the reader's curiosity. The story never turns into a predictable one. O'Keeffe doesn't dwell on Klara's abuse. Instead she touches it -- just enough to give you an idea of what she lives with -- without wallowing in it.
It's Klara's relationships with the town's people that add color in her dark world. Her neighbor, Katherine doesn't put up with Klara's abusive husband. You can't help but cheer for her and like the gal. Drago's dislike of blacks scares Klara into staying away from BenJo, the shopkeeper whom Klara befriends despite her husband's warnings. Klara has strange encounters with Old Man Rupert, the drunk.
Katherine tells captivating stories to Klara, one of which explains how "amen" came to be. This 200-paged novel packs a lot of emotions, events, discoveries, sadness, hardship and growth to keep you intrigued while learning about the times, the working-class, the mills and the traditions.
O'Keeffe tells the enthralling story with amazing eloquence. She takes a reader on a journey of good and bad surprises worth discovering that ends on a fulfilling note without an ounce of predictability.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brutal subject, buoyant novel, October 11, 2009
This review is from: Thirsty: A Novel (Hardcover)
Thirsty is the name of the grim Pennsylvania steel town where Klara Bozic was brought as a teenage bride by her husband Drago at the turn of the twentieth century. The novel covers 40 years of her life in that town. Klara's experiences include physical abuse by her husband, unremitting hard work, and tragedy. Yet they also include hope, friendship, resilience, and grace.
THIRSTY deals with cruel circumstances, but it is not a downer. Kristin Bair O'Keefe has written a large-spirited novel with memorable characters and many scenes that linger in the mind. The prose is finely crafted, but not at the expense of story. This one is a find.
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