In the unlikely event

401 pages

English language

Published Nov. 8, 2015 by Alfred A. Knopf.

ISBN:
978-1-101-87504-9
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OCLC Number:
904528759

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4 stars (5 reviews)

In 1987, Miri Ammerman returns to her hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey, to attend a commemoration of the worst year of her life. Thirty-five years earlier, when Miri was fifteen, and in love for the first time, a succession of airplanes fell from the sky, leaving a community reeling. Against this backdrop of actual events that Blume experienced in the early 1950s, when airline travel was new and exciting and everyone dreamed of going somewhere, she paints a vivid portrait of a particular time and place -- Nat King Cole singing "Unforgettable," Elizabeth Taylor haircuts, young (and not-so-young) love, explosive friendships, A-bomb hysteria, rumors of Communist threat. And a young journalist who makes his name reporting tragedy. Through it all, one generation reminds another that life goes on.

16 editions

Review of 'In the unlikely event' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

It's a bit tough to get into this novel initially because it jumps around from character to character, which is challenging to keep track of when you don't yet care about any of them. Although that technique carries through the entire book, it becomes less distracting as you get immersed in the story. It's worth navigating, because the author does a good job constructing a portrait of suburban New Jersey in the 1950s.

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4 stars
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5 stars

Subjects

  • Grief
  • Family secrets
  • Homecoming
  • Nineteen fifties
  • Aircraft accidents
  • Fiction

Places

  • New Jersey
  • Elizabeth (N.J.)
  • Elizabeth
  • N.J. Elizabeth