Thank you to Amy Bloom, Random House, and NetGalley for giving me access to this eARC!

I fell in love with Bloom's writing after reading In Love so I was extremely excited to receive a copy of her newest novel. First and foremost, the writing was just as beautiful in this book. Bloom has such lush and full of life imagery, she really makes the reader feel like they are fully immersed in to the book. There were so many interesting details and plot points in I'll Be Right Here. I think Alma and Izzy's story really got to me, it felt so innocent and pure, Alma's entire character was the purifier for this group. I also felt most intrigued when I was reading about Gazala and Samir's younger selves. They both lived hard and incredible lives, the historical aspects of this novel were certainly well researched. The ending was also truly beautiful, all about life and love and connections, I gobbled it up.

However, the romantic aspects of this story were largely unpalatable. A (non-biological but still familial) brother and sister turned lovers, a woman who leaves her husband for his sister, sudden polyamory, I just felt a bit inundated with taboo. I wouldn't have disliked any of these things if it was only one introduced and expanded upon but it felt like Bloom was trying to be trendy almost. I think Honey and Anne (the sister-in-laws turned wives) made sense together and would have rather just had more focus on that. Gazala and Samir did not need to have romantic love, they existed perfectly as siblings.

I still enjoyed this novel and it gets a solid 3.5 from me!

Just finished I’ll Be Right Here by Amy Bloom—what a journey. It’s a beautifully written, decades-spanning tale about a chosen family that stretches from 1930s Paris to 21st-century America. Bloom weaves multiple perspectives—Gazala, Samir, Anne, Alma—through a nonlinear narrative that sometimes requires focus, but pays off with emotional depth and lyrical prose .

I’m always in the mood for a good family saga. This was a rather unusual one. It begins in Paris during WWII and features a young woman (Gazala) of Algerian background who ends up working for the famous author Colette. One thing leads to another and Gazala ends up in the US - first in NYC and later in the Poughkeepsie area (Vassar is in Poughkeepsie and there is a connection but I can’t recall it).

The story revolves around a little family Gazala creates via a Jewish family who take an interest in her as a young woman and her brother. (The story of the brother and the relationship between the two is a bit confusing. He’s been adopted by Gazala’s parents after his own parents die when he is a month old.)

There are a number of places in the story where I got a bit confused. The timing jumps around rather drastically and so does the character who’s telling the story.

The theme is what makes a family, and how to navigate being different - either due to heritage such as Jewish or Algerian or sexual orientation.

This book is more than three stars but not quite four - let’s say 3.5 rounded up to 4.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Amy Bloom’s I’ll Be Right Here is a sweeping, emotionally resonant novel that explores the intricate bonds of chosen family across continents and decades. With her signature blend of wry humor and compassionate insight, Bloom crafts a multigenerational saga that is both intimate and expansive.

At the heart of the story are Gazala and Samir Benamar, orphaned Algerian siblings navigating post-WWII Paris before reuniting in New York. Their unconventional relationship—both familial and romantic—sets the tone for a narrative that challenges traditional definitions of love and kinship. They are soon joined by Anne and Alma Cohen, spirited sisters whose lives intertwine with Gazala’s in ways both tender and tumultuous. Together, this foursome becomes the foundation of a found family that spans generations, affectionately dubbed “the Greats.”

Themes of identity and resilience permeate the novel. Bloom doesn’t shy away from complexity with Anne leaving her husband for his sister, Gazala and Samir conceal their romantic bond, and the next generation embraces fluidity in relationships and selfhood. Yet through it all, the characters remain steadfast in their devotion to one another, even when love is messy or unspoken.

Although I was challenged to keep up with the different POVs, this book felt like a reward with moments of profound beauty and emotional truth. Bloom’s ability to render ordinary lives extraordinary through her lyrical prose was evident throughout.

In This Matriarchy, There Are No Villains

I’ll Be Right Here is not mainly about sex, but it’s certainly part of its ongoing conversation. This novel is about intimacy, emphatically yes. And it’s undeniably literary fiction to be ranked among the master stylists, many of whom were men during the last century. Updike, Cheever, Bellow, Roth - all of them wrote about upper-middle-class daily life and strife, those stories not set entirely in the suburbs of New York City, but consistently appealing to readers of The New Yorker. Joyce Carol Oates has also written about and spoken to that audience in the same era, and into our own (Amy Bloom has also been published in The New Yorker. Is that evidence of a sensibility? An audience?)

This story is a family saga. But in this case the notion of family must be extended to include some principals who are adopted players. It’s no spoiler to disclose that the tale begins at Gazala’s deathbed - in recent time - then flashes back to her girlhood as a poor French-Algerian girl growing up amid the hardships of WWII Vichy Paris.

Even though I’m outlining the relationships among characters here, these plot points aren’t necessarily spoilers. The story is all about the emotional lives of a tightly-knit group of women.

Adopted? You see, Gazala is the grand matriarch of this story, but she’s an adopted member of the Cohen family - adopted, that is, emotionally rather than legally. The Cohen sisters of Poughkeepsie - Alma and Anna - treat Gazala as an honored member after they meet her in the bakery where she works, six months after her arrival in America.

Spanning multiple generations, a family tree might help you keep track. (In any such story, I often feel I need one as first names get strewn about, pages after being introduced.

Alma is sweet and generous. She falls in love with homely Izzy almost at first sight. They plan on having a family, but can’t, then, after some happy years, Izzy dies. Anna, more practical, settles on marrying the mild-mannered WASP Richard, and gives birth to Lily. Anna then forsakes Richard to form an intimate partnership with Honey, who happens to be Richard’s sister. Remarkably, Richard seems understanding.

By her soon departed husband Roy, Lily has a child, Harry, who grows up proudly gay, showbiz inclined, and dresses with appropriate flair. Lily takes up with Bea, who is unrelated to any of them as she comes onstage, having been adopted fondly years back by Gazala and Samir, who had befriended Isabel, their real-estate agent, grandmother of Bea. (Are you writing this down?) Bea was married briefly but quickly decided it was a mistake.

Interwoven with those more contemporary episodes, the WWII backstory describes Gazala’s devotion to her older brother Samir (Sammy). After they’ve been orphaned in Paris, she learns to make her way performing favors for German soldiers. Sammy acquires unspecified talents as a hustler. Gazala learns manners of the aristocratic class after she takes a job as personal assistant to the aged Madame Collette, the famous author.

Gazala is devoted to Sammy as she is to none of her male lovers. They share a bed and fall asleep in one another’s arms. Incest is implied. They will remain this close for the rest of their lives, even after Gazala emigrates to New York, followed by Sammy. There she works in a patisserie, having learned the baker’s trade back in Paris from her father, who worked as assistant to a pastry chef.

After Alma’s Izzy has passed and Anna has taken up with Honey, those three women become a matriarchy with Gazala as their spiritual leader. The second generation, represented by Lily and Bea, will refer to them as “the Greats.”

Unlike melodramas set in similar circumstances, jealousies don’t matter much in the plot. Neither do deaths, which simply occur, and if wrenching, the crises take place off-screen. For the most part, the men in the story - spouses and lovers, at times - aren’t so much stereotypical as they are temporary, therefore unimportant. One man, a young fellow named Jess, a cousin of Bea, is trans, and it’s no secret. He is the father of twins Luke and Lisa. And, oh yes, Lily describes her dalliances in polyamory, which ultimately did not appeal to her, but not for lack of honesty, fairness, and variety.

What persists and endures is the love among these women, old and young. I’m reminded of Anne Tyler’s novels, which some critics have described as “an angel’s eye view.” There are no villians or even meanness in her books - just misunderstood adversaries. And, as in Bloom’s novel, no violence.

Many literary novels seem to be fictionalized memoir, and I’ll Be Right There reads like one. Bloom does name a family in her Acknowledgments who may have been her model for the Greats. However, she cites research sources for French-Algerian history and culture, so perhaps those plot threads aren’t woven from her own background.

I believe the central theme of Bloom’s novel is the power, the coherence, and the sanity of matriarchy. Even if it’s related as fiction, the world of the Greats is a much kinder, gentler place than most of us experience.

But - about those intimate relationships?

It’s an open question whether there have been so many permutations and combinations of coupling (and throupling) in the author’s life - or whether, in describing a better world - she went out of her way to hit all the bases.

Why? In a more perfect world, shouldn’t we all have the right to choose?

I’ll Be Right Here by Amy Bloom is very much a character driven novel, initially taking place in France, towards the end of World War Two and up to 2015 in New York. The writing is descriptive and beautiful and involves many characters who have somewhat complicated relationships. Ultimately, this group of people is family, mostly by choice, rather than biological.

I found the narrative to be somewhat confusing, as it shifts from person to person, and may start at one point in time but then becomes a remembrance of a different point in time. Overall, there was not much of a plot and so many people to track that it was a bit hard going however the writing was sometimes lyrical and picturesque. So, for me, a mixed bag, but may work better for others.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Random House for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

During World War II, Gazelle leaves Paris for New York and becomes friends with sisters Alma and Annie. Eventually, her brother joins them, and the four become fast friends and family. I loved how furiously these four loved each other and stood behind each other, which couldn't have been easy during the mid-twentieth century. It's a great look into family dynamics. The characters were very typical in the way they dealt with their struggles. I could recognize their issues easily, but their individual strengths didn't shine through. I felt like their journeys held no surprises.

There's a lot of internal dialogue in this one, and I usually enjoy that because I can get inside a character's head, but this just seemed to drone on and on. It was more style than substance. Bloom's writing is beautiful, but the emotional impact I was expecting wasn't there. There is a lot of love, loss and longing between the pages, but I felt the author was being a little too safe. I wanted to be immersed in the raw messiness of life and generational grief in all its horrible glory. I found the plot a tad confusing to follow as the timeline jumped around. The book seemed to be written in snippets instead of a flowing, linear timeline.

A brother and sister in occupied France fight to live. When Gazala moves to New York, so becomes close with sisters Anne and Alma. Their families become intertwined and the next two generations make up a complicated family with a variety of relationships.

I have liked Amy Bloom's books before but maybe I have built her up in my head more than in reality. Because I did not like this book much. I didn't connect with her detached writing style, she threw in tons of characters (many with similar names) to try to keep straight, and she had so many complicated relationships that I just wished for some solid ground. It felt like a long saga even though it was under 300 pages, and its short length is the only reason I finished it (at which time I felt like I should have won a perseverance award.) Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this one but it's getting some good buzz, so what do I know?

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

I like Bloom's writing, but I just couldn't really get into this one, which felt like a pretty basic fallout-from-WWII story. Not the right book for me right now, but will likely be the right book for many readers.

More stream of consciousness and lavish descriptions of settings, I’LL BE RIGHT HERE is lacking a cohesive plot. It spans the years from WWII to almost current time, each era moves loosely around people and settles into descriptions of place in vivid detail. The writing is, at times, beautiful and other times, overwrought. It didn’t hold my attention despite its short length. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

A story of families, with a plethora of characters that include several decades as this story continues, sharing their stories over time. There are moments throughout that include their individual stories, as well as more. Too much at times, and too little to keep me fully engaged in this story which seems to move back and forth through time.

Pub Date: 24 Jun 2025

Many thanks for the opportunity to read Amy Bloom's 'I'll Be Right Here'

In its best moments, "I'll Be Right Here" has a lot in common with John Irving's sprawling novels. You learn about a huge cast of characters, what they're thinking and how they feel about each other and their lives. Novelist Amy Bloom brings a warmth to these characters and many of them have a real lifelike glow. Unfortunately, Bloom lacks Irving's gift for tying it all together. And so at times the reader is lost in a sea of discursive narratives spanning decades and locations (WWII France, 1950s NYC, more). As the story moves backward and forward in time, there's very little propelling the story forward. Five-star prose and a two-star "plot" left me wanting more from the book.

I'll Be Right Here by Amy Bloom is a so-so novel about found families.

In 1942 Gazala, seventeen, works for the writer Colette. She immigrates alone from Paris to New York after World War II, and becomes friends with sisters Anne and Alma Cohen. Gazala’s adopted brother, Samir, later joins her and the two become lovers. These four characters become life long friends and a family to each other.

This is a beautifully written novel but the(dis)organization and the lack of a noteworthy plot make it a mess to read. Nevertheless, I persisted and stayed with it because it is also a very short novel. Be forewarned that the chapters jump back and forth in time throughout the narrative. It is not a before and after set up, it is jumping back and forth to random years. It is also consumed with various interpersonal relationships. All of this and the narrative fails to tell a story. The beginning of the novel focuses on Gazala but she later becomes a secondary character.

Bloom gets a point for her descriptive writing, but the presentation and lack of a cohesive story were disappointing. Thanks to Random House for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

I'll Be Right Here is a massive family epic, jumping back and forth through time, within one chosen family.

This is an excellent portrait of people who can find others to connect with and make a life. Not all families are connected by blood.

Sometimes the family tree isn't a tree as much as a forest.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I read a review written by someone else that said it took determination to finish this book and I couldn't agree more. The descriptions are lovely, from the seder dinners of roast chicken and honey glazed carrots, to the beautiful upstate New York farmhouses, to the stunning and languid beaches of Mexico, but the timeline is sometimes difficult to follow and the characters can be hard to keep straight. I admire the way Bloom depicts explorations of sexuality and family relationships but would have liked a little more depth and a little less flitting from one gorgeous scene to another. Recommended but with reservations about that determination bit.
I was given an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have never completed an Amy Bloom book, but when given the opportunity to read one on NetGalley, I decided to try again. And, sadly, this one is similar to all the others I have tried to read. I did finish this book, but it was slow and too wordy. The long descriptive sentences with no dialogue centered too much on the main character's inner thoughts, with not much plot development. Not that I need an active book, I enjoy books with beautiful descriptions and slow build-up, but this one never "built up." Though much of the writing is lovely, it failed to engage me as a reader.
This is a relatively short book, but there’s so much crammed in with so little regard for the reader’s ability to follow it that if I hadn’t been reading it for review, I would not have bothered to finish it. A thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was intrigued as I began reading I’ll Be Right Here. By the time I was part way through things became muddled. There was way too much of everything in it. Parts were very interesting, including the relationship angst and love. I’m glad I hung in there and read to the end, but not a great read for me.

I am an Amy Bloom fan and have loved everything I've read by her. I also loved "I'll Be Right Here" but with one big reservation (hence, 4 stars instead of 5). I know that a wave of jumping back and forth between time periods has been very fashionable recently but this title really takes it to the extreme. It took me awhile to engage with the characters and figure out where the story was heading. By the last third of the book I finally felt comfortable with where each of the many characters was in their development at any given point in the timeline. Each chapter is a little slice of life and at times I laughed out loud and at others teared up a little. Persevere to the end and you'll be glad you did.

One thing I’ve learned about reading an Amy Bloom book is that you are going to be taken on an indescribable journey and you should just take the trip as it comes and see what it reveals. Though this is a short novel, it’s packed with a lot of people for you to meet along the way. The key characters are Gazala and Samir Benamar, and sisters Alma and Anne Cohen. But that’s just the start.

Gazala and her adopted brother Samir are Algerians, Gazala was in Paris during World War II, worked for the famous Colette and, through Colette’s beneficence, moved to New York in 1947. There, she met the Cohen sisters, and the trio became lifelong friends. You’ll want to remember that Gazala and Samir are not biological siblings, because later on they become a couple. (Still, yikes, since they were raised as siblings from his babyhood, but it actually doesn’t feel weird in the book.) The love lives of Anne and Alma are detailed, too, and they include Anne’s decision to dump her husband Richard for his sister, Honey. (Yikes again, with the sibling love!) Then there are Lily, Bea, Harry, and many others, all living their own complicated lives, but also caught up in the web of affection, sometimes exasperated affection, cast by our key characters, whom the younger generations call the Greats.

It’s frustrating to try and describe an Amy Bloom novel, and this is no different. Yes, at one level, this book is about the Greats and the people in their lives. But this is an Amy Bloom novel, and what that means is that the writing is so beautiful, vivid and evocative that you will hold your breath from tension, laugh out loud, and feel the poignancy of love and loss. Take the journey.

Sadly this latest Amy Bloom book was not for me. Perhaps I was not the right audience and perhaps other reviews will give better insights about reading this. I found it slow and convoluted with unpleasant topics.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this ARC.