Customer Reviews

When We Get There: A Novel

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This is not your typical debut. It seems almost too good to be true that a first novel could so adeptly combine a compelling plot with such beautifully rendered characters and such perfect pacing. I was drawn in completely from the first sentence--not only by the story and the wonderful narrator, Lucas, but by the richness of the world Seliy describes. The writing is infused by a balanced nostalgia, never maudlin and always leavened by a subtle sense of humor. Comparable books? The magic and sophistication of Jeffrey Eugenides's "The Virgin Suicides" comes to mind. But one of the qualities that makes this novel so dazzling is how utterly fresh it is. You've never read anything quite like it.

I have just finished my second read of this book and loved it even more than the first time I read it. The author creates, with her fantastic use of language, such a deep sense of time and place that I walked away from this book feeling as though I knew Lucas' story (his town, his family, and his journey) as surely as I know my own. The author paints her characters and their humanness with such authentic artistry that you walk away knowing she must love them deeply to have drawn them with such magnificent detail. Her love extends, clearly, to the English language: some of the sentences in this book grabbed me with such descriptive strength that I found myself re-reading them in situ and pausing in appreciation of them. This is a novel about one boy's journey but will appeal to both men and women and even to more mature young readers.

Shauna Seliy captures the coming of age of Lucas Lessar in a small coal mining town where legend, superstition, faith, violence, real and imaginary fears, small delights, personal tragedies, loss and recovery challenge four generations of his family. This quiet, bright, observant, free-spirited, courageous narrator moves from one setting or generation to others, providing a complex narrative. The tough but always-faithful grandmother gives Lucas space to struggle with his own fears, losses, and discoveries while surrounding him with the love and tradition of family. The great grandfather's legendary strength is waning, but his wisdom and stories remain powerful. He is known for growing pears inside bottles to become wine for consolation and celebration. We see this mirrored as Lucas is nurtured, survives hardships, and matures to accept his fate.

The rich cultural tapestry of the small town inhabited by immigrant families from Eastern Europe is clearly represented in characters, stories, music, and traditions. If you grew up on a small town or wish you had, this book will resonate with you.

It is rare to pick up a first fiction that you can't put down. A luminous book. Shauna Seliy's writing is wonderfully spare, yet sharp and vivid, and her characters are utterly believable. A wonderful debut...I hope we'll see more from this author!

This incredible novel is one of the best debuts I've read. The beautiful prose grabs you from the first page and does not let you go. I recommended it to my book club and it is by far our favorite book this year.

This book made me feel nastalgic for a time I never knew. I always heard stories about growing up in a mining town from my grandma. Reading this book, I felt like I was really there. It's definitely going on my new favorite book list!

The author did an exquisite job building the story by brilliantly developing each character. Each individual in the book had incredible depth and complexity that was slowly revealed chapter by chapter. From the very beginning, I was compelled to understand them more closely, believing that the next page would divulge more about them and their motivations. By the end of the novel, I was convinced that one day I would meet Lucas and his family, tucked away in the small mining village in Pennsylvania. An incredible book that I could not put down--check it out!!!

This book is beautiful. It manages to be tender without being overly sentimental. The narrator, Lucas, who is looking back on the winter he was 13 years old, is wise and thoughtful and strangely funny. The world he describes - a coal mining town in western Pennsylvania with a rich immigrant heritage - is real and true. The story is full of "old world" superstitions, and potentially tragic situations. But the author also has a touch for the buoyant and joyful moments. At the heart of the book is the idea of searching. Great-grandfather's searching for a better life in America. Lucas's searching for his mother. All of that yearning moves the story along at a nice pace. And in the end, some unexpected things are found, not least of which is Lucas's sense of family, community, and himself. I especially loved the Croatian touches in the book, but it really could be about any ethnic community and how it transforms and what it holds on to in the second and third generations of immigrants in America. There is something very universal about this story. I highly recommend it - and it is appropriate for many audiences.

I did not want this novel to end, and when it did, I had tears of joy for what may be my all time favorite novel. This author is astounding in her ability to invite the reader into a story that has no overwriting/excess of words and manages to relate a fine story with a style I have never seen before; it is simple, sensory filled, and so very vivid on several levels. Read the other reviews for specifics, but do buy this novel and read it more that once as you see so much more the second time. When I read Finn, by Jon Clinch, I was quite impressed (and still am) that this was his first novel, and I highly recommend it, too, but When We Get There is by someone so young, and yet she has developed a mature style, an ear for dialect, and a mind that encompasses a culture, a point of view by a boy of twelve, and a vividness that will have so many scenes remain with you forever. I was surprised to see so many used copies of this work as it is a book I will keep in my library and one I plan to give to many of my friends. Do not miss an opportunity to read a true gem, a classic first novel by a remarkable young woman.

This is gorgeously written novel, for a first novel or a 50th. Beautiful language, universal themes and totally believable flawed characters. I don't often feel compelled to mark favorite passages while reading, but this one is full of earmarked pages. I'm not sure why this one hasn't gotten more attention, but I look forward to reading more of Shauna Seliy's work in the future. Highly recommended.