Lucky Us by Amy Bloom

Random House, 256 pages, $26

This is not a mystery!

But it is a wonderful book.

Amy Bloom has written a shining novel about family, a family not necessarily connected by blood. Eva’s mother suddenly abandons Eva at her father’s house. Her father’s rich wife has just died, leaving him and another daughter without money. It’s a house of cards that’s falling, leaving Eva and her brand-new family looking for a place to live. Every turn brings a twist, sometimes with humor, sometimes with heartbreak, turning the title “Lucky Us” into an ironic statement.

Bloom takes her family through several years around World War II. She veers away from sentimental but manages to create warmth, slides around despair but depicts some tough times, and never puts Eva's morality on a pedestal beside the failings of others.

Should you desire a break from crime fiction …