Author: Isabel Allende

Another great find off the shelf at the Lodge. This was one that was also on my to-read list. I wasn’t sure I was ready for another Allende book but from the first chapter I was hooked.

Tété has been a slave since she was nine years old. Her story is told with the backdrop of the many uprising that took place in what is now known as Haiti. She was purchased by a wealthy plantation owner, Valmorain, and there lives were connected through the two children they had together and Valmorain’s dependence on her. Their travels take them to Cuba and then to the newly formed city of New Orleans in America. Hers is not a happy story, even after she is able to gain her independence.

Goodreads Rating: * * * * *

Author: Alice Sebold

I know I read a previous book by this author but apparently it was before this version of my website. My recollection of that book was that it was good and, maybe, just a little creepy.

There is no question that this one is creepy. In the very first chapter you learn that Helen has murdered her mother, Clair. The two did not have an easy relationship and it would seem that both of Helen’s parents had some sort of mental illness and by the end of the book you had to wonder if perhaps Helen had inherited some of those traits.

I wasn’t happy with the ending but in some ways it was a perfect way to close the story.

Goodreads Rating: * * * *

Author: Isabel Allende

I’ve had this book on my to-read list for ages but never came across it. Libby (my library download app) didn’t have it and neither is it on the shelf in the library. But while at the Cancer Centre in Vancouver it was sitting on the shelf so I grabbed it even before I was ready to start reading.

I have always loved Allende’s writing style and this is no different. Is it memoir or is it an autobiography? Pat and I had that discussion and I’m no clearer now on the definition.

The author is telling her life story to her daughter who is in a coma. It reads like fiction but it is a true story. Her daughter eventually dies without coming out of the coma so the second part of the book is written knowing her daughter won’t read it. Allende talks a lot about the novels she has written and some of them make a lot more sense when you know the background to them.

The book was worth the wait and however much I’d like to keep it for my own bookshelf I will return it to the library here.

Goodreads Rating: * * * * *

Author: Diana Gabaldon

Brianna has returned to Scotland to do more research on Jamie’s life and also because she has developed a love interest in Roger Wakefield. Brianna decides to go through the stones when she finds a newspaper clipping showing that Jamie and Claire perished in a house fire; she wants to warn them in the hopes that they can change history. Roger guesses at Brianna’s plan and goes through the stones himself about a month later.

Jamie, Brianna, Claire and Ian all eventually meet up at Fraser’s Ridge but Roger has a much harder time. When he finally does get the Ridge he is mistaken for the assailant who has left Brianna pregnant. Rather than murdering him, Jamie sends him off as a slave to one of the native tribes. As part of the bargain to free Roger, Ian must stay behind with the Iroquois.

Goodreads Rating: * * * * *