Historical Fiction (Released July, 2012)
Bottom Line: Read it.
Link to this book on Amazon
Plot Summary:
Laura Endicott finds a picture of an Armenian woman from the time of the 1915 genocide, and uses it to trace the history of how her Armenian grandfather and her grandmother from Boston met while her grandmother was volunteering in Aleppo during the genocide.
My Thoughts:
The Armenian genocide (“The Slaughter You Know Next to Nothing About”, according to the narrator) is a serious and tragic topic; however, the story of Laura’s grandparents is fascinating and has many happy moments.
I liked how the story of Laura’s grandparents was interwoven with her family memories and present day experience researching the book.
Like Laura said, I was one who knew next to nothing about the Armenian genocide, so I learned a lot.
I should warn you that this book is very different from Bohjalian’s The Double Bind and Midwives, but very good nonetheless. The Sandcastle Girls is on my Book Club Recommendations List.