Allison Amend

Story of the ups and downs of a lifetime friendship between two women, Frances and Rosalie. They leave home at age fifteen. Their lives diverge when one betrays the other. The set piece of this novel, which is a fictional portrayal of real people, is the time Frances spends in the Galapagos Islands. The time period is during and after WWII and espionage is involved, but the focus remains on relationships. It contains beautiful descriptions of life on the islands. Themes include ambition to improve one’s life and forgiveness. I found it a satisfying read.… (altro)

The thing I enjoyed about this novel was the way Amend wrote about the day to day life of Francis in a way that was slow but not boring. I was really captivated by the accounts of Francis and Ainslie on the island and in the States, and it reminded me a bit of Willa Cather. While I really liked the day to day aspects of Enchanted Islands, the "action" and "drama" felt a little underwhelming. Amend set up the relationship between Francis and Rosalie to be much more dramatic than I think it ended up, and the "conflict" on the islands was a little anti-climactic. I do think Amend writes the quiet day to day well and I will keep my eyes out for more of her work.… (altro)