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Salvadoreña
by
Cecilia Samartin (Goodreads Author)
"Søster, hva ville du råde noen til som var tvunget til å velge mellom ærlighet og kjærlighet?" Ana står overfor et av sine vanskeligste valg. Etter å ha flyktet fra borgerkrigen i El Salvador til et kloster i USA, må hun motvillig fortsette sin livsreise. Hun får jobb som barnepike hos den konfliktfylte familien Trellis, en familie fanget i et overfladisk rikmannsliv i Ca...more
Hardcover, 380 pages
Published
2009
by Jurtizen forlag
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As her beloved lays sick and dying, Anna recounts vivid details of her life leading up to this moment. From her childhood in El Salvador, to her struggles and travels to the United States first living in a convent, then eventually becoming a nanny for a wealthy southern California family.
Although the synopsis seems really simple, the book itself is not. Cecila Samartin does a fantastic job of weaving together the past with the present of Anna’s life with key overlapping elements. She uses 1st an...more
Although the synopsis seems really simple, the book itself is not. Cecila Samartin does a fantastic job of weaving together the past with the present of Anna’s life with key overlapping elements. She uses 1st an...more
Vigil was in one word Amazing! In the first pages you will meet a woman, Ana who is sitting vigil by her dying husband's bedside. Along the way she is taken back to her impoverished beginnings in war torn El Salvador. Ana is such a memorable, inspiring character that she becomes real, and instills her story in my mind long after the end of her story. What more could a book and its author hope to be to its reader than to take a place in the heart and mind, and for him or her to take something awa...more
Cecilia Samartin's novel chronicles the deathbed vigil a Salvadoran woman holds for her employer of 20 years. Through an excellent use of flashbacks, we learn where Ana comes from and how she ends up in her employer's household. The beauty of Vigil is found in the incredible strength and wisdom Ana finds from her own personal tragedies. Unlike 95% of contemporary fiction written today, Ana doesn't whine, blame or otherwise annoy her reader with baggage. Instead, she honors her losses by living u...more
Not fast paced or suspenseful, never the less I was drawn in by this story of love and innocence. This is the story of Ana, whose childhood was interrupted by violence in her village home in El Salvador. She spends the rest of her childhood into early adulthood in a convent, intending to become a nun, and is completely sheltered from the outside world. When she eventually goes to California to become a nanny, she becomes a much loved and needed member of the family she works for. As she tends he...more
Vigil is an interesting and beautifully written novel. Although you may think this would be a disheartening story, it was not. Yes, there is sadness, but is also a story about happiness, friendship, and family. Each character is carefully developed with Ana as the one moral constant in the family. Eventually she is influenced by the immorality of the family members and conflict occurs.
The story was captivating as Ana reflects back on her life starting as a child in El Salvador hiding from sold...more
The story was captivating as Ana reflects back on her life starting as a child in El Salvador hiding from sold...more
Imagine loving a man for twenty years, but not being able to tell him so. Imagine sleeping in a room down the hall from this man you love for twenty years. Imagine having to watch this man interact day after day with his wife and children. Ana watches.. for twenty years before she finally has the opportunity to act on her love.
The story starts in El Salvador during the time of civil war and brutality. Ana loses her entire village and is the only one to walk away. Why was she saved? She was saved...more
The story starts in El Salvador during the time of civil war and brutality. Ana loses her entire village and is the only one to walk away. Why was she saved? She was saved...more
I love this book, also read Tarnished Beauty and will soon read Broken Paradise. She is an amazing author for sure.
Only reason for not giving it 5 stars is beacause it reminds me too much of the movie 'Sound of Music'. The main character in the book is too similar to Maria, main character in the movie. Young, sent away from a convent against their will to work for a troubled family etc etc Even the scene when they first come to the new family with only a suitcase and hesitate to ring the door be...more
Only reason for not giving it 5 stars is beacause it reminds me too much of the movie 'Sound of Music'. The main character in the book is too similar to Maria, main character in the movie. Young, sent away from a convent against their will to work for a troubled family etc etc Even the scene when they first come to the new family with only a suitcase and hesitate to ring the door be...more
Feb 27, 2013
Tiina
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Everyone
Shelves:
favorites
Simply the best book I have ever read.
Beautiful, heart-breaking, hopeful, full of love, full of life... I don't know where to start, except to tell you all to read Cecilia Samartin now. She is an amazing writer.
The beauty of Samartin's writing is that she makes you love all the character, and not in a literary wow-this-is-a-good-character-and-i-feel-sorry-for-her kind of way, but in a way you love your siblings and your friends. The characters are, simply put, real, they come alive from the pag...more
Beautiful, heart-breaking, hopeful, full of love, full of life... I don't know where to start, except to tell you all to read Cecilia Samartin now. She is an amazing writer.
The beauty of Samartin's writing is that she makes you love all the character, and not in a literary wow-this-is-a-good-character-and-i-feel-sorry-for-her kind of way, but in a way you love your siblings and your friends. The characters are, simply put, real, they come alive from the pag...more
I really like the way she writes, makes it hard to put the book down. It´s interesting to me how our experiences color our lives, and helps, or makes, us become who we are. Some people are humbled, and some are hardened by what life throws at them. I like Ana and her gentle ways, and like how the characters have different aspects to them, like we all have.
What a great read - A story of a woman who had a very hard/scary and upsetting childhood. she then works as a Nanny for a couple with a very involved life. How her life changes over the years is very realistic. How great her faith was. I can actually see this happening in real life. I looke forward to reading more books by this author
Een schitterende roman die je niet snel zult vergeten.
Zodra je aan het boek begint zit je al in een prachtig verhaal dat je niet meer los laat,het boek is één en al liefde en gaat van het verleden naar het heden wat erg goed samen komt.
Aanrader
Zodra je aan het boek begint zit je al in een prachtig verhaal dat je niet meer los laat,het boek is één en al liefde en gaat van het verleden naar het heden wat erg goed samen komt.
Aanrader
Even though it was fiction, I felt that the author drew the reader into to what it must have been like to live through the dark days of El Salvador. The images she creates with words, are very real.
Aug 04, 2009
Cheryl/Aradanryl
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
first-read-arc-giveaway
This started out well with vivid but not overly detailed descriptions of the horrors of those who lived in El Salvador caught between the two factions. I remember oh-too-well many of the various events that made the news and many of them are woven into the story.
As a love story, I didn't care for it as much, partly due to the incredible sadness of the story. I deeply dislike women whose lack of morals damage their children and even though a work of fiction, it left me irritated at the end. The n...more
As a love story, I didn't care for it as much, partly due to the incredible sadness of the story. I deeply dislike women whose lack of morals damage their children and even though a work of fiction, it left me irritated at the end. The n...more
As good as Broken Paradise - just finishing it.
Vigil plods toward a predictable ending. What it lacks in speed and suspense it makes up for with well drawn characters and a good love story.
Ana's life in El Salvador was fascinating but too short, I'd have liked to read more about her background. She is an engaging character and you'll find yourself rooting for her. Lillian is possibly the perfect villain, evil and so easy to hate.
This is a pleasant, afternoon read.
Ana's life in El Salvador was fascinating but too short, I'd have liked to read more about her background. She is an engaging character and you'll find yourself rooting for her. Lillian is possibly the perfect villain, evil and so easy to hate.
This is a pleasant, afternoon read.
Ja, dette er nok en godbit fra Cecilia Samartin! Hun har enda ikke klart å skuffe, selv om Drømmehjerte fortsatt er min Samartin- favoritt!!
Interesting story, but I had a hard time following the switch in "voice" from the young Ana to the one looking back. The author chose to do it by one writing in first person, the other in third. Few authors master the weaving of different time frames without confusing the reader.
This was a random pick for me. The book follows the protagonist through most of her life, which i quite like, and as it does, you smoothly watch her mature, and you notice the subtle changes that occur over a long period of time..
You know those beautiful stories that has everything you want? this is it! tradgedy, history, love, laughter, family, dissapointment and don't forget the cute happy ending <3
I've read some of her other books, but this wasn't my kind of book. It was too easy and not my taste!
An amazing book! I was unable to put this book down, because I was so hooked. :-)
Oct 28, 2011
Madelaine
added it
Great Book! I loved every part of it :)
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I was born in Cuba at the height of the revolution. My family left when I was nine months old so I have no memories of my own, although I "borrowed" countless memories from my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
I grew up in a quiet Los Angeles suburb and secretly dreamed of becoming a writer, but after high school I decided to study psychology instead and became a marriage and fami...more
More about Cecilia Samartin...
I grew up in a quiet Los Angeles suburb and secretly dreamed of becoming a writer, but after high school I decided to study psychology instead and became a marriage and fami...more
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“It seemed that the years had softened her, or perhaps they'd hardened me”
—
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