The Rise & Fall of Great Powers

Loved. Readers should sit in a comfortable chair with a fastened seat belt to travel across three continents and thirty years through the 400 pages of Tom Rachman’s novel titled, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers. We spend time with protagonist Matilda ‘Tooly’ Zylberberg in her childhood in 1988, at the turn of the millennium, and in 2011. Tooly is alternately loved and abandoned by four other characters who appear in these time segments. I was reminded by this novel that a child never has too many people in her life who love her. Tooly is watched over and loved, and thanks to Rachman’s fine writing, her unusual life becomes clearer for readers who can tolerate the erratic structure of the novel. I was delighted by what I read. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The Rise & Fall of Great Powers from amazon.com.