I'll Be Right Here | Random House Publishing Group

About the Book

An epic, intimate novel about an unconventional and irresistible family—from the New York Times bestselling author of In Love, White Houses, and Away

Immigrating alone from Paris to New York after the crucible of World War II, young Gazala becomes friends with two spirited sisters, Anne and Alma. When Gazala’s lost, beloved brother, Samir, joins her in Manhattan, this contentious, inseparable foursome makes their way into the twenty-first century, becoming the beating heart of a multigenerational found family.

The passing years are marked by the business of everyday existence and the inevitable surprises of erupting passions, of great and small waves of joy and despair, from the beginning of life to its end. Gazala and Samir make a home together, Anne leaves her husband for his sister, and Anne’s restless daughter grows up to raise a child on her own and to join a throuple, becoming who she wants to be. Through it all, amid the tumult of these decades, the four friends and their best beloveds stand by one another, protecting, annoying, and celebrating themselves, steadfastly unapologetic about their desires and the unorthodox family they have created. As the next generation falls in and out of love, experiencing triumphs, mistakes and disappointments, the central pillars of their lives are the four indomitable elders they call the “Greats.”

In I’ll Be Right Here, Amy Bloom embraces the complexity and richness of humanity and the lawlessness of love, bringing her trademark voice, wry humor, and compassionate eye to the many, often mysterious ways we live as we love, and hope to be loved in return.

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Praise for I'll Be Right Here

“Amy Bloom infuses every page of her newest novel with her singular wit and warmth. Spanning nearly a century, I’ll Be Right Here is a celebration of and lament for the families we create, the legacies we leave, the ways remember and are remembered. It is a chronicle of ordinary life made extraordinary through the beauty of Bloom’s prose and the generosity of her vision.”—Anthony Marra, New York Times bestselling author of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena

“An unforgettable story of family, friendship, love and loss by one of America’s finest writers.”—John Boyne, New York Times bestselling author of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and All the Broken Places

“Once again, Amy Bloom shines her brilliant attention on families bound by love, history. Kin—born and chosen—are the center of this stirring take. Told with humor and heart, I’ll Be Right Here reminds us of the sweet profundity of human connection.”—Tayari Jones, New York Times bestselling author of An American Marriage

“Amy Bloom’s books have always been deeply felt. . . . Her new novel, I’ll Be Right Here, sounds exceptional.”—BookPage

“I read this stunning novel in a single sitting and then moped around for days because I missed the characters so much. Amy Bloom is at the height of her powers in this epic tale of how we shape the lives of those around us in ways both ordinary and extraordinary, and how they shape ours in return.”—J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of The Cliffs

Additional praise for Amy Bloom

“Amy Bloom gets more meaning into individual sentences than most authors manage in whole books.”—The New Yorker

“[Bloom] writes sharp, sparsely beautiful scenes that excitingly defy expectation, and part of the pleasure of reading her is simply keeping up with her.”—The New York Times

“Bloom is a truly excellent writer. . . . There is a line worth quoting on almost every page.”—Los Angeles Times

“Amy Bloom knows the urgency of love. . . . Bloom writes with extraordinary care about people caught in emotional and physical crosswinds: desires they can’t satisfy, illnesses they can’t survive, and—always—love that exceeds the boundaries of this world.”—The Washington Post

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About the Author

Amy Bloom

Amy Bloom is the author of four novels: White Houses, Lucky Us, Away, and Love Invents Us; and three collections of short stories: Where the God Of Love Hangs Out, Come to Me (finalist for the National Book Award), and A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You (finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award). Her first book of nonfiction, Normal: Transsexual CEOs, Crossdressing Cops and Hermaphrodites with Attitudes, is a staple of university sociology and biology courses. Her most recent book is the widely acclaimed New York Times bestselling memoir, In Love. She has written for magazines such as The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, Elle, The Atlantic, Slate, and Salon, and her work has been translated into fifteen languages. She is the Director of the Shapiro Center at Wesleyan University. More by Amy Bloom

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