Publishers Weekly
03/14/2016
Loigman debut novel is an engrossing family saga set in post-war Brooklyn. It focuses on two families that are inextricably linked by blood, marriage, and a long-held secret. Brothers Abe and Mort took over their family box business when their father died, even though Mort had his heart set on studying mathematics. The brothers share a two-family house with their children and wives. As the story opens in 1947, wives Rose and Helen are themselves as close as sisters, happily bringing up their children together. Rose and Mort have three young daughters, and Helen and Abe, on the top floor, are bringing up four sons. Then, the two women get pregnant at the same time, deliver their babies together during a horrible blizzard, and make an instant decision to swap the babies that will change all of their lives forever. The story follows the brothers, their wives, and the children through decades. Loigman's use of shifting perspectives allows readers to witness first-hand the growing consequences of long-festering secrets and the insidious lies that cover them up. This historical family drama has a dark underbelly, but Loigman's decision to let the reader in on the secret allows the setting and mood of the novel take over as the characters move haltingly toward redemption and peace. Agent: Marly Rusoff, Marly Rusoff & Associates, Inc . (Mar.)
From the Publisher
It’s hard to believe The Two-Family House is Lynda Cohen Loigman’s debut novel. A richly textured, complex, yet entirely believable story, it draws us inexorably into the lives of two brothers and their families in 1950s Brooklyn, New York.... As compelling as the story line are the characters that Loigman has drawn here. None is wholly likable nor entirely worthy of scorn. All are achingly human, tragically flawed and immediately recognizable. We watch them change and grow as the novel spans more than 20 years....engrossing from beginning to end.” —The Associated Press
(As seen on ABCNews.com, San Diego Union Tribune, Daily Mail, The Daily Journal)
“This absolutely riveting book reads like a suspense novel.... The underlying complexities of friendship, the intricacies of marriage and the disintegration of family are explored in this gem of a family saga. The characters are fully drawn, and the writing is superb. This is a book that is sure to become a popular choice for book clubs.” —Historical Novel Society
“THE TWO-FAMILY HOUSE takes you on a tour of dysfunction and deep and abiding love in a way that reflects the entanglements that come with a close-living family....its examination of generations of a family with their own high expectations to live up to resonates on several different levels....this very literary tale actually gives readers so much more than it may seem at first.” —Book Reporter
“Loigman nails the way family members, especially parents and children, inadvertently pierce one another with careless comments or subtle looks. As the story unfolds, we are reminded of how a split-second decision can reverberate for decades, even for generations....the real strength of Loigman’s debut effort is her characters, to whom you find your loyalty shifting as the story unfolds.” —Jerusalem Post
“Instead of detracting from the book, my uncovering of the 'secret' enhanced my enjoyment of this novel—one of the best I’ve read in a long time....Who, how and why is the subject of this well-written, insightful study of human behavior...that promises good things to come.” —Washington Jewish Week
“The Two-Family House by Lynda Cohen Loigman is an outsider’s look into a world filled with tension and mistrust—and most of all, secrets. [It] will make you question and make you angry—but mainly, it will make you rethink your own family history, until you are left wondering—how much do you know about your own past? And how sure are you that, without warning, your world might not be blown apart?” —Jewish Book Council
“In her first novel, Loigman uses complex characters to deconstruct the anatomy of family relationships and expose deep-rooted emotions, delivering a moving story of love, loss, and sacrifice.” —Booklist Reviews
“Peeling back the layers that surround an irreversible, life-altering secret, this novel weaves a complex and heartbreaking story about lies and love, forgiveness and family. Written from alternating perspectives of the different family members over more than two decades, the deeply developed voices will bring tears and awe, settling snugly into the heart and mind. It’s a reminder that love is always forgiving.” —RT Reviews
"In her first novel, Loigman uses complex characters to deconstruct the anatomy of family relationships and expose deep-rooted emotions, delivering a moving story of love, loss, and sacrifice." —Booklist Reviews
“Peeling back the layers that surround an irreversible, life-altering secret, this novel weaves a complex and heartbreaking story about lies and love, forgiveness and family. Written from alternating perspectives of the different family members over more than two decades, the deeply developed voices will bring tears and awe, settling snugly into the heart and mind. It’s a reminder that love is always forgiving." —RT Book Reviews Top Pick, 4 ½ stars
"Where Loigman excels is in capturing the time period—1950s Brooklyn. She draws gender roles accurately, even capturing the frustration of Mort and Rose’s eldest daughter, Judith, whose gender constrains her life choices. Loigman nails the way family members, especially parents and children, inadvertently pierce one another with careless comments or subtle looks. As the story unfolds, we are reminded of how a split-second decision can reverberate for decades, even for generations....the real strength of Loigman’s debut effort is her characters, to whom you find your loyalty shifting as the story unfolds." —The Jerusalem Post
"In The Two-Family House, young sisters-in-law are thrown together in a single home, where their children live as near siblings in what on the surface seems an ideal life. Lynda Cohen Loigman plumbs the hidden world beneath the happy faces turned to the world with insight, honesty, and compassion, and in doing so explores universal truths about family, and love, and loss. I will certainly be giving a copy of this utterly charming novel to my own dearest sister-in-law." —Meg Waite Clayton author of The Wednesday Sisters
"In a single, intensely charged moment, two women come to a private agreement meant to assure each other's happiness. But as Loigman deftly reveals, life is not so simple, especially when it involves two families, tightly intertwined." —Christina Schwarz, national bestselling author of Drowning Ruth (an Oprah’s Book Club Pick)
"[Full of] great skill and compassion...a novel you won't be able to put down." —Diane Chamberlain, New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes and Pretending To Dance
"Two families, both living in one house, drive an exquisitely written novel of love, alliances, the messiness of life and long buried secrets. Loigman’s debut is just shatteringly wonderful and I can’t wait to see what she does next." —Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Is This Tomorrow and Pictures of You
"A spellbinding family saga...[and a] rare, old-fashioned read you never want to end!" —Cassandra King, national bestselling author of The Sunday Wife
“…the author’s vivid characters . . . drive the story with suspense and . . . emotional tension to make it a page turner.” —Authorlink.com
Library Journal
11/15/2016
In the middle of a snowstorm in 1950s Brooklyn, two sisters-in-law go into labor at the same time. Their husbands are both stuck in the city on business. Two babies are born, a girl and a boy, and a fateful decision is made that will change the course of both families forever. Beginning in 1947 and ending in 1970, the narrative alternates between the two brothers, Mort and Abe, their wives, Rose and Helen, and two of their daughters, Judith and Natalie.Read-Alikes Jennifer Gilmore's Golden Country, Binnie Kirshenbaum's Almost Perfect Moment, and Naomi Ragen's The Sisters Weiss.
Kirkus Reviews
2015-12-23
A debut novel explores the intertwining lives of two Brooklyn families. Mort and Abe are brothers, and when they buy a Brooklyn brownstone together, their wives become fast friends. Abe's family lives upstairs, and Mort's lives downstairs. The families share work (Mort and Abe run their father's company together), play, and many meals. They also share certain frustrations. Mort's wife, Rose, bears three daughters, but Mort is desperate for a son and treats Rose cruelly in the meantime. On the other hand, Helen, who is married to the more gregarious Abe, has had four sons but longs for a daughter: she's lonely in her all-male household. Then Rose and Helen get pregnant at the same time. One winter night when their husbands are away and a blizzard has shut down New York, they both go into labor. That night, they make a decision that alters the course of their families' lives. Afterward, of course, nothing is the same. Loigman's debut novel is concerned with robust sentiments: hope, betrayal, yearning, disappointment. But she undermines those sentiments with banal details, like the color of a kitchen table, while skimping on details about her characters' inner lives. Loigman's writing doesn't quite support the emotional weight that the narrative requires of it; frequently, the prose buckles beneath the load. Intensity is expressed with exclamation points, which do much to raise the volume of the prose but little to heighten its potency or fervor. During one key scene, characters shout back and forth at each other: " ‘That's a terrible thing to say!' ‘Don't you dare raise your voice to me!' ‘Hey—quit yelling at her!' " That Loigman mistakes clamor for vigor is unfortunate. She had the beginnings of a powerful work here. This compelling novel strains beneath its own aspirations and never quite comes to life.
