The Last Original Wife

4 Comments

Posted on June 27, 2013

The Last Original Wife

by Dorothea Benton Frank

published by Harper Collins

2013

Summary

Leslie Anne Greene Carter is The Last Original Wife among her husband Wesley’s wildly successful Atlanta social set. His cronies have all traded in the mothers of their children they promised to love and cherish—’til death did them part—for tanned and toned young Barbie brides.

If losing the social life and close friends she adored wasn’t painful enough, a series of setbacks shake Les’s world and push her to the edge. She’s had enough of playing the good wife to a husband who thinks he’s doing her a favor by keeping her around. She’s not going to waste another minute on people she doesn’t care to know. Now, she’s going to take some time for herself—in the familiar comforts and stunning beauty of Charleston, her beloved hometown. In her brother’s stately historic home, she’s going to reclaim the carefree girl who spent lazy summers sharing steamy kisses with her first love on Sullivans Island. Along Charleston’s live oak- and palmetto-lined cobblestone streets, under the Lowcountry’s dazzling blue sky, Les will indulge herself with icy cocktails, warm laughter, divine temptation and bittersweet memories. Daring to listen to her inner voice, she will realize what she wants . . . and find the life of which she’s always dreamed.

Told in the alternating voices of Les and Wes, The Last Original Wife is classic Dorothea Benton Frank: an intoxicating tale of family, friendship, self-discovery, and love, that is as salty as a Lowcountry breeze and as invigorating as a dip in Carolina waters on a sizzling summer day.

My Review

I was looking forward to reading this book, a I have enjoyed Frank’s novels very much in the past. What I especially enjoy about her novels is the way she brings Charleston and the surrounding islands to life. I love the way she describes the smells, sounds and sights of the area. This novel begins in Atlanta, where Wes and Les’ marriage begins to fall apart. Les goes to stay with her brother in Charleston to figure out what to do about her husband and grown children. It was wonderful to see Les become more herself away from her controlling husband and need children. The only problem I had was that Wes was totally insufferable, and I couldn’t understand how Les would have stayed as long as she did. This was a fun and quick read (one day!) and I was glad to be able to put it between two more time consuming novels.

Rating

3.5 out of 5

Sullivan’s Island, SC – Beach at Dusk (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Photo in or around Charleston, South Carolina (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

5 Comments

Posted on June 26, 2013

And The Mountains Echoed

by Khaled Hossieni

published by Riverhead Books

2013

Summary

In this tale revolving around not just parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most.

Following its characters and the ramifications of their lives and choices and loves around the globe—from Kabul to Paris to San Francisco to the Greek island of Tinos—the story expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful with each turning page. (from Goodreads)

My Review

“It’s a funny thing… but people mostly have it backward. They think they live by what they want. But really, what guides them is what they’re afraid of. What they don’t want.”

And The Mountains Echoed is the beautifully written new novel from master storyteller Khaled Hosseini. I thought The Kite Runner was wonderful, and that A Thousand Splendid Suns was even better. Hosseini’s new book also takes us once again to Afghanistan before the fighting, where we are introduced to Abdullah and his baby sister Pari. Their’s is the beginning of this story which is told from many different characters and spans several generations. Rather than one comprehensive story, this novel is almost a compilation of interwoven stories that spans members and acquaintances of one family and their descendants.

I thought writing in this novel was just as beautiful and lyrical as one would expect from Hosseini. He makes the people and places come alive. What I found I did not like as much as I hoped was the actual story. It felt a little too disjointed, the changing of narrators with each chapter. I felt as though I was just getting to know a certain character, and then they were gone. I would have preferred just two or three narrator, rather than the nine the book gave us. At certain points, I was actually a little confused as to who was who and how they connected to the other characters. I would still recommend reading this book, as the author has once again produced a beautifully written piece of literature. Just begin aware that it is different from his previous novels.

My favorite quote-

“But there was no forgetting. Pari hovered, unbidden, at the edge of Abdullah’s vision everywhere he went. She was like the dust that clung to his shirt. She was in the silences that had become so frequent in the house, silences that welled up between their words, sometimes cold and hollow, sometimes pregnant with things that went unsaid, like a cloud filled with rain that never fell. Some nights he dreamed he was in the dessert again, alone, surrounded by the mountains, and in the distance a single tiny glint of light flickering on, off, on, off, like a message.”

I would love to hear from others who have read this- What did you think?

Rating

4 out of 5

Khaled Hosseini

Author profile

born

in Kabul, Afghanistan

March 04, 1965

website

http://www.khaledhosseini.com/

Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. In 1970 Hosseini and his family moved to Iran where his father worked for the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tehran. In 1973 Hosseini’s family returned to Kabul, and Hosseini’s youngest brother was born in July of that year.
In 1976, when Hosseini was 11 years old, Hosseini’s father obtained a job in Paris, France, and moved the family there. They were unable to return to Afghanistan because of the Saur Revolution in which the PDPA communist party seized power through a bloody coup in April 1978. Instead, a year after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, in 1980 they sought political asylum in the United States and made their residence in San Jose, California.
Hosseini graduated from Independence High School in San Jose in 1984 and enrolled at Santa Clara University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1988. The following year, he entered the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, where he earned his M.D. in 1993. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in 1996. He practiced medicine for over ten years, until a year and a half after the release of The Kite Runner.
Hosseini is currently a Goodwill Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He has been working to provide humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan through the Khaled Hosseini Foundation. The concept for the foundation was inspired by the trip to Afghanistan that Hosseini made in 2007 with UNHCR.
He lives in Northern California with his wife, Roya, and their two children (Harris and Farah)

Sight Reading-a review

8 Comments

Posted on June 19, 2013

Sight Reading

by Daphne Kalotay

published by Harper Collins

2013

I received this book through Goodreads Giveaway program in return for an honest review.

Summary

On a Boston street one warm spring day after a long New England winter, Hazel and Remy spot each other for the first time in years. Under ordinary circumstances, this meeting might seem insignificant. But Remy, a gifted violinist, is married to the composer Nicholas Elko-once the love of Hazel’s life.

It has been twenty years since Remy, a conservatory student whose ambition may outstrip her talent; Nicholas, a wunderkind suddenly struggling with a masterwork he cannot fully realize; and his wife, beautiful and fragile Hazel, first came together and tipped their collective world on its axis. Over the decades, each has buried disappointments and betrayals that now threaten to undermine their happiness. But as their entwined stories unfold from 1987 to 2007, from Europe to America, from conservatory life to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, each will discover the surprising ways in which the quest to create something real and true–be it a work of art or one’s own life–can lead to the most personal of revelations, including the unearthing of secrets we keep, even from ourselves.

Lyrical and evocative, Sight Reading is ultimately an exploration of what makes a family, of the importance of art in daily life, and of the role of intuition in both the creative process and the evolution of the self. (from Goodreads)

My Review

I received this book through Goodreads (thank you!)

Sight Reading is a lyrical well written story that follows Hazel, Nicholas, and Remy. Through these well defined characters, we see the marriage of Nicholas and his beautiful wife Hazel end, when he falls in love with his young conservatory student/colleague Remy. Hazel struggles terribly to come to terms with her new life and the accompanying loneliness she feels. “For a moment, Hazel thought she might burst into tears. Sometimes things were hard, she reminded herself, that’s all: being told you were unable to be with, it was just a bit hard, especially when she wanted so badly for things to work out, and thought they might, thought there might be a joy for her that was something beyond herself. ”

Hazel is confronted with the seemingly happy marriage of Nicholas and Remy throughout the book, as the three of them co-parent their daughter Jessie. As Hazel eventually transforms from despair to contentment, and then true happiness, Nicholas and Remy’s lives suffer sadness and disappointment. The fate of their marriage looks bleak, until Nicholas’ composition shows Remy what she really means to him.

“Just a little string of notes. But to Remy they were a secret message just for her. She saw that now, as she began to play the solo section of the final movement. With each stroke of her bow she felt Nicholas’ love course through her, immense and many colored, nothing he could have put into words, nothing he could speak aloud.”

The author has written a beautiful story that gives the reader a glimpse into the world of classical music. I did not feel overwhelmed by the descriptions of music, despite the fact that I have very little knowledge of the subject. I especially enjoyed Remy’s journey through her musical life.

“The thought came to her, clearly, as she crossed Boylston Street. Her dedication to her violin meant she could love something complicated and demanding and extremely difficult, and that she could do so with enthusiasm and without resentment. It meant that she knew what devotion was, and commitment, and the sublime satisfaction of working hard at something until she accomplished it. She knew how it felt to achieve what at times seemed like miracles; she had witnessed beauty that left her speechless. She had known amazement up close, knew the glorious things this world held for anyone who chose to stop and listen.”

I would recommend this book. It was very well written and beautifully descriptive.

Rating

4 out of 5

The Book of Secrets

4 Comments

Posted on June 12, 2013

The Book of Secrets

by Elizabeth Joy Arnold

published by Bantam Books

2013

I received a copy of this book though Net Galley in return for an honest review.

Summary

National bestselling author Elizabeth Joy Arnold brings us a compelling new novel about four friends bonding over beloved literature and the very different paths it leads them down. This thoroughly engaging story full of suspense, wonder, and surprise is a captivating combination of Eleanor Brown and Gillian Flynn.

After more than twenty years of marriage, Chloe Sinclair comes home one night to find that her husband, Nate, is gone. All he has left behind is a cryptic note explaining that he’s returned to their childhood town, a place Chloe never wants to see again.
While trying to reach Nate, Chloe stumbles upon a notebook tucked inside his antique copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Written in code, the pages contain long-buried secrets from their past, and clues to why he went home after all these years. As Chloe struggles to decipher the notebook’s hidden messages, she revisits the seminal moments of their youth: the day she met the enigmatic Sinclair children and the increasingly dangerous games they played to escape their troubled childhoods; the first time Nate kissed her, camped out on the beach like Robinson Crusoe; and the elaborate plan she and Nate devised, inspired by Romeo and Juliet, to break away from his oppressive father. As the reason for Nate’s absence comes to light, the truth will forever shatter everything Chloe knows—about her husband, his family, and herself. (from Goodreads)

My review

I love that this story centered around books! I love those type of novels, like The Book Thief, The Bookman’s Tale, and Mr. Penumbra’s 24 hour Bookstore. In The Book of Secrets, we see how Chloe befriends the Sinclair children. Their growing years is told through the eyes of the stories they read together, like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Lord of the Flies, The Catcher in the Rye, and Romeo and Juliet. We begin with Chloe and Nate married and in their forties. They have suffered the devastating lose of their son and we unwind the story through flashbacks. Chloe finds a book hidden by Nate in which he tell their son the story of their lives, written in code. As Chloe unlocks the code and reads Nate’s story, we understand what happened from the first day they met. I don’t want to go into too many detail and give anything away.

This is a wonderful, well written book, and I would recommend reading it!

“Cliche to say these books felt like my friends, but at times, the lonely times, that’s exactly what they were, my only and best. They were my shelter, I could enter and tuck myself against the margins facing in, forget my loneliness.”

“I ran my fingers over the text then held the book up to my face, closed my eyes and inhaled the sweet-sour scent of old paper and binding glue. Did everyone who loved books do this when they encountered a new one? I loved the physicality of books just as much as the stories inside, the feel of pages between my fingers, the intricacies of classic fonts winding along the neatly lined rows of words.”

Rating~ 4 out of 5

The Crypt Thief

4 Comments

Posted on June 7, 2013

The Crypt Thief

by Mark Pryor

published by Seventh Street Books

2013

Summary

It’s summer in Paris and two tourists have been murdered in Père Lachaise cemetery in front of Jim Morrison’s grave. The cemetery is locked down and put under surveillance, but the killer returns, flitting in and out like a ghost, and breaks into the crypt of a long-dead Moulin Rouge dancer. In a bizarre twist, he disappears under the cover of night with part of her skeleton.

One of the dead tourists is an American and the other is a woman linked to a suspected terrorist; so the US ambassador sends his best man and the embassy’s head of security—Hugo Marston—to help the French police with their investigation.

When the thief breaks into another crypt at a different cemetery, stealing bones from a second famed dancer, Hugo is stumped. How does this killer operate unseen? And why is he stealing the bones of once-famous can-can girls?

Hugo cracks the secrets of the graveyards but soon realizes that old bones aren’t all this killer wants. . . (from Goodreads)

My Review

I eagerly awaited the publication of Mark Pryor’s new book, which is the second Hugo Marston novel he has written. The first-The Bookseller-I enjoyed so much! (here is the review for The Bookseller-https://turnthepagereviews.com/2013/03/05/the-bookseller/) I love books about books, and thsis was a story about books, wrapped in a mystery. I enjoyed Mr. Pryor’s style of writing and really liked his characters, especially Hugo Marston. So, I sat down to read The Crypt Thief with high expectations. I was not disappointed. This story takes up soon after The Bookseller left off, with Hugo working as head of security for the U.S. Embassy in Paris. There is a double murder in the famous Pere Lachaise Cemetery, and Hugo, along with his friends, are on the case. In The Bookseller, I learned all about the bouquinistes, the booksellers with stalls around the Seine. In The Crypt Thief, the topic of the famous cemetery is front and center. I loved learning who was buried there (aside form Jim Morrison), about the Moulin Rouge, and the about the ancient tunnels running under the city. If you enjoy a good mystery, along with some history and humor thrown in, I recommend this (along with the first) book by Mark Pryor.

Rating- 4 out of 5

Chemin Errazu of cementery Père Lachaise (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: The grave of Edith Piaf (1915-1963) in Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Paris. Svenska: Fotografi föreställande Edith Piafs (1915-1963) grav i Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Paris (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: The grave of Moliere at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris 20th. Français : La tombe de Molière au cimetière Père Lachaise à Paris dans le 20eme arrondissement. Deutsch: Das Grab von Moliere im Pere Lachaise Friedhof in Paris. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Next Time You See Me

6 Comments

Posted on June 5, 2013

The Next Time You See Me

by Holly Goddard Jones

published by Simon & Schuster

2013

Summary

Thirteen-year-old Emily Houchens doesn’t have many friends. She finds more comfort playing make-believe in the woods near her house in Roma, Kentucky, than with her classmates, who find her strange and awkward. When she happens upon a dead body hidden in the woods one day, she decides not to tell anyone about her discovery—a choice that begins to haunt her.

Susanna Mitchell has always been a good girl, the dutiful daughter and wife. While her older sister Ronnie trolled bars for men and often drove home at sunrise, Susanna kept a neat house, a respectable job, a young daughter. But when Ronnie goes missing, and Susanna realizes that she’s the only person in Roma who truly cares about her sister’s fate, she starts to question her quiet life and its value.

The Next Time You See Me is the story of how one woman’s disappearance exposes the ambitions, prejudices, and anxieties of a small southern town and its residents, who are all connected, sometimes in unexpected ways. Emily; Susannah; Tony, a failed baseball star-turned-detective, aspiring to be the county’s first black sheriff; and Wyatt, a fifty-five-year-old factory worker tormented by a past he can’t change and by a love he doesn’t think he deserves. Their stories converge in a violent climax that reveals not just the mystery of what happened to Ronnie but all of their secret selves (from Goodreads).

My Review

I received this book from Goodreads as a free giveaway, and I am very glad I did. The author has given us a very well written, gripping debut novel. This is the story of a murder in a small town where the lives of all the character intersect. Among the very well developed characters are: Susanna, the Middle School teacher, dissatisfied with her job and marriage, who leads the search for her missing sister Ronnie; Emily, the awkward 13 year old girl who is bullied relentlessly at school; and Wyatt, the over 50 factory worker who has never found love and lives alone with his dog, Boss, also bullied, but by the younger men at the factory. The chapters shift points of view between these and other character, and show just how interconnected life in a small town is.

I thought this book was very well written, with great character development. The only problem I had was how sad and depressing most of their lives were, and that is why I will give it a 3.5 instead of a 4. I was drawn in, but couldn’t find one character to really sympathize with, except maybe Sarah the nurse.

I would definitely recommend this book and will look forward to reading more from this author!

rating- 3.5 out of 5

The Bookman’s Tale- a review

5 Comments

Posted on May 31, 2013

The Bookmans’ Tale

by Charlie Lovett

published by Viking

2013

I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Summary

Guaranteed to capture the hearts of everyone who truly loves books, The Bookman’s Tale is a former bookseller’s sparkling novel and a delightful exploration of one of literature’s most tantalizing mysteries with echoes of Shadow of the Wind and A.S. Byatt’s Possession.

Hay-on-Wye, 1995. Peter Byerly isn’t sure what drew him into this particular bookshop. Nine months earlier, the death of his beloved wife, Amanda, had left him shattered. The young antiquarian bookseller relocated from North Carolina to the English countryside, hoping to rediscover the joy he once took in collecting and restoring rare books. But upon opening an eighteenth-century study of Shakespeare forgeries, Peter is shocked when a portrait of Amanda tumbles out of its pages. Of course, it isn’t really her. The watercolor is clearly Victorian. Yet the resemblance is uncanny, and Peter becomes obsessed with learning the picture’s origins.

As he follows the trail back first to the Victorian era and then to Shakespeare’s time, Peter communes with Amanda’s spirit, learns the truth about his own past, and discovers a book that might definitively prove Shakespeare was, indeed, the author of all his plays.

My Review

“He was calm now-all sense of dread and panic banished by the simple act of losing himself in an old book.”

This was my favorite line in this wonderful book by Charlie Lovett. In The Bookman’s Tale, we meet Peter Byerly, a recently widowed antiquarian bookseller. Peter struggles with the even the most simple social interactions, except when he was with Amanda, his dead wife. Through flashbacks, we see how they met in college and fell in love. Peter, now living in Kingham, England, is still struggling to overcome his grief and finally begins working again, when he stumbles on a book that pulls him into the mystery behind Shakespeare’s plays- namely whether Shakespeare really wrote them. Peter attempts to discover whether this book, with marginalia that appears to be written by the bard himself, is a forgery or real. This pulls us in for another series of flashbacks, to 17th century England and again more in the 19th century.

I very much enjoyed this story. It was extremely well written and certainly speaks to the heart of anyone who truly loves books. Blogger Lauren Gilbart conducted a wonderful interview with the author at Books, Tea, and Me that really served as a wonderful tie-in to the book. It was exciting having some insight into what helped create this wonderful book. Please go on over and read it at-http://booksteame.com

I would definitely recommend reading this book, especially if you are a book lover. The only drawback I had while reading was my own fault. I have always been a purist, and prefer to have my books in print form. As I received this from Net Galley, I read it off of my daughter’s kindle, which I obviously have not mastered yet. Because of this, I was at times confused by the various flashbacks, and couldn’t figure out how to flip back to organize names and dates. Plus, I like reading about books with one in my hand!

Rating 4.5 out of 5

Orphan Train-She Reads May Book Club Selection

7 Comments

Posted on May 24, 2013

Orphan Train

by Christina Baker Kline

published by HarperCollins

2013

Summary

The author of Bird in Hand and The Way Life Should Be delivers her most ambitious and powerful novel to date: a captivating story of two very different women who build an unexpected friendship: a 91-year-old woman with a hidden past as an orphan-train rider and the teenage girl whose own troubled adolescence leads her to seek answers to questions no one has ever thought to ask.

Nearly eighteen, Molly Ayer knows she has one last chance. Just months from “aging out” of the child welfare system, and close to being kicked out of her foster home, a community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping her out of juvie and worse.

Vivian Daly has lived a quiet life on the coast of Maine. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past. As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly discovers that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.

The closer Molly grows to Vivian, the more she discovers parallels to her own life. A Penobscot Indian, she, too, is an outsider being raised by strangers, and she, too, has unanswered questions about the past. As her emotional barriers begin to crumble, Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life – answers that will ultimately free them both.

Rich in detail and epic in scope, Orphan Train is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience, of second chances, of unexpected friendship, and of the secrets we carry that keep us from finding out who we are. (from Goodreads)

My Review

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. I love historical fiction, but this seemed like a strange premise. As I started reading, however, I realized that this was a part of history that I had not heard of before-the Orphan Trains. I knew nothing about thousands of orphaned or destitute children from New York were shipped to the Midwest to be taken in and hopefully adopted by families. This book seamlessly weaves together the story of Vivian and Molly. Molly is a 17 year old foster child who has been bounced around the system for years. She is almost aged out, and is looking at a very uncertain future. When a small misstep almost lands her in juvie, she accepts a community service sentence to help clean out 91 year old Vivian’s attic. While working together, she learns Vivian’s story. As a young girl, Vivian immigrated to the U.S. from Ireland in the late 1920’s. When a fire claims the lives of her entire family, the Children’s Aid Society steps in and places Vivian along with other orphans onto trains bound for the Midwest. There, they will hopefully find families that want to adopt them. Unfortunately, more often than not, these families were looking for free labor. The story alternated between Molly in the present day, and back flashes of Vivian’s experiences.

I really loved learning about the orphan trains and seeing history unfold through Niamh/Dorothy/Vivian’s eyes. I also learned quite a bit about the Penobscot Indians. I thought this was a very well written, engaging story and would strongly recommend reading it. I am so glad She Reads picked such a great selection for the May Book Club. Please stop over there and see what others thought of this book.

http://www.shereads.org/2013/05/may-book-club-selection-4/

Rating 5 out of 5

“I love you,” he writes again and again. “I can’t bear to live without you. I’m counting the minutes until I see you.” The words he uses are the idioms of popular songs and poems in the newspaper. And mine to him are no less cliched. I puzzle over the onionskin, trying to spill my heart onto the page. But I can only come up with the same words, in the same order, and hope the depth of feeling beneath them gives them weight and substance. I love you. I miss you. Be careful. Be safe.”
― Christina Baker Kline, Orphan Train

The Way Back To Happiness

1 Comment

Posted on May 23, 2013

The Way Back To Happiness

by Elizabeth Bass

published by Kensington

2013

I received this as an ebook from Net Galley in return for an honest review.

Summary

Fourteen year old Alabama Puttman has been raised all alone, haphazardly and lovingly, by her mother Diana. When she returns from her one and only ever week at sleep away camp, Diana has been killed crossing the street, and Alabama finds herself in the care of her Aunt Bev, who hasn’t spoken to Diana since Alabama was born. Alabama and Bev have a difficult time relating to each other. Over the course of the book, these two characters are going to have to find a way to live together, and just maybe be happy doing it.

My Review

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the author got the tone exactly right in the character of Alabama. Her angst, slightly warped sense of priorities, and rash actions, so show the mindset of a typical (not all) 14 year old girls. I felt the rocky relationship between Bev and Alabama was well established. Poor Bev, despite years teaching them, has absolutely no idea how to relate day in and day out to a teenager, thoughI am not sure anyone really does. I loved how Alabama grew up and mature as the story progressed. Also. those of us old enough to remember, will love all the references to the 80’s! I would recommend this book, and look forward to reading more from this author. This was the first time I have EVER read an ebook-I borrowed my daughter’s kindle.

Rating

4 out of 5

A fun, quick read!

Maya’s Notebook

6 Comments

Posted on May 22, 2013

Maya’s Notebook

by Isabel Allende

published by Harper Collins

2013

Summary

Isabel Allende’s latest novel, set in the present day (a new departure for the author), tells the story of a 19-year-old American girl who finds refuge on a remote island off the coast of Chile after falling into a life of drugs, crime, and prostitution. There, in the company of a torture survivor, a lame dog, and other unforgettable characters, Maya Vidal writes her story, which includes pursuit by a gang of assassins, the police, the FBI, and Interpol. In the process, she unveils a terrible family secret, comes to understand the meaning of love and loyalty, and initiates the greatest adventure of her life: the journey into her own soul. (from Goodreads)

My Review

Isabel Allende is one of my favorite authors. I don’t think I have read anything from her that I haven’t really liked, or more likely, loved. That being said, I did not love this book. The beginning was a little slow for me, I lOVED the middle, and the end sort of fell flat. I actually feel bad writing this, since I think I didn’t like it as much as I might have, if I hadn’t had such high expectations. Since I love all I have read from her, I expected Allende’s new book to be fabulous, when it was merely good- or ok to me.

The story started slow for me, as I had a problem warming up to Maya. I LOVED the middle so much, especially getting to know all the inhabitants Chiloe. Allende has an amazing talent for weaving the history of her setting, especially Chile, into her story. She makes the people and places come alive, inviting you in with such amazing descriptions. I wish most of the story took place in Chiloe, but it went back and forth, almost haphazardly, between Maya’s time in Chiloe, where she is laying low at 19 years old due to some bad living, and the times and events in the U.S. that led up to her “escape”. I especially like the other main characters in the story- Maya’s Nini, her grandmother that raised her, and Manuel, who opens his home to her in Chiloe. The end, for me, was unexpected. It was not in Allende’s usual style, but seemed like an attempt to wrap things up neatly.

Honestly, I would recommend this book- it was very well written, has very well developed characters, and is an interesting story. It just did not live up to what I had hoped for from one of my favorite authors.

Rating- a begrudging 4 out or 5

“It’s easy to judge others when we are not going through the same thing.”

-Maya Vidal