“My children say I only write about four things — love, sex, family and death,” Amy Bloom tells The Post.
But her spirited new novel “Lucky Us” contains a few more ingredients: World War II, the lives of servants and the music of the 1940s — “which I love!” — the time when two plucky, teenage half-sisters leave their father in Ohio to make their way in Hollywood.
“Lucky Us” — the Connecticut writer’s first novel in seven years — also has one of the most captivating openings you’ll ever read: “My father’s wife died. My mother said we should drive down to his place to see what might be in it for us.”
Bloom will sign copies of her book on Friday at 7 p.m. at Brooklyn’s Bookcourt.
Here are four books she adores:
Kindred by Octavia Butler
I’m not a big science-fiction fan, but someone recommended this to me and I’ve never read anything like it: A young African-American woman from a middle-class life in present-day California life is transported back to the time of slavery. It’s very powerful and finely written.
The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies
I’d never read Davies’ previous books, and I’ve now read all of them. This trilogy is still my favorite, particularly the first and last books. The second is mostly about Jungian analysis — you could skip that. It starts with two boys throwing snowballs, one of which has a stone in it. It hits a young woman who goes into labor and delivers the third central character of the novel. A wonderful way to begin!
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
This is the story of a woman’s life told in multiple forms: diary entries, e-mails, telegrams, business correspondence. You get the first-person narrative from all sorts of characters who aren’t the protagonists. I really feel Shields is one of the most underrated novelists of the last 100 years.
The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope
This is a juicy romp starring one of the worst people you’ve ever encountered: Lizzie Greystock, who’s thrilled when her elderly husband drops dead so she can scoop up his jewels. His family tries to track down her and the jewelry, because by law, she had stolen them. Lizzie has no absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever, so we can all feel better about ourselves reading about her.