Friday, Nov 21, 2008

Book Review: The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters

Four Sisters Show Their Sides

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The Review:

Title:  The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters

Author:  Lorraine Lopez

Author’s Website:  N/A

Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing

Publisher’s Website:  www.hachettebookgroupusa.com

Type: Fiction

Number of Pages:  320 Paperback

ISBN #:  978-0-446-69921-1

I have read a few other reviews of this book; I sought them out after I started to read this book.  I found myself getting a little bit lost in the beginning and wondered what others had thought about it.  The reviews that I read are mixed.  I thought that it was perhaps just me.  When I read the reviews, I noticed that I wasn’t the only reviewer who had a bit of difficulty with the narration of this story.

The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters is a story of a family of four sisters and a brother.  They live with their father and grandmother in L.A.  Unfortunately, their mother has passed away.  The setting is an apartment complex, at least in the beginning of the book.  The book is written, chapter by chapter, by each of the four sisters.  They explain their viewpoint and their lives in these chapters over a span of many years.  The sisters believe that they are each given a certain gift by their grandmother, Fermina, a Native American, almost like a curse.  As the sisters grow up, they each choose very different paths and yet are tethered to one another by the mystery of their past… the mystery of their mother and grandmother who have passed on.  Their discovery journey does arrive at a conclusion that ties all of the characters together. 

My biggest struggle with this novel is that I kept forgetting “who was who.”  I got confused amongst the characters.  This could very possibly be due to the fact that I am a pretty quick reader.  Perhaps had I slowed the speed of my read, I would have understood the family tree a bit better.  My second difficulty with the book is that I do not speak Spanish.  There are several Spanish quotes that I did not know what they were saying.  I do not feel that the author provided enough of an English explanation of what these phrases meant, although several of them were clearly explained.

The story is rich and colorful.  At times, I very much enjoyed the story and was very “in tune” with it.  At other times, I felt distant from the characters and the story.  There are some lovely quotes in this book and the author is obviously very talented.  I’m just not sure that I am the right audience for this novel.

Favorite Quotes of the Book:

“It’s like being blind,” Loretta said, “when the moon is gone.”

<The entire story of “Leaving the Village” p. 153>

“How could I forget?”  Sometimes my memory is like my answering machine at the office.  It accumulates so much crap that I’ve developed a hyperactive delete finger.  I throw sh*t out right and left.  The crazy thing is, the more I try to streamline and cast out junk, the more junk seems to accumulate.”

Sher’s “Out of Ten” Scale:

I was hopeful that I would become completely engaged in this novel.  It is rich in heritage and writing.  However, in my personal taste… it just wasn’t my “cup of tea.”  By no means am I suggesting you don’t read it.  IF this book had been written from the viewpoint of just one of the sisters, I may have preferred it more.  Although, I must state that the author’s approach to it is creative and brave… each of the characters telling it as they see it..  The part of the book that I enjoyed the most were the typed pages of Fermina’s life in between each chapter.  They were beautifully written.  On my “One to Ten Scale,” I’m sorry to have to give this one a 5.5 out of 10.

Add:  On the Library Thing & Amazon.Com Rating:  ♥♥

Where To Buy The Book:

Click here to purchase this book at Amazon.Com.

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