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The Paradise Guest House: A Novel

av Ellen Sussman

Medlemmar	Recensioner	Popularitet	Genomsnittligt betyg	Omnämnanden
120	36	227,149	(3.86)	2
Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:A riveting and poignant novel of one woman�??s journey to Bali in search of love, renewal, and a place to call home�??perfect for readers of Elizabeth Gilbert�??s Eat, Pray, Love and Alex Garland�??s The Beach. It starts as a trip to paradise. Sent on assignment to Bali, Jamie, an American adventure guide, imagines spending weeks exploring the island�??s lush jungles and pristine white sand beaches. Yet three days after her arrival, she is caught in Bali�??s infamous nightclub bombings, which irreparably change her life and leave her with many unanswered questions. One year later, haunted by memories, Jamie returns to Bali seeking a sense of closure. Most of all, she hopes to find Gabe, the man who saved her from the attacks. She hasn�??t been able to forget his kindness�??or the spark between them as he helped her heal. Checking into a cozy guest house for her stay, Jamie meets the kindly owner, who is coping with a painful past of his own, and a young boy who improbably becomes crucial to her search. Jamie has never shied away from a challenge, but a second chance with Gabe presents her with the biggest dilemma of all: whether she�??s ready to open her heart. Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader�??s Circle for author chats and more. Praise for The Paradise Guest House �??Two survivors of Bali�??s terrorist bombing find love and spiritual rebirth on an island whose inhabitants believe in reincarnation in Sussman�??s touching panorama of paradise. . . . Throughout, Sussman celebrates lovers, quiet healing, and the sweetness of the island and its people.�?��??Publishers Weekly (starred review) �??A story of healing and redemption, of finding love in the most unexpected places, and of the importance of moving forward . . . Sussman has drawn a vivid, well-balanced portrait of a woman and a country working to recover from an unimaginable event and a very personal look at a global tragedy.�?��??Booklist �??Echoing Bali�??s difficult recovery from [the 2002 terrorist bombing], the characters tread the difficult terrain of post-traumatic attachment. . . . A respectful and earnest . . . treatment of devastation�??s aftermath.�?��??Kirkus Reviews �??[A] moving story about making sense of life after a tragedy . . . This touching tale will cause co… (mer)

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I am listening to a gamelan orchestra with metal clanging and bell like tones because that part of the setting is real to me. I studied that music in college and it bridged a path to the setting in Bali where the story is set.

Jamie is an adventure guide. She is returning to Bali after a year for a ceremony of the people who died in the bombings of two night clubs. We learn about her broken family and her childhood when she developed a love for hiking. Then, we are abrupty in Bali, the year before, a handsome adventure guide, named Miguel is fiercely in love with her and proposed marriage. He wanted to have children but she says no, she had never had a long term relationship and what she felf for him was lust, no love that meant marriage and children. Miguel runs from her crying and there is bombing of two nightclubs, confusion, screaming people, flames of burning and collapsing buildings.

An ex-pat, Gabe sees her in all the noisy and blinding confusion and he saves her life. There is much more about him, how his four year son died and his inability to share his grief. He quits his journalist job, his falls apart and he goes to Bali, ending up as an elementary school teacher.

This story is richly textured like the gamelon music, notes of beauty, grief, unlikely friendships and the terrible memories of people dying everywhere in the bombings. There are many layers to this story and the setting works perfectly. (

)

Carolee888 | Jan 14, 2022 |

"The Paradise Guest House" by Ellen Sussman was an okay read.

I have been to Bali before and I was interested on Sussman's take on an American woman who survived the Bali nightclub bombings in 2002.

The story revolves around two people. Jamie, an American adventure guide, and Gabe, an American ex-pat who comes to live and teach in Bali after dealing with a loss.

Jamie goes back to Bali a year later at an anniversary recognizing the victims and survivors of the nightclub bombing. She stays at the Paradise Guest House and befriends the owner Nyoman who lost his wife in the bombings. Along the way Jamie meets a street kid named Bambang who she finds herself becoming reluctantly attached to. However, Jamie's main reason to be there is to find Gabe who saved her during the bombing.

I do think that Ms. Sussman can write. Her description of the people and food in Bali was written very well. I think all of the characters were very fleshed out. I really did love Nyoman's character and his explanation of Bali, the culture, and traditions.

However, I only rated this novel three stars because though the story should have been engaging, it was not.

I think it could have been that I knew the way the novel would end after we find out why Jaime has returned to Bali and I just wasn't in the mood to read about Jaime and Gabe. Jamie's back story took forever to be told and when we get to her and Gabe I found myself hurrying to get to the end.

Additionally, I found myself more interested in Nyoman and Bambang's stories not Jaime and Gabe's. Also I felt as if Jaime had more of an emotional connection with Nyoman and not Gabe.

Last, splitting up the novel into parts so that we get to read about Jamie, then Gabe, then back to Jaime took me out of the novel and I had a hard time switching mid-stream so to speak.

I would recommend to fans of Ellen Sussman.

I received this novel for free via the Amazon Vine Program. (

)

ObsidianBlue | Jul 1, 2020 |

I listened to the audio book and withholding a rating because because the narrator's style was not to my liking.

janb37 | Feb 13, 2017 |

There's certainly a love story running through this book, but it also contains plenty of gritty (and tragic) reality as the two main characters seek to put their past traumas behind them and move forward. Bali comes to life beautifully, although in places I found there was a little too much description. (That said, I was listening to the audio version and perhaps my eye would have fast-forwarded through those parts, had I been reading.) Bambang is a wonderful supporting character and there were times when I thought he might steal the show. There were also some logistical questions about the ending which made me wonder how the future for these characters would play out, but overall I found this novel to be just the right mix of hope after hurt.
Finally, I am a little curious about the title, since I'm not sure the Paradise Guest House is really the best symbol of Jamie's journey. I'd love to know if the publisher had a hand in this and whether less appealing titles were originally on the table.
Don't expect a carefree read, but do enjoy the wonderful depth of this tale.
4.5 stars.
(

)

paulinewiles | Jan 26, 2015 |

Det här är en av LibraryThings förhandsrecensioner.

I received this book as part of LT's Early Reviewer Program. Jamie was in Bali during the 2002 nightclub bombings, standing in the street outside one of the clubs. The narrative switches between present day (one year after the bombings), Jamie's memory of the bombings, and the story of Gabe, a man who helped her save the injured, saved her life, and helped her heal. Gabe and Jamie have a love story founded in grief. Paradise Guest House is sad with loss of life at every turn, but at the same time, there are so many beautiful parts in the stories the characters tell, the development of their characters, and the descriptions of Bali and it's people. While I didn't race through the book, it was a solid read and has kept me thinking about the characters beyond finishing the book. While I would not recommend it for some light reading, the book is a wonderful, dramatic story and worth the read. (

)

journeygirl | May 23, 2014 |

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Fiction. Literature. Romance. HTML:A riveting and poignant novel of one woman�??s journey to Bali in search of love, renewal, and a place to call home�??perfect for readers of Elizabeth Gilbert�??s Eat, Pray, Love and Alex Garland�??s The Beach.

It starts as a trip to paradise. Sent on assignment to Bali, Jamie, an American adventure guide, imagines spending weeks exploring the island�??s lush jungles and pristine white sand beaches. Yet three days after her arrival, she is caught in Bali�??s infamous nightclub bombings, which irreparably change her life and leave her with many unanswered questions.

One year later, haunted by memories, Jamie returns to Bali seeking a sense of closure. Most of all, she hopes to find Gabe, the man who saved her from the attacks. She hasn�??t been able to forget his kindness�??or the spark between them as he helped her heal. Checking into a cozy guest house for her stay, Jamie meets the kindly owner, who is coping with a painful past of his own, and a young boy who improbably becomes crucial to her search. Jamie has never shied away from a challenge, but a second chance with Gabe presents her with the biggest dilemma of all: whether she�??s ready to open her heart.

Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader�??s Circle for author chats and more.

Praise for The Paradise Guest House

�??Two survivors of Bali�??s terrorist bombing find love and spiritual rebirth on an island whose inhabitants believe in reincarnation in Sussman�??s touching panorama of paradise. . . . Throughout, Sussman celebrates lovers, quiet healing, and the sweetness of the island and its people.�?��??Publishers Weekly (starred review)
�??A story of healing and redemption, of finding love in the most unexpected places, and of the importance of moving forward . . . Sussman has drawn a vivid, well-balanced portrait of a woman and a country working to recover from an unimaginable event and a very personal look at a global tragedy.�?��??Booklist

�??Echoing Bali�??s difficult recovery from [the 2002 terrorist bombing], the characters tread the difficult terrain of post-traumatic attachment. . . . A respectful and earnest . . . treatment of devastation�??s aftermath.�?��??Kirkus Reviews

�??[A] moving story about making sense of life after a tragedy . . . This touching tale will cause co

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