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Cécile Sune

The Legacy of Lost Things by Aida Zilelian

November 19, 2014December 9, 2018
The Legacy of Lost Things by Aida Zilelian
The Legacy of Lost Things by Aida Zilelian

Araxi is 18 years old when she runs away from home with her friend Cecile. Her disappearance forces her Armenian relatives to reevaluate their lives and think about the past to determine what went wrong. Levon, Araxi’s father, has to deal with his anger towards his wife and his sister. Tamar, Araxi’s mother, is depressed because of  her failed marriage and a lost love. Sophie, Araxi’s younger sister, feels lonely and is convinced everybody is abandoning her. While driving across the United States, Araxi is determined to have a brand new life and never to come back home. But will she succeed in reinventing herself? Will her relatives come to terms with her decision?

The Legacy of Lost Things is an interesting story about dark family secrets and the difficulty for immigrants to fit in a new country. Like Araxi and Sophie, Aida Zilelian is a first-generation Armenian being raised in America, and she drew a lot from her experiences while writing this book. She aptly describes how most immigrants want to embrace their new country without compromising their culture. However, I found that the many characters and flashbacks in the story could be confusing. In addition, the author left some loose ends when the story concluded: for example, what happened to Cecile after she met Casey? I must say though that this novel motivated me to know more about the Armenian genocide, and I would have been curious to see what happened to Araxi’s ancestors during these dark times. Maybe this could be the basis for another book…

The Legacy of Lost Things was sent to me for free in exchange for an honest review.

About the author and her work: Aida Zilelian’s Website.

If you liked this book you might also like:

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
Family of Shadows by Garin Hovannisian
Family of Shadows by Garin Hovannisian
The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold
The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold
These Dreams by Barbara Chepaitis
These Dreams by Barbara Chepaitis
Aida Zilelian Review aida zilelianamericaangerarmeniacharactersculturedepressionfamilyflashbacksgenocidehistoryimmigrationlonelylovenew yorkpastrelationshipssecretsthe legacy of lost things

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Cecile

Cécile Sune was born in Lyon, France, and her obsession with books started when she was 14. Her grandparents had lent her Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, and she spent part of the summer indoors reading. Needless to say, her tan didn't really improve that year! It was also around that time that Cécile fell in love with the English language. Several years later, in 1999, Cécile moved to Toronto, Canada, with her cat and 5 suitcases. Her love of reading greatly increased when she discovered that English books were much cheaper than French novels. In 2013, she decided to start a blog to share her passion. Cécile now lives in Ottawa, Canada, with her husband and their daughter, and works as a freelance translator (CS Revision).

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