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To & Fro. BY LEAH HAGER COHEN
To & Fro by Leah Hager Cohen is “a tale of two girls—one living in a parable, the other in Manhattan.” That statement is true, but the story is far more complex and compelling than that single line. That’s partly due to the book’s structure: To & Fro is a tête-bêche (French for head to tail), which means readers can choose where to begin the journey. Starting at To, readers first meet Ani, a young girl who bikes from her home with only a cat for company (hence the cat’s name, Company). Ani is young and trusting and isn’t sure where she’s going, but she goes anyway, covering a large distance and meeting new people. The people are nice, but they aren’t exactly what she’s searching for; they don’t erase her need to feel like she belongs. Something indescribable tugs at Ani to keep going, so she does.. PUBLISHER: BELLEVUE LITERARY PRESS PAGES: 416 ISBN-10: 1954276257
Starting at Fro, readers encounter Annamae. Unlike Ani, she is surrounded by people—her family, including her brother and mother, and the whole of Manhattan. Like Ani, though,
she still feels lonely and journeys through adolescence searching for someone to provide a sense of belonging. Annamae isn’t sure who she’s looking for; she just knows someone is missing from her life. She relies on an object, the notebook she calls her “company,” for support during this time. The beauty of the book’s format emerges after reading both narratives. Despite their differences—To evokes fantasies and Fro realism—the two unique stories support one another, serving, as the author note shares, as reverberation for the other. Words, phrases, and objects echo in both narratives, giving the reader the sense that both girls are connected across time and space. Is Ani the person Annamae is searching for, and is Annamae the pull that tugs on Ani? After all, Annamae contemplates this very thing, saying, “What if my Friend doesn’t live in this world?” and then “What if my Friend doesn’t live in this same time?” Regardless of where one begins, the novel satisfies readers. It reminds them of the joys and mysteries of childhood and recalls the ubiquitous desire to find one’s place in this world.
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