Canadian Historical Fiction Review: The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler

Publisher: Harper Collins Canada
Pages: 357

Received: Received a copy from Harper Collins Canada in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: October 5, 2012
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Goodreads Synopsis:

The most painful secrets create the deepest of lies.

A young, enigmatic woman - Lily Azerov - arrives in post-war Montreal expecting to meet her betrothed, Sol Kramer. When Sol sees Lily at the train station, however, he turns her down. His brother, Nathan, sees Lily and instantly decides to marry her instead.

But Lily is not the person she claims to be, and her attempt to live a quiet existence as Nathan Kramer's wife shatters when she disappears, leaving her baby daughter with only a diary, an uncut diamond, and a need to discover the truth.

Who is Lily, and what happened to the young woman whose identity she stole? Why has she left and where did she go? It is up to the daughter Lily abandoned to find the answers to these questions as she searches for the mother she may never find or truly know.

My Review:

This book is a beautiful portrayal of how the war affected people and causes them to shut themselves off from the rest of the world. Nancy Richler delves deep into the minds of the characters, showing how even though people have lived through the war it still causes a lot of pain. This story is told in alternating chapters from Lily's view of arriving in Montreal and her daughter's search for who she is without a mother.

Lily's chapters show readers her journey to Montreal and how the war has affected her thoughts. Lily is strong when she needs to be, understanding that her only way to get out was to steal someone else's identity. Slowly readers learn who this woman was through a journal that Lily has taken along with the identity, and we learn that she has family in Montreal that look for the truth as well.

My favourite part of the story was watching Lily's daughter, Ruth grow up and learn about herself and how different life is for her without a mother. I really felt for Ruth, seeing how these secrets her family has kept from her for years has changed her. She doesn't find out about what really happened with her mother until she is an adult. Ruth goes back and forth on choosing whether or not to search out this woman who left her so many years ago and get answers as to why someone would do that.

All of the characters in this book are very lost, the adults being affected by the war and Ruth growing up without a mother in a time where people are still very against the Jewish. Ruth definitely has a lot of hardships growing up, but I love her character and the strength she gets from her family, learning that she has so much love around her.

Richler tells a detailed story of what life was like in Poland following the war and the many difficulties people encountered attempting to leave. I love books where the characters all have problems that they must come to terms with and this book really shows that off. Richler brings her characters and their feelings to life, and I found it difficult not to fall in love with these characters, watching as they grow and learn about themselves in this new place.

This book is definitely one of my favourites because it is all about character development and learning to overcome hardships. I really loved how the notebook tells us all about the character Lily has stolen the identity from and we learn what happened to her as well.

To learn more about Nancy Richler and THE IMPOSTER BRIDE, check out the Harper Collins Canada website!