Wow!

All I can say is "Wow!"...

This book is FAB.U.LOUS!!!! I think I mentioned in previous posts how I totally picked this book by it's cover? Yep, I did...It's beautiful, isn't it? I guess on a dreary, cold day in Minnesota, the cover of this book made me want to jump right in to some far away, tropical paradise.

And it did just that...I jumped right in to an intriguing story about a young Hawaiian girl, Rachel, who develops leprosy at a young age and is banned to a far off island where she will remain quarantined for the rest of her life. Her family, the only people she knows, is stripped from her life and she's forced to grow up without them. It sounds depressing right? Another story about love and loss? Well, not exactly. There is definitely love and there is loss, but I think it's a magnificent story of survival. A sort of "bloom where you're planted" kind of theme. There is a whole tapestry of characters, whom are weaved together, and become Rachel's family. She forms deep friendships with fellow patients. She finds love. She builds a life.

And while the characters are all fictional, the scenery and history the author provides is not. The writing style is very descriptive....It was easy to picture a sort of "prison" of leprosy patients on this beautiful tropical island.

I hope this doesn't spoil the ending for fellow readers, but at the end of the book, she's given the option of leaving the island. A sort of parole. She struggles with this choice because all she's ever known is the island. She's been on it since she was a child and her family has become all of her fellow detainees. The biological family she left behind is nothing more than a distant memory, most are now dead. This leaves me wondering...Would I leave just because I could? Would I want to leave behind the only family I've ever known? The only home I've ever built? The only life I recognize?

It's a GOOD book! In fact, normally I don't read numerous books by the same author (unless it's Jodi Picoult or Danielle Steel...But we all had to go through THAT stage, right?) But the author, Alan Brennert, does have another one called "Honolulu" which I wouldn't mind reading someday (when I get through my current list of "unreads").

Stay tuned for a Holiday pick soon! I'll also try to compile another list of my fav's soon!