Short Synopsis
From Elizabeth Gaffney, the acclaimed author of Metropolis, comes an immersive, beautifully realized novel about the truths that divide and the love that keeps us together.

Full Synopsis
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.

"When the World Was Young is a heart-touching saga, highly recommended for private and public library audiobook collections alike." ---The Midwest Book Review

"A smart coming-of-age tale that upends a raft of Greatest Generation clichés." ---Kirkus

"Beautifully written." ---B. A. Shapiro, author of The Art Forger

"Gaffney now stands in the company of E. L. Doctorow, Joyce Carol Oates, Ann Patchett, and I can't think of many others tall enough." ---Darin Strauss, author of Chang and Eng