Mrs. Tuesday's Departure by Suzanne E. Anderson

Mrs. Tuesday's Departure, Suzanne E. Anderson, Henry and George Press 2012, 268 pages

I said to myself that I'd take a break from this book a day thing, but obviously that didn't work out. I started this book this morning and just kept reading through it. My Kindle Paperwhite told me it would only take me 2.5 hours to read it. I never really pay attention to how accurate that is since I start and stop reading several times while going through books. Maybe one of these days I'll actually time it to see how accurate it really is. 

Anyway, I always seem to start and end my reviews severely off topic. On to the book! I liked and disliked it. The story line was interesting but underdeveloped. What I really disliked was the writing style. Each "chapter" was anywhere from one paragraph up to a couple of pages. Which means that a book that is only 268 pages ended with 87 chapters. There was absolutely no reason to run the story like this, and it actually added to the horribly jumpy feel of the book. 

The book is set in Hungary at the end of World War II. Natalie is a widow left to care for her identical twin suffering from Alzheimer's and suddenly is also stuck with her niece after Mila's abandoment by her parents. What else could go wrong? Mila's stepfather is a Jew which by German laws also means that Mila is a Jew, which puts her and those protecting her in danger. Natalie is fiercely protective of her sister who loses more and more of herself everyday, and because of this bond Natalie herself is put in great danger. 

The book while not well written, still causes me to take a step back and to think about things. If that were my sister, would I be able to give all of myself to be with her? Even when I know there is nothing left of herself, would I still risk everything I know to save her? Or even just to be with her until the end? I think this book deserves three stars for it's overall ideas and concept and the writing would get about 1 from me. It feels like a YA novel even though I know it's not supposed to be. Suzanne E. Anderson is new to the writing game, and I expect that she's only going to get better. I'm looking forward to see what other things she comes out with. It's always nice to watch a writer find their own voice.