Let me start off by saying this: I strongly, strongly recommend getting this as an audiobook. Unless you can read it with a variety of strong Irish accents in your head, pronounce the Celtic placenames and sing in Gaelic, you are really missing out. Gerry O’Brien does a fabulous job and his work really adds to the story. This is… Read more
I’ll admit that the deciding factor in buying this book was the photo of the author, Myla Goldberg, on the back cover. I took one look at her big glasses, chunky shoes and Pippi Longstocking tights and thought, “oh, I definitely want to read what she has to say!” And I was not disappointed. Eliza has never been the standout… Read more
Victorine, a young married woman with two children, leaves an unhappy marriage and escapes to Indochina with her childhood sweetheart. They build a life there in the hot, humid weather, exotic flowers and swirls of opium smoke. Then, after 10 years, she goes back to France, back to her husband. She starts out planning to finally end things with him… Read more
I feel like I’m breaking up with this book: Really, it’s not you. It’s me. This is probably a very nice book. There’s nothing wrong with the writing, and there were occasional turns of phrase and flashes of wit that I enjoyed. Randolph the Labrador Retriever was generally charming. (Although really – Proust? Come on. Why would such a nice… Read more