How I Live Now--Meg Rosoff

The review promised from yesterday's very brief exploration of this intriguing book.  There are so many things to say and so few of them can be said without revealing key points of the book.  Suffice to say that our heroine, Daisy, is shippped from ritzy New York to her relatives in England just prior to the outbreak of a strange sort of war that ends up isolating Great Britain amongst others.  The novel is a chronicle of Daisy and her relatives as they struggle to survive in war time conditions.

The experience starts as sort of a lark--a family of underage minors is left in a rambling old house when the mother/aunt is called off to Oslo to help in the peace talks.  They behave much as minors without supervision might, up to and including the sexual encounters that, while not detailed, caused me to look a little askance at the YA designation.  Soon enough the lark turns into the reality of war as the house is made a headquarters for the "good guys" and the family members dispersed.

Interestingly, up until the last forty-to-fifty pages, this book seemed to me a light toss-off, easily enough read and cast aside.  Entertaining reading to fill up a space in time.  However, the last few pages moved it from a casual read into something well worth the time.  In that last short span, we learn about love--its demands, its price, its power.  We learn also something about what it means to survive when others have not and what it means to leave and be left.  I'll say no more lest it impinge upon the reader's experience.

Now, I'm back to the question of YA.  I think this is a designation that comes more from the main character being a 14 year old girl than from the fact that this will be suitable for or even much liked by a younger audience.  For those of you with children looking for things to read, I would not recommend this book for anyone younger than about 15-16, and even then only after you have read it and determined how to deal with some of the issues it brings up.

However, for all of you adults, I have to say that I find myself a bit surprised to be recommending this book.  It is short, it is fast; but, it is profoundly moving at points.  Simply written, clear, poignant, and purposeful How I Live Now is worth our time to rediscover for a moment (if we are not always fully aware) what it means to love.

****1/2--Recommended