Reverent
By "reverent," we mean trying to honor someone's memory by doing something awesome yourself. This note is struck right from the book's dedication: "For My Grandparents, who taught me the opposite of disappearing." Krauss even includes a photo of each of her four grandparents, so it's not difficult to connect our fine author with her fictitious Alma, and her grandparents' love story with the tale of Leo and his beloved. This connection adds a bit of weight behind the occasional whimsy of the Alma chapters, and levity to the Leo and Litvinoff chapters. Despite the occasional moments of humor, this book is fundamentally respectful and reflective in tone. One good example of that comes with Krauss's slanting allusions to the Holocaust—never referred to directly, we receive only somber whispers and images.