Island Beneath the Sea

Isabel Allende has been a prolific writer and I have only read a handful of her books - 'The House of the Spirits', 'Of Love and Shadows', 'The Infinite Plan' and 'Paula' (I think that's all). Each of her book that I've read, I've really enjoyed as they take you on a journey to another country and another time and I always emerge from the book believing I've learnt something about each.

Island Beneath the Sea is another epic novel that spans 1770 through to 1810 in Saint-Domingue, (what is now known as Haiti), Cuba and New Orleans following the life of Zarite - known as Tete.

From the sugar plantations of Saint-Domingue to the lavish parlors of New Orleans at the turn of the 19th century, Isabel Allende's latest novel tells the story of a mulatta woman, a slave and concubine, determined to take control of her own destiny in a society where that would seem impossible. Born a slave on the island of Saint-Domingue, Zarite - known as Tete - is the daughter of an African mother she never knew and one of the white sailors who brought her into bondage. Though her childhood is one of brutality and fear, Tete finds solace in the traditional rhythms of African drums and the voodoo loas she discovers through her fellow slaves. 


When twenty-year-old Toulouse Valmorain arrives on the island in 1770, it's with powdered wigs in his trunks and dreams of financial success in his mind. But running his father's plantation, Saint Lazare, is neither glamorous nor easy. Against the merciless backdrop of sugar cane fields, the lives of Tete and Valmorain grow ever more intertwined. When the bloody revolution of Toussaint Louverture arrives at the gates of Saint Lazare, they flee the island that will become Haiti for the decadence and opportunity of New Orleans. There, Tete finally forges a new life - but her connection to Valmorain is deeper than anyone knows and not so easily severed. 


Spanning four decades, Island Beneath the Sea is the moving story of one woman's determination to find love amid loss, to offer humanity though her own has been so battered, and to forge her own identity in the cruellest of circumstances.


As described above, the novel is an epic and a long story but well worth the effort. I found it fascinating (and horrifying) to read about the conditions of slaves in that time - and the abuse they suffered under various different occupying forces. I know the story isn't true, although I'm sure there is a lot of truth in the historical aspect, but I  was always terrified for the children in the story and intrigued at the lengths parents will go to and the bravery required, to improve the lives of their children. One example of this, was when slaves got pregnant they attempted to forcibly abort the babies so that they wouldn't have to grow up in slavery - ok, that's a very extreme example and doesn't really improve the child's life, but it stuck in my mind.


Fascinating story, a bit long in places, but as I said before, well worth the effort.

The Glass Castle

Another winner! This is a difficult review to write only because I would love everyone to read it and I don't want to give too much of the story away here.

I love talking about this book with my friends that have already read it as it inspires us, shocks us and appalls us all. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is an amazing true story that beggars belief.

'This is a startling memoir of a successful journalist's journey from the deserted and dusty mining towns of the American Southwest, to an antique filled apartment on Park Avenue. Jeanette Walls narrates her nomadic and adventurous childhood with her dreaming, 'brilliant' but alcoholic parents. At the age of seventeen she escapes on a Greyhound bus to New York with her older sister; her younger siblings follow later. After pursuing the education and civilisation her parents sought to escape, Jeanette eventually succeeds in her quest for the 'mundane, middle class existence' she had always craved. In her apartment, overlooked by 'a portrait of someone else's ancestor' she recounts poignant remembered images of star watching with her father, juxtaposed with recollections of irregular meals, accidents and police-car chases and reveals her complex feelings of shame, guilt, pity and pride toward her parents.'


This book is not only an amazing story about how children survive adversity, poverty and neglect, it also made me think about issues I often consider with my own parenting style (or even the way our parents raised us). Do we 'helicopter parent' too much, do we give our children too much so they no longer need to strive to achieve more, do we simply have too much stuff?


I did find the beginning of the book a bit difficult as she rapidly went through some childhood memories without giving the reader a very clear picture of the family characters and a sense of continuity. I would have liked to know more about each of the family members and why they were that way, but as it is a true story and she is writing it from her own perspective, I guess its good that she isn't second guessing what goes on in everybody else's head.


This is a great book for book club discussions and as I've already recommended this book to several people, I won't go into any further detail. I strongly recommend you get a copy of this book and read it soon.

The Legacy

I've been putting off writing this post about one of the books I've just finished reading as I just didn't really love it and probably wouldn't recommend you rush out and get it. So, it seems kind of pointless to be writing a review on a book that I didn't enjoy but there may be many of you that disagree with me and I'd be interested to hear your perspectives.

The Legacy by Katherine Webb is the story of two sisters, Erica and Beth returning to their now deceased grandmother's home where they used to spend their summer holidays as children. As Erica searches through her late grandmother's belongings, a secret emerges, reaching all the way back to a beautiful heiress in turn-of-the-century Oklahoma. As past and present converge, Erica and Beth must come to terms with two terrible acts of betrayal - and the heartbreaking legacy left behind.

The book was an easy read but I just felt that the present and past stories didn't connect up as well as I'd hoped and the characters were all a bit one dimensional and unsympathetic. I don't like to criticize a book as I certainly could not do any better, but as I said before -  I probably wouldn't rush out to get it but at the same time, it certainly wouldn't tax you too much to read it either.

The next book I've read and will post about soon was brilliant!!! I haven't stopped thinking about it and discussing it with others who've read it - so you'll have to come back soon to see what it was....

The Children

Staying with family during the holidays can often bring back childhood tensions, memories and bonds. I do not know of any family that is without it's issues - resolved or usually, unresolved and simmering. The dynamics and personalities within each family is so different and unique, but all are equally fascinating to me.

Whilst staying for a week with my parents (plus my two boys) I read, 'The Children' by Charlotte Wood. I haven't read any of her books before and really enjoyed the easy style and gentle moving pace of this book.

'You bring your children up to escape sorrow. You spend your best years trying to stop them witnessing it on television, in you, in your neighbours' faces. Then you realize, slowly, that there is no escape, that they must steer their own way through life's cruelties. In The Children, Charlotte Wood one of Australian fiction's rising stars, delivers a short, sharp shock of a novel that takes us into the heart of a family as normal, and as broken, as any other. When their father is critically injured, foreign correspondent Mandy and her siblings return home, bringing with them the remnants and patterns of childhood. Mandy has lived away from the country for many years. Her head is filled with images of terror and war, and her homecoming to the quiet country town - not to mention her family and marriage - only heightens her disconnection from ordinary life. Cathy, her younger sister, has stayed in regular contact with her parents, trying also to keep tabs on their brother Stephen who, for reasons nobody understands, has held himself apart from the family for years. In the intensive care unit the children sit, trapped between their bewildered mother and one another.'

I really enjoyed this book and found it an easy and quick read- although it was slightly depressing and real - but the events and the characters appealed and kept me turning the pages. I can't explain too much about the book without giving too much away but I do recommend you read it.