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Book Summary and Reviews of I'll Be Right Here by Amy Bloom

I'll Be Right Here by Amy Bloom

I'll Be Right Here

A Novel

by Amy Bloom

  • Publishes:
  • Jun 24, 2025, 272 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

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 , 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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Reviews

Media Reviews

"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

"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

This information about I'll Be Right Here was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Amy Bloom Author Biography

Photo: © Elena Seibert

Author of three New York Times best-sellers and three collections of short stories, a children's book (another coming in 2022) and a ground-breaking collection of essays. Bloom has been a nominee for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her stories have appeared in Best American Short Stories, Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, and numerous anthologies here and abroad. She has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, O Magazine and Vogue, among many other publications, and has won a National Magazine Award for Fiction. Her work has been translated into fifteen languages. She has written many pilot scripts, for cable and network, and she created, wrote and ran the excellent, short-lived series State of Mind, starring...

... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Amy Bloom's Website

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