Things that Happened Before the Earthquake tells the tale of Eugenia, a fifteen year old from Rome, who moves to L.A. with her bohemian family in 1992. While her father, a film director, tries to make his name with a kitsch horror movie Eugenia struggles to adjust to her new lifestyle as she also searches for her own identity. The longer Eugenia stays in L.A. the less Italian she feels, but she and her oddball family never quite find their L.A. groove even though they form deep and intense connections with a variety of other L.A. transplants and misfits. Spanning the time from the L.A. riots to the L.A. earthquake the author paints a realistic picture of California at that time and the story is packed with plenty of pop culture references that add even more authenticity.
The characters in the book are highly believable and the prose is beautifully written: there are bold and shocking passages, humorous ones and ones of great poignancy. What is missing is a plot as such so the story never quite meshed together for me as it read more as a series of separate events and adventures.
I did enjoy the book and there were some magical passages within it but it was a slow read for me, and while I loved Eugenia and her family there was something missing from the tale that I couldn't quite put my finger on... The book didn't disappoint me but it didn't quite live up to my expectations.
Finally, I must mention the cover art. I love this cover - it's so full of energy and emotion and it's very L.A. I don't do 'Covers of the Year', but if I did, it would be this one!
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