The Indie Next List featured Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel in its June 2009 newsletter, and I thought it looked intriguing. From Amazon:
When Lilia Albert is seven, the father she has not seen in more than a year suddenly appears in the middle of the night and steals her away from her rural Canadian home. She is never again seen by her mother or brother. Instead, her independently wealthy dad moves her from one U.S. city to another, along the way educating her in matters both practical and not. Is he a spurned ex-husband who refuses to accept the court's custody decision? Or is he Lilia's savior, taking her away from something awful? When the novel opens, Lilia is a twentysomething Brooklyn dishwasher living with a disgruntled grad student named Eli Jacobs. When Lilia unceremoniously leaves him—a pattern she's perfected—Eli is bereft. As he obsessively searches for her, the story integrates the viewpoints of private investigator Christopher Graydon and Graydon's neglected daughter, Michaela, who has long resented Lilia's looming presence in her family's life. While the plot is occasionally contrived, the fast pacing and unusual characters make this a compelling first novel. Highly recommended for all contemporary fiction collections.
Literary Feline really liked Last Night in Montreal, saying, "Told in third person, the novel flits back and forth between the past and present and between the characters. The changes are subtle, but I had no difficulty following each of the story threads. This is definitely a book that is more about the process, the journey that falls in between the beginning and the end. While certain aspects of the outcome may not be surprising, the way it comes together was completely unexpected. Last Night in Montreal was a pleasure to read. It was beautiful--poetic even--in writing and profound in scope."
Dawn at She is Too Fond of Books also really liked Last Night in Montreal and posted her review here. Amazon reader reviews are also very positive.
Would love to hear from EDIWTB readers who have read this!
I read this one and didn't like it as much as everyone else did. The writing is really good, but I didn't really care about anyone enough good or bad to be involved with them.
Posted by: Nicole | November 02, 2009 at 08:20 PM
Nicole, thanks for weighing in! Sorry to hear you didn't love it.
Posted by: Gayle | November 03, 2009 at 01:56 PM
I read this one as well. Thanks for the additional links. I've added them to my post here: http://www.savvyverseandwit.com/2009/06/last-night-in-montreal-by-emily-st-john.html
Posted by: Serena (Savvy Verse & Wit) | November 04, 2009 at 12:59 PM
My book club read this. I really liked the writing and much of the story although there were some things I thought were a bit odd until I got close to the end when it all tied together better.
Posted by: Lisa | November 05, 2009 at 04:38 PM
Gayle, My book club read this and discussed the book with the author a few months ago. It was enjoyable.
http://bookwormwithaview.blogspot.com/search/label/Last%20Night%20in%20Montreal
The link above should bring you to an author Q&A and a summary of our book club discussion.
Posted by: mari partyka | November 09, 2009 at 12:15 PM
Hi Gayle, Thanks for the link to my review!
Emily St. John Mandel just released her new website, which has a pic of the paperback release of LAST NIGHT IN MONTREAL (quite different from the hardcover pictured here)
I do recommend it; would love to hear your thoughts after you get a chance to read it.
I would have loved to be at Mari's book group discussion with the author - how fun!
Posted by: Dawn - She is Too Fond of Books | November 10, 2009 at 04:26 PM
Thanks to everyone who has commented on this post, especially to Mari for the interview link!
Posted by: Gayle | November 10, 2009 at 06:35 PM