When the World Was Young

Written by Elizabeth Gaffney

Narrated by Caitlin Davies

Wally Baker is no ordinary girl. Living in her grandparents' Brooklyn Heights brownstone, she doesn't like dresses, needlepoint, or manners. Her love of Wonder Woman comics and ants makes her feel like a misfit-especially in the shadow of her dazzling but unstable mother, Stella.

Acclaimed author Elizabeth Gaffney's irresistible novel captures postwar Brooklyn through Wally's eyes, opening on V-J day, as she grows up with the rest of America. Reeling from her own unexpected wartime tragedy and navigating an increasingly fraught landscape, Wally is forced to confront painful truths about the world-its sorrows, its prejudices, its conflicts, its limitations. But Wally also finds hope and strength in the unlikeliest places.

With an unforgettable cast of characters, Elizabeth Gaffney crafts an immersive, beautifully realized novel about the truths that divide and the love that keeps us together.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Aug 5, 2014
• ISBN: 9781494572549

Reviews for When the World Was Young

[rvhatha · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It took me awhile to get a feel for this novel; the focus on Wally and Ham at the beginning suggested it was a coming-of-age, almost YA novel...but then the steamy scenes between Wally's mother and her boarder quickly put those thoughts to rest! What the novel becomes transcends any of the genres that one might be tempted to slot it into: it's not a WW II novel, though the most crucial events of Wally's childhood are indelibly shaped by the war; it's not a book about race relations or gender inequality in the mid-century US, though those factors also impact Wally's choices. What the novel really becomes, ultimately, is the story of Brooklyn itself--what it was like before the war, during the war, and afterwards, when "urban renewal" ravaged it.The novel is especially strong in terms of characterization, particularly in the way it captures Wally's naive observations about her mother as a child; her fantasy about her mother being a secret superhero like Wonder Woman is especially poignant. But for all that, I felt a sort of disconnect with Wally's mother and grandmother as characters--which is a shame, since they're both remarkable women, MDs and primary breadwinners at a time when both of those roles were very unusual for women. Wally's mother, in particular, seemed to be cast aside simply to thicken the plot, which felt a little callous to me. I felt similarly about Ham, who also comes and goes when it's convenient, which doesn't seem very fair to him. And while the many details about ant colonies and behavior may be deeply symbolic, I have to admit that I started skimming those sections after awhile. Still, this was a very evocative, wistful sort of novel, and I enjoyed watching Wally grow up through its pages.NOTE: I received this book as a free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[iambookish-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A beautifully well-crafted novel that had me hooked right from the beginning. Beginning on VJ day, the story lets us grow up along with the main character Wally Baker as she traverses a privileged but difficult childhood in Brooklyn . The daughter and granddaughter of physicians, Wally is bright, curious and beautiful but her mother's death has left her with many unanswered questions that no one is willing, or able, to answer.
I'd never read anything by Gaffney before this and I'm so happy she has written something previously so I can dive right in to another book!

[jwood652 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Coming of age story set during and shortly after World War II. From the perspective of a young girl, her experience of life, love and death recounted with nostalgia for a more innocent time.

I received my copy from netgalley.com

[etxgardener · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A coming of age story set in the 1940's and'50's in New York City, we first meet Wally Baker on V-J Day as she is being hurried to her grandmother's house in Brooklyn Heights to spend the day while her mother goes to make her rounds at the hospital where she is a doctor. Wally is a very precocious nine-year-old who is more interested in entymology than dolls or pretty clothes, and more interested in her grandmother's maid's son than in her more socially acceptable playmates. By the end of the day, Wally will have had her own war time tragedy when she & the maid, Loretta come across her mother's dead body in their apartment.How Wally navigates this tragedy, and the walls of silence that surround it should be riveting reading. But neither she nor the other characters are totally believable in this book. It's as if the author has plunked down characters with twenty-first century sensibilities into a mid-twentieth century world. Author Elizabeth Gaffney's writing is excellent, but the story just doesn't ring true.

[shazjhb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much but liked the aspects of family life presented in this story. It will probably make my "Happy Reads" list.

[c.archer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"When the World Was Young: A Novel" is a great read. I enjoyed all of it, and found it especially thought-provoking and challenging because of some of the topics the author chose to bring into the story. It takes place from the end of WW II through the 1950's, in Brooklyn Heights, NY. The story blends two families, one prosperous, the other servant. Race and budding feminism are both featured prominently, as are the hardships that families face during and following war. The changes that take place from one generation to another are worked into the story and add dimension and reality. Although there is much drama, there are also lighter and happier topics, such as children banging pots during the VJ celebration, going swimming, or collecting ants to study. Still, the book focuses strongly on issues that affect these families and how they work through them. The author combines a strong plot with an interesting time and place and characters that struggle and learn to adapt to real issues of the times.I recommend this title to fans of historic fiction, particularly those who also like to read about the societal and moral issues of the period. It is a thinking book and will bring out opinions, so it would also make a great reading club selection.I thank the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

[lauriebrown54 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

“When the World was Young” starts off to be a grand story, opening on V-J Day and the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood spontaneously celebrating together, marching around making noise. Nine year old Wally Baker starts that day happy but that isn’t to last long. Wally is the daughter, granddaughter and I think great-granddaughter of female M.D.s; it’s the family tradition. Her grandmother Gigi runs the family with the aid of Loretta, her black live-in maid of all work. Loretta basically raised Gigi’s daughter Stella and is now raising, for the most part, Wally, along with her own son, Ham. After a childhood of studying ants with Ham, Wally is determined to study insects, not become an M.D. no matter what Gigi wants. She comes of age during the Korean War (oops ‘police action’). She’s extremely smart. She has relationship issues. The story moves back and forth between times, sometimes showing us Wally’s timeline from seven year old to college student, and sometimes Stella’s past. It touches on the use of the atom bomb to end WW 2, racial prejudice, and sexism but it touches so lightly that it seems like they were just little problems that didn’t really affect people. No one will call Stella ‘Dr. Baker’; it’s always ‘Mrs.’, even from other doctors, but she is given no problems as an intern other than that. There are a couple of incidents of prejudice against Ham when he is with Wally, once when they are children and once when they are grown, but neither is serious despite the fact that during that era (and for a long time after in some areas!) being an interracial couple could bring very serious physical repercussions. Most things work out fine for Wally with little effort. The things that don’t work out for her – even very serious things- don’t seem to bother her. Things just bounce off her. I have a problem with this. A lot of things happen in the story, but it doesn’t have any depth. The characters seem shallow and seem stereotypical; Wally is the do anything American Girl, Loretta is the Magical Negro, Wally’s father is the Absent Father who has nothing to do with Wally’s upbringing, Gigi is the Strong Matriarch. You would think that a novel dealing with race relations, suicide, marital infidelity, loss, and more would be exciting and that the characters would have a lot of emotions, but alas, no. Stella is the only one whose emotional life is explored very much. The book was a fast read and rather enjoyable, but it’s more like it’s an outline than a novel, waiting to be completely filled in.

[conniemcmartin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a well-told story about a tomboy named Wally Baker, growing up in her grandparents’ house in post-World War II Brooklyn. The pacing of the story was perfect and it held my interest well. The characters were enjoyable, though based on the synopsis I expected just a little more from Wally. I don’t know what was lacking for me, to take her from being a good character to a truly memorable one, but my time with her was still well spent. I also expected more intrigue from her “dazzling but unstable” mother, Stella. Mr. Niederman—the tenant Wally and her and her mother take in at the request of Wally’s father who is away at war—and his secret work were of interest to me. I would have preferred more of his presence throughout, but I understand why, because of the plot, it wasn’t possible. Loretta, the grandparents' black maid, and the maid's son, Ham were believable and likeable supporting characters, though the grandparents themselves felt a bit like props. Again, I am not sure what could have made them better. It seemed the author was ticking all the right boxes, but I wasn’t always making an emotional connection.It’s hard to say much about plot without giving things away but, although the book held my interest until the very end, I did not care much for the resolve of the story. The last quarter of the book felt a little rushed and unrealistic. Wally’s actions didn’t seem to match her emotions or intentions (maybe that was part of her complexity), and she came to terms with different conflicts without much of a struggle. It was all a little too neat and easy for me, though I know a lot of people prefer this type of ending to one with a lot of loose ends.The entomology parts were a great addition. Interesting, but never overdone or drawn out to the point where one would get bored. I learned a lot about ants! I would have enjoyed more historical facts thrown in as well, but for someone looking to be swept away by the story alone, I think they will find this book a welcome escape.I received a digital galley from NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.