Book Synopsis on Goodreads:
Sisters Gillian and Sally Owens were brought up by their two elderly guardian aunts in a world of spells and exotica. As the magical charm of their childhood wears away, they escape from this mystical mayhem - one by running away, the other by marrying. Many years go by before strange circumstances thrust them together again, and once more they are in a place that blends the mundane and mysterious, the familiar and fantastic. Three generations of Owens women are brought together in an experience of unexpected insight and revelation, teaching all of them that such perceptions are rare and wonderful and - to be sure - practical.
My Thoughts:
Alice Hoffman writes the modern-day fairy tale. There's a harshness in her books that's reminiscent of fairy tales before Disney got a hold of them. But she balances it with a healthy dose of whimsy and magic. Her language is concise and simple, but the way she describes things creates very strong imagery. Her books are always a treat and so was this one. Especially since it's so different from the movie. In fact, forget the movie. It was good, but the book focuses more on the sisters and the two younger girls than it does on the aunts or the ghost of Gillian's boyfriend. You get an extremely personal look into the lives of two women and two girls on the brink of becoming women; their fears, insecurities, sexuality and love lives. The book doesn't have the somewhat hokey quality that the movie has in regard to witches and magic. Even if this book isn't up your alley, at least give the author a try. You won't regret it.
Favorite Quotes: “My darling girl, when are you going to realize that being normal is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage." - Aunt Frances”
“The moon is always jealous of the heat of the day, just as the sun always longs for something dark and deep.”
Author Tidbit: After being treated for breast cancer at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, she helped establish the hospital's Hoffman Breast Center.
Synopsis from Goodreads:
"Animals dream about the things they do in the day time just like people do. If you want sweet dreams, you've got to live a sweet life." So says Loyd Peregrina, a handsome Apache trainman and latter-day philosopher. But when Codi Noline returns to her hometown, Loyd's advice is painfully out of her reach. Dreamless and at the end of her rope, Codi comes back to Grace, Arizona to confront her past and face her ailing, distant father. What the finds is a town threatened by a silent environmental catastrophe, some startling clues to her own identity, and a man whose view of the world could change the course of her life. Blending flashbacks, dreams, and Native American legends, Animal Dreams is a suspenseful love story and a moving exploration of life's largest commitments. With this work, the acclaimed author of The Bean Trees and Homeland and Other Stories sustains her familiar voice while giving readers her most remarkable book yet.
My Thoughts:
This is an amazing book with well-thought out characters and perspective. Barbara Kingsolver makes you feel like you are immersed in the culture and history of her characters in a way that is subtle and absorbing. Be prepared to laugh and cry especially if you are a woman who has a sister. This is my first Kingsolver book and I'm looking forward to reading the next one.
Personal favorite quotes:
"...the very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof."
"A miscarriage is a natural and common event. All told, probably more women have lost a child from this world than haven't. Most don't mention it, and they go on from day to day as if it hadn't happened, and so people imagine that a woman in this situation never really knew or loved what she had. But ask her sometime: how old would your child be now? And she'll know."
*Book Tidbit: This book won the Edward Abbey Award for ecofiction
The Author
