Like Family

Starred review from September 28, 2015
Combining the edginess of modern life with the touching theme of losing someone who has become just like family, this short novel recounts how an ordinary woman, Mrs. A.—nicknamed Babette after she insists on preparing a perfect dinner for the family that employs her (a reference to Babette’s Feast)—succumbs to cancer, leaving behind an unexpectedly rich legacy of love. Babette first comes to work for the unnamed scientist narrator and his wife, Nora, to help out during Nora’s difficult pregnancy, then stays on to become housekeeper/nanny/nurse/substitute mother/grandmother, the nucleus of this nuclear family. Babette witnesses the baby’s first steps and attends his first day of school, but her importance to each family member is appreciated only when she retires, claiming fatigue before discovering she has terminal cancer. For the family, losing this woman (who dislikes change) changes everything. The couple sees her through her illness, accompanies her to the wig maker, and sits by her bedside, even as the gap created by the husband’s detached logic and Nora’s intuitive empathy widens. Layer by layer, Giordano (The Solitude of Prime Numbers) peels back personal connections to ask: What is family? For that matter, what is love? In this case, a woman’s simple story confirms Giordano as a writer who understands contemporary science and the complexities of human relationships.

October 1, 2015
In this minimalist elegy, a man mourns the death of his family's accidental matriarch. Mrs. A. comes into the young couple's life quite by accident]or perhaps by fate]when the unnamed narrator's wife is placed on bed rest during her first pregnancy. Despite never having raised children herself, Mrs. A. quickly assumes command of the household, staying on to become their son's nanny. So when she abruptly quits after more than eight years with the family, everyone is bewildered, and they're taken by surprise to learn months later that Mrs. A. is terminally ill. Without her gentle anecdotes about her late husband, Renato, and aptly chosen proverbs, the couple lacks a compass for marriage and child-rearing. They suspect that not only the order of their home, but also their relationships depended on Mrs. A. Often lyrical in its meditations, Giordano's (The Human Body, 2014, etc.) latest novel at times risks lapsing into saccharine cliche: Mrs. A. is a force of nature steadying all of their lives, a lonely widow seeking a family to love, a miraculous finder of lost documents. Emotionally self-centered, unable to fully connect to others, the narrator and his wife call this seemingly magical woman "Mrs. A." and "our Babette" (after the Karen Blixen novel) but never her given name. At its best, Giordano's portrait of Mrs. A. lingers on the quirks that make her a lovable eccentric: her faith fractures as she begins to suspect God should be "ask[ing] her for forgiveness"; her trust in reason falters as she places her hopes in nebulously substantiated pseudo-scientific studies; her vanity thrills to a perfectly coiffed wig as she anticipates the effects of chemotherapy. And at his best, Giordano muses gorgeously on our inability to blend our life essences; even love leaves us lonely. A lovely remembrance played in a minor key.

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Starred review from November 1, 2015

All definitions of the word poignant apply to this beautifully crafted novel inspired by true events. From the moment Mrs. A enters his household, the narrator feels a strong love and respect for her. Owing to his wife's difficult pregnancy, Mrs. A is hired as a housekeeper and then takes over as nanny once a baby boy is born. The calm and quiet woman is relied on by her employers more and more, and she soon becomes invaluable to them both. In a short time, she has thoroughly spoiled them, as they increasingly depend upon her for guidance and reassurance. With piercing prose that never allows for sentimentality, Giordano writes of Mrs. A's subsequent battle with cancer and eventual demise. The effects of her illness and death on the family are realistically portrayed, making the reader acutely aware that she truly was "like family." VERDICT Giordano won Italy's Premio Strega Prize for his first novel, The Solitude of Prime Numbers, and followed up with an acclaimed second novel, The Human Body; this third novel should earn him well-deserved international praise once again. Its themes are universal, and it will appeal to anyone who treasures the gifts of others. [See Prepub Alert, 6/8/15.]--Lisa Rohrbaugh, Leetonia Community P.L., OH

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2015

Never mind his PhD in particle physics. Giordano won Italy's Premio Strega for The Solitude of Prime Numbers, the youngest person ever to have received the award; his second novel, The Human Body, published here last year, received LJ and PW stars. In this new work, a young married couple hire Signora A to help around the house when the wife becomes pregnant, and soon she serves indispensably as maid, nanny, and confidante. Then she is diagnosed with lung cancer, eventually becoming too sick to work, and we learn about her tragic past even as both she and her beloved new family suffer the pain of separation. Expect big promotion.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2015

All definitions of the word poignant apply to this beautifully crafted novel inspired by true events. From the moment Mrs. A enters his household, the narrator feels a strong love and respect for her. Owing to his wife's difficult pregnancy, Mrs. A is hired as a housekeeper and then takes over as nanny once a baby boy is born. The calm and quiet woman is relied on by her employers more and more, and she soon becomes invaluable to them both. In a short time, she has thoroughly spoiled them, as they increasingly depend upon her for guidance and reassurance. With piercing prose that never allows for sentimentality, Giordano writes of Mrs. A's subsequent battle with cancer and eventual demise. The effects of her illness and death on the family are realistically portrayed, making the reader acutely aware that she truly was "like family." VERDICT Giordano won Italy's Premio Strega Prize for his first novel, The Solitude of Prime Numbers, and followed up with an acclaimed second novel, The Human Body; this third novel should earn him well-deserved international praise once again. Its themes are universal, and it will appeal to anyone who treasures the gifts of others. [See Prepub Alert, 6/8/15.]--Lisa Rohrbaugh, Leetonia Community P.L., OH

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.