Hello, Agnieszka! by E Journey
Sojourner Books
ISBN: 978-0996247429
Published June 19, 2014
Trade paperback, 281 pages

My Review:
Reviewed by Laura Fabiani

Hello, Agnieszka! is the second book in the Between Two Worlds series by E Journey. I enjoyed the first book Hello, My Love! You can read my review here. And now I look forward to reading the third book.

First, I'd like to say that I like the book covers of this series. This one is perfect for this novel as it depicts Agnieszka well with her story revolving very much around her passion for playing the piano. Even the serious expression on the woman's face is just right.


The story begins with the same main characters from Book One. When Elise's brother attempts suicide, her mother Agnieszka decides to gather her family and reveal a secret from her past. The story then shifts to Agnieszka's point of view and is told in the first-person. She begins her story when she was an eight-year old child.

From this moment on I was captivated. The author deftly transported me to the 70s into the life of a secluded child whose mother suffered hardships after she immigrated to the USA from Poland. When Aunt Jola enters the picture, a concert pianist from Poland, she recognizes passion in Agnieszka and becomes her piano teacher, her mentor and confidant. What follows is a coming-of-age story beautifully told from Agnieszka unique voice.

I liked this book even better than the first one because I liked Agnieszka's story and I also like immigrant stories. Agnieszka is an unforgettable character, well-developed, strong yet vulnerable, beautiful but totally unaware of it, innocent yet curious, passionate yet subdued. The complex relationship she has with her mother propelled the plot forward, demonstrating how it shaped Agnieszka's character and decisions.

E Journey has a talent for creating believable characters, strong women and the men who love them, and stories that resonate. I enjoyed this one very much.

Note: This book is rated PG. There is mild sexual content and dealing with suicide attempt.
To read more reviews, please visit E Journey's page on iRead Book Tours.
E Journey is a realist who thinks she has little imagination. Credit that to her training (Ph. D., University of Illinois) and work in mental health, writing for academics and bureaucrats, and critiquing the work of others. She’s been striving ever since to think and write like normal people.

She’s a well-traveled flâneuse—a female observer-wanderer—who watches, observes, listens. And writes. A sucker for happy endings, she finds enough that depresses her about real life, but seeks no catharsis by writing about it. For her, writing is escape, entertainment. She doesn’t strive to enlighten. Not deliberately. But the bias of her old profession does carry over into her writing. So, instead of broad shoulders and heaving bosoms, she goes into protagonists' thoughts, emotions, inner conflicts, insecurities, and struggles to reach balance and grow.

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