The Sandcastle Girls (Vintage Contemporaries) (urspr publ 2012; utgåvan 2013)

This was a fictional account from the author's own grandparents of an actual event to learn about the Armenian genocide which occurred just before WW1. The book was confusing because the author kept switching between the present and the past within each chapter. A very descriptive story about the treatment of women and children, the horrors of war, and yet the determination of the human spirit to endure numerous tragedies to stay alive and find ways to continue living. ( )

Found this book interesting as it was about a period in history that I knew nothing about. Felt the ending could have been stronger. ( )

A beautiful story, beautifully written, but a tough (and little known)subject. It is 1915 and Elizabeth Endicott, newly graduated from Mt. Holyoke, has traveled with her father, a Boston banker to the Ottoman Empire in order to help Armenian refugees who are being systematically eliminated from Turkey in what has since been called a genocide. The Endicotts are in over their heads in their innocence, their lack of experience or useful skills and their belief that the money they have donated on behalf of the Boston Friends of Armenia can make a dent in this war zone hell. Ultimately, Elizabeth does make an impact in the life of a woman refugee and a child she has come to foster on their death march. She also changes the course of her own life when she falls in love with an Armenian vigilante (Armen) and relives his experiences at the hands of the Turks. There is conflict between religions (Turkish Muslims eliminating Armenian Christians), historical information about WWI, and a surprisingly sympathetic view of Germans, despite their alliance with Turkey and the foreshadowing of their own turn at genocide in WWII. Two German soldiers in particular, Helmut and Eric, are appalled by the atrocities and photograph some of them to try to inform the Western World. What makes this story bearable is the narrator's distance from the events. The granddaughter of Elizabeth and Armen, Laura tries to piece together history and her grandparents' personal experiences, though they are no longer living. Like Sarah's Key, secrets are uncovered as the narrator becomes rather obsessed with untold events and her memories of her grandparents' lingering sadness. ( )

Heartbreaking. I was really surprised once I got into the meat of this story that I knew nothing about this horrible part of history. This story did something that all the best historical novels will do: cause me to research the topic on my own. This was a well-told, fascinating and tragic story and I will be thinking about the fates of the fictional characters as well as the real victims for a while to come. ( )

3.5 stars. Well-written story making the Armenian genocide in 1915-16 real by focusing on a handful of individual characters. ( )