*May contain spoilers*
First of all, I'd like to start out by simply saying, I love this book; it is superb.
Now, for a small bit of background information. There are three other members of my family who have goodreads accounts aside from myself. So! When one of us wins a book from the First Reads Giveaways, we usually pass the book around amongst ourselves until each of us has read it. Well! My grandmother won this book, but she is getting older and is having trouble seeing well enough to read as much as she'd like.
Since I knew I'd be reading this book anyway, I decided to spend some time with her and simply read it aloud to her so we could read it together. That being said, I had the most difficult time actually putting this book down when it came time to do other things, like drive home, or do laundry, or well... EAT! Ha. There were certain times that I simply COULD NOT put it down. I had to take it home and read it, and then return to my grandmother's and re-read it to her later.
It was beautifully written. It seamlessly blends two separate stories. One of the stories focuses on Louise, the daughter of a wealthy, but distant, widower and the sister of a sickly, younger sister, who lived in 1899 Panama. The other story concerns a mother and her young son living in post 9/11 New York. Zig, the ten year old son, is different, special. He is fascinated with what he insists was his past life as an Indian shaman. At first his mother believes he is simply 'playing pretend' as children do. However, as time goes by and Zig gets in more and more trouble and as more and more strange occurrences happen, his mother, Sheri, wonders if there is more to his stories.
In 1899, Louise and her family travel to a rural village to visit a shaman in hopes of healing her sickly sister. When the shaman's -- or awa, as he is called -- handsome grandson returns home with the family, however, passions begin to stir inside Louise.
The story is fantastic; the writing style is beautiful. I highly recommend this book to... well, to anyone, honestly. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end.
First of all, I'd like to start out by simply saying, I love this book; it is superb.
Now, for a small bit of background information. There are three other members of my family who have goodreads accounts aside from myself. So! When one of us wins a book from the First Reads Giveaways, we usually pass the book around amongst ourselves until each of us has read it. Well! My grandmother won this book, but she is getting older and is having trouble seeing well enough to read as much as she'd like.
Since I knew I'd be reading this book anyway, I decided to spend some time with her and simply read it aloud to her so we could read it together. That being said, I had the most difficult time actually putting this book down when it came time to do other things, like drive home, or do laundry, or well... EAT! Ha. There were certain times that I simply COULD NOT put it down. I had to take it home and read it, and then return to my grandmother's and re-read it to her later.
It was beautifully written. It seamlessly blends two separate stories. One of the stories focuses on Louise, the daughter of a wealthy, but distant, widower and the sister of a sickly, younger sister, who lived in 1899 Panama. The other story concerns a mother and her young son living in post 9/11 New York. Zig, the ten year old son, is different, special. He is fascinated with what he insists was his past life as an Indian shaman. At first his mother believes he is simply 'playing pretend' as children do. However, as time goes by and Zig gets in more and more trouble and as more and more strange occurrences happen, his mother, Sheri, wonders if there is more to his stories.
In 1899, Louise and her family travel to a rural village to visit a shaman in hopes of healing her sickly sister. When the shaman's -- or awa, as he is called -- handsome grandson returns home with the family, however, passions begin to stir inside Louise.
The story is fantastic; the writing style is beautiful. I highly recommend this book to... well, to anyone, honestly. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end.
