Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In the touching latest from Grodstein (We Must Not Think of Ourselves), a dejected 40-something woman travels halfway around the world to restore her sense of purpose. Amy Webb met her husband, Judd, 20 years earlier, while working as a line cook in his Manhattan restaurant. They married two years later, and she gave up her job not long after to help raise her stepson, Ferry. Several years ago, she turned to writing and became a college writing instructor, but she's between assignments and classes, and Ferry is at Cornell for his sophomore year. After she sees sexually explicit messages from another woman on Judd's phone, she suspects he is having yet another affair. She then embarks on a journey to Tbilisi, Georgia, to help find a lost dog named Angel. (She's been following the search for Angel on social media and has sent donations to the cause.) Irine Benia, head of Angel's search group in Tbilisi, offers to put her up. There, Amy encounters Irine's elderly mother and aunts and her teenage daughter, Maia. She also meets Andrei, a mysterious, attractive boarder in their home who she considers sleeping with. As Amy gets her bearings in Tbilisi, the liberating effect of her desire for Andrei and surprising discoveries about Irine and Angel restore her long-buried instinct to put her needs first. The pleasure of the novel is in watching Amy's transformation, which, despite being a well-worn trope, feels genuine. Readers will be transported. Agent: Julie Barer, Book Group. (Aug.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
With her marriage in crisis and her career on hold, Amy West turns to what gives her the most comfort--animal videos on YouTube. There she hears about Angel, a dog that has gone missing in the country of Georgia. Angel is technically a stray but has become beloved by her community for escorting young children as they cross a busy street on their way to school. Amy begins to make regular contributions to the search for Angel, and in so doing, she connects with Irine, who heads the "Justice for Angel" fund. When her husband's latest indiscretion comes to light, Amy decides to fly off to Georgia to physically join in the search for the missing dog. She has been invited to stay with Irine, whose chaotic household includes Irine's teenage daughter Maia, three grannies, 11 dogs, and one handsome Russian boarder. In between looking for Angel, Amy joins Maia's friends for delicious meals and political discussions about Georgia's authoritarian government. More politics arise in her talks with Andrei, the boarder, who has left Russia to avoid fighting in the war against Ukraine. VERDICT In Grodstein's (We Must Not Think of Ourselves) latest, Amy's journey is less about finding a dog and more about finding herself, though dog lovers (and all others) will find much pleasure in this charming story.--Barbara Love
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Seeking purpose and some distance from her "impossible rogue" of a husband who may have been unfaithful again, Amy Webb leaves New York for Georgia--the country, not the state--in search of a lost dog. Angel isn't just any dog, but a heroic mutt that sees schoolchildren safely across the road in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Amy, a 46-year-old pet lover, has been making donations to a rescue group seeking to solve Angel's mysterious disappearance, and after the latest flare-up with her husband, Judd, she responds impulsively to an online chat with a woman at the rescue group and heads to Eastern Europe, hoping to trace the hound herself. Once arrived, though, the MacGuffin of locating Angel takes second place to reflections on a whole range of issues challenging Amy's perimenopausal sense of self, alongside an update on Georgian politics. The year is 2023 and Georgia bears some comparison with Ukraine, suffering Putin's constant pressures. There are demonstrations in the streets. More personally, Amy is grappling with her dormant sexuality, prompted by the presence in the chaotic household where she's lodging of piercingly blue-eyed Russian deserter Andrei. Events and conversations also raise the topic of male infidelity, both generally and specifically, and then there's the question of parenting. Amy's own father disappeared when she was 2. How did this influence her choice of Judd? What about her stepparenting of Judd's son, Ferry, whose mother is dying after years of addictions? Simultaneously comic, earnest, and travelogue-ishly descriptive of Georgian food, folk, and history, the novel largely succeeds in treading the tightrope of delivering entertainment while winding its issues into the storytelling. Some sideswipes at American naivety add to the amusement, and as Amy comes to understand her own truth, so one canine mystery gives way to another. A comforting tale of female self-empowerment littered with doggy distractions. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
