We are Called to Rise by Laura McBride

A review on the front of this book says, "Your heart will break...then soar."  The fact is that the soaring doesn't happen until about page 290 of the 310 page book.  I needed a little more hope - a little more happy.  The story is told through four Las Vegas voices.  Avis, whose life was a series of struggles, must now decide what to do as her 30 year marriage unravels.  Eight year old Bashkim struggles to explain the world to his Albanian refugee parents and vice versa.  The nightmares that Lius has brought back from Iraq led him to a failed suicide attempt.  The fourth, and less frequent voice, is Roberta, a social worker who finds herself holding the strings that connect the other three lives.  McBride wants the reader to see the other side of Las Vegas - the part that struggles to make sense of real life in the shadow of the fantasy and glamour of the strip.  She has cleverly intertwined their lives and there are many well written thoughtful insights into the very different worlds of the three main voices.  It was all just so sad until everyone finally rises to the very difficult challenge.