Comments (36)

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Jun 04, 2023erizeitz rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
When the book came into my hands, I was not enchanted. I thought that I couldn't read it. I thought, "another book about a plucky heroine who antagonizes everyone and it will be unpleasant..." and I thought Rachel was going to be boringly…
Feb 13, 2022JamesM47 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
A challenging read but worth the effort. Hoffman inspired me to look carefully at Pissarro.
Dec 01, 2021jr13160 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I love Alice Hoffman books and usually read through them quickly and with such interest. But , I found this book unable to keep my interest This falls short of Hoffman great writing in my opinion . It became repetitive in descriptions of…
Mar 08, 2021slwood75 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Wonderful book! I had a hard time putting it down and I was so very sad when it came to an end. So descriptive, it took you right to St. Thomas so much so that you could picture yourself there. I highly recommend this book.
Jan 11, 2021readersixtyseven rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Extraordinary, engaging, beautiful, powerful! Takes place in St Thomas in the late 1800's and is split into 3 stories.
Jan 05, 2021lilypad_1 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
The descriptions of the islands flora and fauna took me out of Omaha in the pandemic winter to a Caribbean island where I could smell the bouganvilla, feel the heat on my skin, watch the turtles come out of the ocean at night to lay their…
Aug 28, 2020glotet41 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Rich character development which impacted how I felt about the characters as I was drawn further and further into the plot as the characters aged.
Aug 08, 2020ser_library rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
a quick read : simple sentences, the plot obvious.
Apr 08, 2020TSMary rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Lush and intense; sensual; dripping with the tastes, smells, and sounds of the Caribbean in the 19th century. This fictionalized story of the family of Impressionist painter Camille Pissaro takes you to a place you never dreamed you would…
Sep 09, 2019peacebenow rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
I really enjoyed the historical aspects of this book and learning about the painter Camille Pissarro. Some parts of the book just seemed too long ie Rachel and Fredricks repeated attempts to be married and other people ie Rachel's other…
May 19, 2019brangwinn rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Hoffman continues to prove she is an adept story teller. From life on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas to Paris, Rachel Pomie, is a strong spokesman for women in the 1800’s. Based on a real person, Hoffman has created more than just a…
Dec 19, 2018xiaojunbpl12 rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
A story about Pissarro's mother on a tropical island piqued my interest. The author's narration appealed to me like viewing impressionist paintings. My take may not be what many other readers remark, may not even be what the author…
Dec 06, 2018PinkaMama rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Excellent historical book. I could not put it down, very easy to read with the story flowing. All is so very well described and just the right amount, so that I found myself feeling that I am right there in a middle of the story.
Aug 24, 2018unicorn1 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Unlike other readers, I did not find this book slow-moving. On the contrary, I was swept up in the story and never lost interest in the fascinating lives of the characters. Granted, some of Rachel's behaviour was a bit hard to take, i.e.,…
Feb 02, 2018dnk rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Please take any of my criticisms with a grain of salt. This was the kind of story that I couldn't put down; I started it on Saturday morning and stayed up well past my usual bedtime that night to finish it. I had to know how it…
Jan 26, 2018gbohomegirl7 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This is a beautifully passionate & intricately written historical fiction account of the family of Camille Pissarro that is compelling from the very first chapter. It also gives insight into the history of & life on St. Thomas of which I…
Jun 01, 2017DorisWaggoner rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
The main strength of this book is its descriptive powers. I knew nothing about St. Thomas, and now I do. Hoffman's tales of the variety of lives on the island in the 19th c. are marvellous. The people she focuses on are also well…
May 10, 2017
This is an amazing book which teaches those of us, who don't know anything about St Thomas, the history, the geography, the weather, the beauty and the negative about this island. It teaches us about how Denmark treated the jews and the…
Jan 22, 2017ritarufus rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Rachael, born in the 19th century on the island of St. Thomas in the Danish West Indies. Her life growing up on the island and her desire to go live in Paris. It covers her upbringing as a girl and her two marriages. Her fight to have a…
Jul 15, 2016becker rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
The appeal of this book is really in the strong writing of Alice Hoffman. It will appeal to people who appreciate a good technically solid prose. The story is a bit slow but well told and the descriptions of island life are lovely.
Jun 01, 2016Kmum1 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Having left it to my kids to pick out a book for me, I came home with this. Never would I have ever picked this book on my own but was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. Mixing fact and fiction it felt a little like…
May 22, 2016Rubicat rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I loved this story - at times I felt that it moved a bit slowly, but I was always interested enough to keep going. My only complaint was that at the end, nobody was aware of what went before and all those details were lost. But I suppose…
May 09, 2016Eil_1 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
A truly extraordinary story - a mix of fiction with fact. Long-held secrets that result in tragic consequences. Rachel and Jestine's lives are woven together masterfully. Rachel's son, Camille, seeks his own destiny - in contrast to…
May 06, 2016EmilyEm rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
The artist Camille Pissarro's mother takes center stage in this historic fiction set on the island of St. Thomas and in Paris. Two things in the book’s structure aren’t favorites of mine. One is book chapters that alternate different…
siammarino
Mar 23, 2016siammarino rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Rachel is a force in this novel about her life on the island of St. Thomas where she has 11 children (one of them becomes the French painter Camille Pissarrro), and is shunned by the Jewish community because of her love for a younger man.