It’s 1969 and the Gold siblings are growing up in New York City. The eldest of the siblings, Varya, hears of a traveling fortune teller who can predict the exact day that you are going to die and convinces her brothers and sister to go see her. Over the next 50 years, we watch all four siblings – Simon, Klara, Daniel, and Varya – grow up and live their lives.
Honestly, I didn’t love this book. When I read the synopsis I thought the book might have some magic or mystical elements in it. But this book mainly is about the lives of the four siblings and doesn’t really delve into the supernaturalism of the fortune teller. It’s a story about family and their tribulations. Though there were parts I enjoyed, I was a little unimpressed.
I guess I was just hoping for something more than a family saga.
Each sibling’s story is told in a different section, with that sibling’s narrative taking off from when the previous sibling died (not really a spoiler because a big part of the book is about how the characters live their lives and we know that they are going to die). Whether as a result of the fortune teller’s prediction or just because, each sibling chooses to live their life differently – Simon and Klara leave the family and move to San Francisco, Daniel becomes a military doctor, and Varya spends her time researching how to prolong life.
While I thought this book was a bit unexciting, what I liked was that it made me think. What would you do if you knew when you would die? How would you spend your time? Would you live your life any differently? So many questions…
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