Set in Montreal after World War II, Nancy Richler’s third novel, The Imposter Bride, explores the relationships between trauma and its aftermath, the complexities of identity, and the intergenerational bonds of family. The events of the novel are set in motion when Lily Azerov steps off a train in Montreal to greet Sol Kramer, a man whom she has never met but has agreed to marry, only to have him reject her on the spot. When Lily marries Sol’s brother Nathan, a guest realizes that Lily is not the bride’s real name, which raises questions about Lily’s actual identity then and in the years following the birth of her daughter Ruth.
In many ways The Imposter Bride unfolds like a mystery. The reader as well as the characters must piece together fragments of information about the past in order to discover the actual identity of Ruth’s mother, what her life was like before the war, what happened to her during the war, and where she went after leaving Montreal. By structuring the book in this way, Richler explores the irrevocable psychological and familial ruptures that occurred as a result of World War II.
Richler’s writing style is compelling and the way in which the narrative alternates between points of view and time periods and creates wonderful descriptions of characters and landscapes.
By exploring how the past has been preserved and how information has been passed down within a family, Richler emphasizes the extent to which, through stories, the secrets of the past can be unraveled.
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