Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian

Laura Petrosian's Armenian heritage has not been of much interest to her until a friend tells her of an old picture she believes is Laura's grandmother. This takes her to a museum exhibit the picture was used to advertise, and then to a diary and collection of letters written in 1915. 

Elizabeth Endicott is a young graduate of Mount Holyoke College, living in 1915.  She has journeyed to Aleppo, Syria with her father on behalf of the Friends of Armenia to deliver food and medicine to the Armenian refugees fleeing a genocide by the Turks. Things are much worse in Aleppo than she ever imagined.


Laura tells the story of her Grandmother Elizabeth, the Armenian engineer Armen, who has lost his wife and daughter, and others who have come to help, or for other reasons, find themselves in the middle of this dark moment in history.


This is historical fiction, family history and a love story. It is a story of hopelessness, bravery and survival. Mostly it is the tale of Elizabeth Endicott becoming a woman, strong, beautiful and brave.


I enjoyed this book very much. I learned a lot. I appreciated the writer's slightly different style. Chris Bohjalian has written several best sellers and I will definitely be reading more from him.


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