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The Sandcastle Girls

by Chris Bohjalian (Goodreads Author)

3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 · rating details · 8,546 ratings · 1,887 reviews

Over the course of his career, New York Times bestselling novelist Chris Bohjalian has taken readers on a spectacular array of journeys. Midwives brought us to an isolated Vermont farmhouse on an icy winter’s night and a home birth gone tragically wrong. The Double Bind perfectly conjured the Roaring Twenties on Long Island—and a young social worker’s descent into madness....more Over the course of his career, New York Times bestselling novelist Chris Bohjalian has taken readers on a spectacular array of journeys. Midwives brought us to an isolated Vermont farmhouse on an icy winter’s night and a home birth gone tragically wrong. The Double Bind perfectly conjured the Roaring Twenties on Long Island—and a young social worker’s descent into madness. And Skeletons at the Feast chronicled the last six months of World War Two in Poland and Germany with nail-biting authenticity. As The Washington Post Book World has noted, Bohjalian writes “the sorts of books people stay awake all night to finish.”

In his fifteenth book, The Sandcastle Girls, he brings us on a very different kind of journey. This spellbinding tale travels between Aleppo, Syria, in 1915 and Bronxville, New York, in 2012—a sweeping historical love story steeped in the author’s Armenian heritage, making it his most personal novel to date.

When Elizabeth Endicott arrives in Syria, she has a diploma from Mount Holyoke College, a crash course in nursing, and only the most basic grasp of the Armenian language. The First World War is spreading across Europe, and she has volunteered on behalf of the Boston-based Friends of Armenia to deliver food and medical aid to refugees of the Armenian genocide. There, Elizabeth becomes friendly with Armen, a young Armenian engineer who has already lost his wife and infant daughter. When Armen leaves Aleppo to join the British Army in Egypt, he begins to write Elizabeth letters, and comes to realize that he has fallen in love with the wealthy, young American woman who is so different from the wife he lost.Flash forward to the present, where we meet Laura Petrosian, a novelist living in suburban New York. Although her grandparents’ ornate Pelham home was affectionately nicknamed the “Ottoman Annex,” Laura has never really given her Armenian heritage much thought. But when an old friend calls, claiming to have seen a newspaper photo of Laura’s grandmother promoting an exhibit at a Boston museum, Laura embarks on a journey back through her family’s history that reveals love, loss—and a wrenching secret that has been buried for generations.(less)

Hardcover, 299 pages

Published July 17th 2012 by Doubleday

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Mar 06, 2013 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

The Boston Globe , 7/17/12, had a fine review of this book, which recounts the horrors of the Armenian genocide in 1915. Initially I was hesitant whether I wanted to read this, since I was so disappointed by Bohjalian's Secrets of Eden, but because he excelled with Skeletons at the Feast I decided that this would be interesting. I have entered the waiting list at my library.

*****************************************************************

It seems logical that while reading this book, my though...more The Boston Globe , 7/17/12, had a fine review of this book, which recounts the horrors of the Armenian genocide in 1915. Initially I was hesitant whether I wanted to read this, since I was so disappointed by Bohjalian's Secrets of Eden, but because he excelled with Skeletons at the Feast I decided that this would be interesting. I have entered the waiting list at my library.

*****************************************************************

It seems logical that while reading this book, my thoughts would often turn to the much better known Holocaust, which occurred to my people. Bohjalian has written this novel as a remembrance to his ancestors of the Armenian Genocide, which has sometimes been termed, “ the Slaughter You Know Next to Nothing About”. Viewing it from this perspective, one can certainly say that he has issued a Tribute to those people and aroused public awareness. Many will remain apathetic about this, but let us not forget there are amongst us everywhere, Holocaust deniers . Moreover, with each new generation there appears to be a greater lack of knowledge of such earthshaking events. So, from these preceding thoughts, I commend him for this saga.

This has been an ambitious undertaking for Bojhalian, who has approached his plot with a multi-generational, time- alternating narrative. In part, this has served to enrich the story and demonstrate how our ancestors have actually influenced our lives. At times, I found this feature of travel from the past to the present, from one character to another, an annoying distraction. This would often occur within a matter of a very few pages. Occasionally, a character would be dismissed, or ignored for a few chapters and I would be required to search my memory to recall this individual’s place in the story. Nevertheless, Bohjalian has astutely and creatively woven the characters’ situations into a clear and intriguing portrayal of their time and situations.

Much of the background material has been carefully researched, according to his acknowledgements. He has claimed that the people in these tales are loosely related to his relatives.

When reading Bohjalian’s accounts I was immediately captivated by his entry into the nearby town of Watertown, Massachusetts. I have always been quite familiar with the Armenian neighborhood there, with its wonderful groceries and restaurants. But here I confess a familiar omission in my life. Although I passed through this town as recently as a week ago and have seen several Armenian cultural buildings, I have never set foot inside one of these places. I have been to Holocaust Museums in Israel, London, Boston, Washington DC and elsewhere and shed many tears with others in attendance; but I have failed to pay homage to the Armenian Cultural Museum so nearby. So, Chris Bohjalian, you have accomplished an important thing with one of your readers- I’ll go there- soon!(less)

20 likes · like · see review

Sep 23, 2012 Chrissie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: armenia, syria, usa, hf, audio, 2012challenge

ETA: No, I didn’t really like this book. I just gave it three stars because I am glad Bohjalian wrote a book about the genocide. The narration was off, I didn’t like the two threads, particularly the modern one, and parts are written for the movies, i.e .way too theatrical, and yes even fluffy! I have changed the rating from three to two stars.

On completion:

I will give this three stars. Part of the problem is that there are two threads, a historical one and a modern one. I generally do not like...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Angela Marini rated it 4 of 5 stars

4.5 Stars A book about the genocide we know next to nothing about and a fantastically told story, heartbreaking and unbelievable at times. The story of a young Bostonian woman who arrives in Aleppo, Syria to aid the Armenian people who are being systematically wiped out by the Turks over territory and religion. As we near the centennial of this genocide when 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives, it's interesting to note that Aleppo is once again in the news and the stories are painfully famili...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Sam rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of McEwan's Atonement

Recommended to Sam by: Tania

Shelves: historical-fiction, favorites

There’s this song that I absolutely love by Deer Tick called ‘Goodbye, Dear Friend’. The lyrics go like so:

“Some stories break your heart
And some with such applause”

The Sandcastle Girls is one of those stories. It’s the kind of book that lingers with you well after you’ve read the final page. Historically, it’s crucial…

Nineteen-fifteen is the year of the Slaughter You Know Next to Nothing About. The anniversary of its commencement—its centennial—is nearing. If you are not Armenian, you probably...more

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Aug 13, 2012 Dem rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: recommended

The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian is a powerful and unforgettable historical novel depicting the Armenian Genocide. It is an epic story of love and war that will leave you pondering on the facts long after you have finished this novel.

This Novel is set in two timeframes. The past 1915 to 1916 and the present.

The book takes us back to a time when the First World War and the Armenian genocide of 1915-16 . Elizabeth Endicott arrives in Syria along with her father, they have volunteered on beh...more The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian is a powerful and unforgettable historical novel depicting the Armenian Genocide. It is an epic story of love and war that will leave you pondering on the facts long after you have finished this novel.

This Novel is set in two timeframes. The past 1915 to 1916 and the present.

The book takes us back to a time when the First World War and the Armenian genocide of 1915-16 . Elizabeth Endicott arrives in Syria along with her father, they have volunteered on behalf of the Boston based friends of Armenia to deliver food and medical aid to refugees from the Armenian Genocide. Elizabeth has only the most basic grasp of the Armenian language and a crash course in nursing but she is equipped with a will and determination to help in any way she can. Elizabeth becomes friendly with Armen an Armenian man who has just lost his wife and child . Armen joins the British Army in Egypt and he and Elizabeth corresponds in the form of letters and their friendship develops.

When we move to the present in the novel we meet Laura Petrosian who is a novelist and is researching her family history and learns of the love and the secrets buried for years.

I first came across this novel in a newspaper review and knew immediately this was my kind of book and ordered it. I was ignorant to the atrocities that took place in during the Armenian Genocide but after reading the account here I was saddened to realise that I had not been made aware of this through history classes at school or in previous books. But thanks to Mr Bohjalian I have learned so much from this book. This is one of those historical novels that while you are reading you are also back and forth to your computer to check on places and details described in the story.

This is one of those novels not for the faint hearted and while there is a love story running alongside the horrors of Genocide, it’s the horrors of what happens to the Armenian people that will make you shudder and weep.

I found this a powerful, insightful, touching and unforgettable novel and the only reason I did not give it five stars was the fact that the novel jumps back and forth between time frames way too much and I found this very distracting especially in the first half of the novel.
I wish the author had included a map of the regions he wrote about as I think it would have been so helpful.
Overall a 4 star read for me and a book I will be recommending for a long time to come.

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Feb 21, 2013 JoAnne Pulcino rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction, book-club-selection, literary, women-s, adult-fiction-and-e-book, large-print, audio

THE SANDCASTLE GIRLS

Christopher Bohjalian

Christopher Bohjalian is an enormously gifted and talented storyteller who has set himself up to be the keeper of the flame. As in previous novels Mr. Bohjalian mystically zeros in on the lesser know but horrendous atrocities that should never be forgotten with an engrossing storyline and he never hits a false note in his elegant and exquisite prose.

THE SANDCASTLE GIRLS is a mesmerizing work of historical fiction influenced by the author’s heritage and d...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Lou rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, historical-fiction

Love and war.

This story of fiction deals with events from the past that are true.
The author successfully ingrains in your mind the stark reality of war and the tragic accounts of the brave characters contained within.
Women who have lost it all, no clothes on their backs or food to eat eyewitness to brutal slaying and murder of their kin to live and tell the tale.
You will learn of the genocide of 1915, a time of slaughter ‘The Great Catastrophe,’ a year you possibly wont forget once you finished...more Love and war.

This story of fiction deals with events from the past that are true.
The author successfully ingrains in your mind the stark reality of war and the tragic accounts of the brave characters contained within.
Women who have lost it all, no clothes on their backs or food to eat eyewitness to brutal slaying and murder of their kin to live and tell the tale.
You will learn of the genocide of 1915, a time of slaughter ‘The Great Catastrophe,’ a year you possibly wont forget once you finished reading this story.

A people unknown to many disappeared. The plight of the Armenian people will weigh heavily in your heart and thoughts.
You will have a lesson in loss and new-found love, human courage and perseverance in the face of human tragedy and adversity. This story is a testimony on how these characters, and people in general, can move forward in life and have another chance to make a future and have some normality, be happy, with this distant but close to heart tragedy in their past.
One I hope Oprah picks up as part of her book club I definitely recommend it.
He does it right telling as it is when he writes, making us feel the smells, the colors, places and the people.
This did not get high rating from me for thrill or eloquent prose but for the truth the story talks with of the darkness of hearts and the stark consequences of hatred and racism.

“That belly dancing may also give you the impression that my childhood was rather exotic. It wasn’t. Most of my childhood was unexceptionably suburban, either in a tiny commuter enclave outside of Manhattan or in Miami, Florida. But my grandparents’ house was different. My aunt really did belly dance until she was forty, and there really were hookah pipes ( no longer used, as far as i know), plush oriental carpets, and thick leather books filled with an alphabet i could not begin to decipher. There was always the enveloping aroma of cooked lamb and mint, because my grandfather insisted on lamb chops even for breakfast: lamb chops and a massive cereal bowl filled with Frosted Flakes and Cocoa Puffs, eaten with yogurt instead of milk.”

“You think i want to demonize the Turks. I don’t harbor no grudge. The first boy i ever kissed-seriously kissed, that is, not dry, awkward pecks on the cheek or the lips-was Turkish. He knew i was Armenian. I knew he was Turkish. Hormones mattered far more than history.”

“They were somewhere in the desert between Adana and Aleppo. The women were sitting upright, their legs straight before them and their hands tied to the stake behind them so the pole pressed hard against their spines. Then six gendarmes took their swords and mounted their horses, and each took a turn racing toward the captives at high speed, and-as if it were a mere cavalry exercise-decapitated one of the women. Hatoun’s mother had been the last woman to die, and so she had witnessed five heads fall into the hot sand like coconuts, including her older daughter’s.”

“But Armenian adults? They would sooner be flogged, stripped, scorched, shot, smothered, stabbed, starved, bayoneted, decapitated, drowned, crucified, asphyxiated, eviscerated, axed, hanged, garroted, quartered, pitchforked, impaled, and (if they were female) “outraged.”(This is another word you don’t hear often anymore, at least as a Victorian synonym for rape.) They would sooner succumb to dysentery, typhus, malaria, cholera, pneumonia, infection, sepsis, and the flu. These are all of the ways in which Armenian civilians died in the First World War- at least all of the ways i came across in eyewitness testimonies. Undoubtedly, there are more.”

For book trailer of this story and video interview visit>>http://more2read.com/review/the-sandcastle-girls-by-chris-bohjalian/(less)

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May 27, 2012 Emily Crowe rated it 3 of 5 stars

While the emotional content of this book is trademark Bohjalian, the writer takes on a new depth and historical perspective in Sandcastle Girls that is not usually present in his more formulaic novels.

The little I knew about Turkish-Armenian relations came from working at a used bookstore, where a customer of mine bought up everything he could on Armenia. Occasionally he would toss out historical facts but eventually I learned it was a topic he didn't want to fully engage in, so it was fascinat...more While the emotional content of this book is trademark Bohjalian, the writer takes on a new depth and historical perspective in Sandcastle Girls that is not usually present in his more formulaic novels.

The little I knew about Turkish-Armenian relations came from working at a used bookstore, where a customer of mine bought up everything he could on Armenia. Occasionally he would toss out historical facts but eventually I learned it was a topic he didn't want to fully engage in, so it was fascinating to read this book as a first attempt to fill in some of the historical blanks.

(Incidentally, this is the third novel of genocide I've read this year: Rwandan, Cambodian, and now this one, which I guess means my taste run to the dark side, at least when it comes to historical fiction. It also happens to be the fourth novel in a row that I've picked up that features a Muslim/Christian conflict, so it's interesting to me to see these unconscious reading patterns of mine.)

The novel has two main time frames. One is a contemporary, middle-aged first person narrator named Laura living in NY who investigates her Armenian roots and reminisces about her childhood. The other is a third person narration that begins in Aleppo, Syria, in 1915, mostly following Laura's paternal grandparents Armen, an Armenian engineer who has survived the Turks' first onslaught against his people, and Elizabeth, a Bostonian blueblood who has traveled to Syria with her father to give aid and succour to the refugees. Occasionally the narration darts over to Nevart, a widowed refugee, and to Hatoun, an orphan who has witnessed such unspeakable atrocities against her family that she has become practically mute herself, as well as other, more minor characters.

War casualties are awful things and this novel's World War I setting proves no exception, but it's particularly difficult to read of the crimes perpetuated by the Ottoman Empire against some of its own civilians, and the twisted logic and false rhetoric they use to justify their actions is appalling.

I can't possibly pretend to know or understand the centuries-old history between the Turks and the Armenians, or how the Ottoman Empire selected the Armenians for extermination over all of the other peoples under its sway. But there is a portion of this novel presented as fact, and if it's true, then it's utterly galling, and I will excerpt some of it here:

"If you visit Ankara or Istanbul today, you will find streets and school named after Talat Pasha ["the real visionary" behind the Armenian genocide]....In other words, the nation that found Talat Pasha guilty of attempting to wipe out a race of people later named concourses after him.
How is that possible? Because, to much of the nation--though, thankfully, not all--that genocide never happened. Even now, labelilng the slaughter of 1915 "genocide" can land a Turkish citizen in jail and get a Turkish Armenian journalist killed (179)."

If that is true (and Bohjalian did not footnote it or document it, so I don't know), then it really blows my mind. It's impossible to imagine the German citizens of today wanting to glorify Adolf Hitler in a parallel manner, renaming any of the schools or thoroughfares for him. How is it possible that the citizens of Turkey are, as a nation, holocaust deniers? It's too staggering and disturbing to contemplate.
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Aug 11, 2012 RNOCEAN rated it 3 of 5 stars

"Over the course of his career, New York Times bestselling novelist Chris Bohjalian has taken readers on a spectacular array of journeys. Midwives brought us to an isolated Vermont farmhouse on an icy winter’s night and a home birth gone tragically wrong. The Double Bind perfectly conjured the Roaring Twenties on Long Island—and a young social worker’s descent into madness. And Skeletons at the Feast chronicled the last six months of World War Two in Poland and Germany with nail-biting authentic...more "Over the course of his career, New York Times bestselling novelist Chris Bohjalian has taken readers on a spectacular array of journeys. Midwives brought us to an isolated Vermont farmhouse on an icy winter’s night and a home birth gone tragically wrong. The Double Bind perfectly conjured the Roaring Twenties on Long Island—and a young social worker’s descent into madness. And Skeletons at the Feast chronicled the last six months of World War Two in Poland and Germany with nail-biting authenticity. As The Washington Post Book World has noted, Bohjalian writes “the sorts of books people stay awake all night to finish.”

In his fifteenth book, The Sandcastle Girls, he brings us on a very different kind of journey. This spellbinding tale travels between Aleppo, Syria, in 1915 and Bronxville, New York, in 2012—a sweeping historical love story steeped in the author’s Armenian heritage, making it his most personal novel to date.

When Elizabeth Endicott arrives in Syria, she has a diploma from Mount Holyoke College, a crash course in nursing, and only the most basic grasp of the Armenian language. The First World War is spreading across Europe, and she has volunteered on behalf of the Boston-based Friends of Armenia to deliver food and medical aid to refugees of the Armenian genocide. There, Elizabeth becomes friendly with Armen, a young Armenian engineer who has already lost his wife and infant daughter. When Armen leaves Aleppo to join the British Army in Egypt, he begins to write Elizabeth letters, and comes to realize that he has fallen in love with the wealthy, young American woman who is so different from the wife he lost.Flash forward to the present, where we meet Laura Petrosian, a novelist living in suburban New York. Although her grandparents’ ornate Pelham home was affectionately nicknamed the “Ottoman Annex,” Laura has never really given her Armenian heritage much thought. But when an old friend calls, claiming to have seen a newspaper photo of Laura’s grandmother promoting an exhibit at a Boston museum, Laura embarks on a journey back through her family’s history that reveals love, loss—and a wrenching secret that has been buried for generations"

Rate 3/5. I think that my favorite book by this author was The Midwife and I am finding it hard for the books that followed to measure up to this. This was a very sad book and I didn't care for the way the author shifted back and forth between the present and the past.(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Aug 04, 2012 Mad_Maudie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: holocaust-genocide-war, historical-history

(edited review)
Reading this novel, one cannot help but see the parallels between the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust. I say that with caution because I want to be careful that I don’t “compare” suffering. That’s not my intent, nor was it the author’s.

Though the story is fiction, it’s based on real events and, in some cases, loosely on real people. How could I not get caught up in the drama knowing that this could have actually happened (and probably did)?

I’m not usually a fan of romance, b...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars

I am not one to read historical fiction very often. I saw this on a First Reads giveaway and was lucky enough to win a copy. After reading it, I've determined that I need more historical fiction in my life!

I found it difficult to read this at first, because it is filled with so many interesting, as well as shocking details. I have no prior knowledge of the Armenian genocide that took place, and I found myself deeply invested in reading and understanding each detail of the story. Because of the h...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Sheri rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was not impressed. I did not know (as the book says) about the Armenian genocide and so it was interesting to learn a bit of history. The story, though, was at first confusing and then just too contrived for my liking.

I thought the writing was at times too stiled and Bohjalian was trying too hard. He wanted to paint a broad picture, but sometimes his details were lacking. For example: “‘I hope it’s not only vengeance,’ he tells her, though that is indeed the largest part of it—that and the rag...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Judy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Once again I am educated by reading historical fiction. I had never heard of the Armenian Genocide of the early 1900s. Though the subject matter is horrific, Bohjalian manages to tell the story of the protagonists in a way that helps the reader deal with the reality of what happened so long ago. He does this by having a currently living woman, Laura Petrosian, of Armenian descent, discover her own heritage. Her story is interspersed with a set of characters actually living out the history. Some...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Melissa rated it 2 of 5 stars

I can honestly say that this was the ONE book I was DYING to read all summer. I vacillated whether or not to purchase it just so I could get my hands on the thing as soon as it was released. I refrained and waited on the library copy. It was $20 saved.

What I liked:

• Setting/historical significance: I knew nothing of the Armenian genocide. How did I not know that between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered at the hands of the Turks during WWI? High School and college history: Fail. Than...more I can honestly say that this was the ONE book I was DYING to read all summer. I vacillated whether or not to purchase it just so I could get my hands on the thing as soon as it was released. I refrained and waited on the library copy. It was $20 saved.

What I liked:

• Setting/historical significance: I knew nothing of the Armenian genocide. How did I not know that between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered at the hands of the Turks during WWI? High School and college history: Fail. Thanks to the author for trying to frame the atrocities within the limitations of a novel.
Also…I love any historical fiction dealing with war – especially WWI & II.

What I didn’t like:
• No maps: This book, in essence, is a geographical novel. The majority of the story focuses on location: the battlefronts, death marches, Egypt, Syria, The Ottoman Empire – seriously – how hard would have been to include a map in the front pages of the book? So many times I wanted to reference where the characters were at any given time – especially Armen and his trek to Syria, then to the front lines and back again. Putting the book down and Googling a map of the Middle East at the turn of the century was a major distraction.

• Alternating narration: This is common in novels – alternating voices of characters, time periods (future v. past), etc. Some are successful, (The Forgotten Garden) some are not (The Sandcastle Girls). In my reading experience, novels generally alternate narration at the end/beginning of chapters. In this novel…it alternated within a chapter – between paragraphs! Oh my gosh! One moment I’m reading about Elizabeth Endicott’s care of the ailing Armenian refugees, the next paragraph, I’m in Boston with her granddaughter at a middle school concert. Did not work. At all.

• Storyline: Now I’m nitpicking – but -- the relationship between Armen and Elizabeth didn’t resonate with me - no chemistry; the “story within a story” about the survival of photographs taken of Armenian refugees did not seem the least bit plausible (and if it is based on historical fact – it would have been nice of the author to include a reference); the ending – I felt totally manipulated.

Sorry 4 & 5 star ratings – for me, this was a huge disappointment.

I hope others enjoy it more than I did.
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Apr 14, 2012 Pam rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!

I started this book a few days ago and I have to tell you that I am only able to read it in small bites. The book is so good and so very disturbing that I can feel myself becoming an emotional wreck! It has taken me about 10 days to get through this book. Not because it wasn't good, but because it is just THAT good. I can actually say for the first time in a very long time; I savored every single word of this book.

The subject of the book is the Armenian Genocide...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Deb rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook, historical-fiction, romance

I haven't read much about the Armenian Genocide (I think Middlesex was the only thing I've read), but this is an excellent depiction of the tragedy of that horrible episode in history. Why do we do these things to each other?
The story revolves around a Bostonian girl who comes to Syria to help out with the refugees from Turkey. She falls in love with an Armenian man who lost his wife and baby in the genocide. The story switches from the fictional "author" who is the granddaughter of the couple a...more

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May 27, 2013 Nancy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-read

Dual stranded narrative about the Armenian genocide around 1915/16. All of his stories are odd but this one was odd and a little unsettling. The Armenian genocide is not something that most people know about and I must confess that I was among them. It's a ugly story in some respects and in others it's a story of survival. The dual strands have people from this time telling the story of family members from that time and how they came to be where they are. I always feel a little drained after hav...more

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Apr 10, 2012 Dan Radovich rated it 5 of 5 stars

In my opinion, this is the best work from Bohjalian. Knowing his passion for this subject made the experience all the more meaningful. This is so much more than a powerful history story, it is a wonderful love story - the love of an author and his heritage and craft. Thank you for bringing this story to us, Chris.

14 likes · like · see review

Dec 02, 2012 Janice rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: world-tour-challenge, read-in-2012, historical-fiction

I'm not a huge fan of books that jump back and forward in time and between different points of view. About half the way into the book, I was wishing the author would get on with it and tell the story.

This historical fiction draws attention to the attempted annihilation of the Armenian people. Unlike some books that deal with such a horrific subject matter, it had a good balance between despair and hope. My reaction to the book wasn't overwhelming shock. I felt that I had learned something about...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Dree rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads, the-middle-east

4.5 stars.

Excellent historical fiction about the Armenian genocide that took place during WWI, at the end of the Ottomon Empire. As the narrator says, it's the genocide no one knows about, and indeed I know much more now (though I did know something).

I honestly kept having to remind myself that this was fiction and not memoir--it is written with a narrator researching her grandparents' story. So, first person. If the narrator weren't female, it would have been even harder.

Excellent, depressing,...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

What an awesome book! I had no idea about this piece of history until I read this.

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Apr 29, 2013 Darlene Jones rated it 5 of 5 stars

Beautiful hardly seems apt for this book, and yet it is. Mr. Bohjalian has crafted a novel depicting horrific events in such a manner that we come to love, admire, and emphatically respect the characters. We care deeply for each and everyone of them. There is beauty in that. There is beauty in the sacrifices they make for each other, beauty in the dedication of the people who set out to help, and beauty in their determination to survive.

I read Forty Days of Musa Dagh some time ago so the Slaught...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Kathleen Hagen added it

Shelves: 2013-audio

The Sandcastle Girls, by Chris Bohjalian, Narrated by Cassandra Campbell and Alison Frasier, Produced by Random House Audio, Downloaded from audible.com.

As Bohjalian tells us in an interview included with this audio book, this book is about his own Armenian heritage, but not specifically about his family. We are following the parallel lives of Elizabeth Endicott in 1915, a wealthy American girl who has just finished college, who comes to Alleppo in Syria and volunteers in a hospital where she me...more

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Mar 10, 2013 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

“The Slaughter You Know Next to Nothing About” … more accurate would have been the slaughter I knew NOTHING about until I read this book! I am ashamed I didn’t know about it and I’m appalled with the details of the genocide. Why oh why must this keep happening? The Armenian Genocide was in 1915-1916 and yet the world suffered another one in WWII with the Jews and Germans throughout Europe, and again in the 1990s with Serbs, Croats &Muslims killing each other off in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Ethnic...more

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Feb 23, 2013 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

"The Sandcastle Girls" is a powerful novel that takes place in two different eras: the 1915 genocide of Armenians in Syria, and in present-day America. This is an unforgettable story of love that plays out in the Syrian desert in the midst of horror, tragedy, and loss. The narrator is researching her grandparent's Armenian history and how they met during such loss of life in the desert, and the novel moves easily between present day and 1915. Sometimes I don't like novels that "flash back", but...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Laurie rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-started-but-not-read

The author writes well in the ways I like: good descriptions, good character portrayals with interesting people, historical facts, contemporary offspring discovering family secrets of an earlier generation.... However, after about 100 pages, I felt that in this novel he was including too much description of the horrors the Turkish inflicted on the Armenians. I thought it reached a point of gratuitous stuff: OK, I thought, I get it! Please stop beating me over the head with it. Perhaps my reactio...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Victoria Hess rated it 5 of 5 stars

Elizabeth was a proper young lady boss when she went to Allepo, Syria, with her father to work with Armenian refugees. It was 1915, and 1.5 million Armenians were in the process of being killed in Turkey. Allepo was the end of the line for thousands of women and children who were driven across the desert by Turkish soldiers. Few survived.

The Sandcastle Girls is written in the voice a 40ish-year-old woman, the descendant of a surviving Armenian man and Elizabeth. The voice so clear that it time i...more

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Jan 16, 2013 Elaine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Genocide of one and one half million Armenians(Christians) in 1915, by the Turks in collaboration with Germany. The women were marched into the desert at Der-el-Zor after first being marched to Aleppo.

After the revolution in 1908 three men took over the government, Talat Pasha, Enver Pasha and Djemel Pasha. A dictatorial troika that managed the genocide. Talat was dubbed the "strongest man between Berlin and Hell" After WW1 he was condemned to death while living in Germany but was assinated in 1...more

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Jan 16, 2013 Adrienne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Elizabeth Endicott was a privileged Bostonian who accompanied her father to Aleppo, Syria in 1916 in order to offer assistance to the few survivors of the Armenian genocide. As she assists with the refugees, mostly emaciated women and children who have somehow survived torture and starvation but who still face being sent to "camps" where there will be little food and no medical attention, Elizabeth means Armen, an Armenian man who has lost his wife and infant daughter in the slaughter of his peo...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Merideen rated it 4 of 5 stars

In some ways I feel like this was two books, the historical story and the modern story. The historical story was fantastic, a 4 star rating. The story of the genocide is so horrific and the book illustrated the personal and global tragedies. The addition of the love story added that sense of hope and future that I think is important to highlight when in tragedy.

I would rate the modern part of the book as a three. It was at its best when highlighting how little the world knows about the genocide...more

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About Chris Bohjalian

Chris Bohjalian is the author of sixteen books, including The Light in the Ruins, arriving July 9, 2013 from Doubleday. Set in Florence and rural Tuscany between 1943 and 1955, it began as a re-imaginging of "Romeo and Juliet."

His other books include the New York Times bestsellers, The Sandcastle Girls, The Night Strangers, Secrets of Eden, Skeletons at the Feast, The Double Bind, Before Your Know...more Chris Bohjalian is the author of sixteen books, including The Light in the Ruins, arriving July 9, 2013 from Doubleday. Set in Florence and rural Tuscany between 1943 and 1955, it began as a re-imaginging of "Romeo and Juliet."

His other books include the New York Times bestsellers, The Sandcastle Girls, The Night Strangers, Secrets of Eden, Skeletons at the Feast, The Double Bind, Before Your Know Kindness, and Midwives.

He has called The Sandcastle Girls the most important book he will ever write. Published in July 2012 to great acclaim, this story of the Armenian Genocide debuted at #7 on the New York Times bestseller list, and appeared as well on the Publishers’ Weekly, USA Today, and national Independent Bookstore bestseller lists.

USA Today called it “stirring. . .a deeply moving story of survival and enduring love.” Entertainment Weekly observed, “Bohjalian – the grandson of Armenian survivors – pours passion, pride, and sadness into his tale of ethnic destruction and endurance.” And the Washington Post concluded that the novel was “intense. . .staggering. . .and utterly riveting.” The Sandcastle Girls was also an Oprah.com Book of the Week.

It was also a Washington Post, Library Journal, a Kirkus Reviews, and a BookPage "Best Book" of 2012.

Chris's awards include the ANCA Arts and Letters Award for The Sandcastle Girls, as well as the Saint Mesrob Mashdots Medal; the New England Society Book Award for The Night Strangers; the New England Book Award; a Boston Public Library Literary Light; and the Anahid Literary Award. His novel, Midwives, was a number one New York Times bestseller, a selection of Oprah's Book Club, and a New England Booksellers Association Discovery pick. His earlier novels have been selected as "Best Books of the Year" by the Washington Post, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Hartford Courant, Publishers' Weekly, and Salon. His work had been translated into over 25 languages and three times become movies (Secrets of Eden, Midwives, and Past the Bleachers).

He has written for a wide variety of magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Reader's Digest, and the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, and has been a columnist for Gannett's Burlington Free Press since 1992. Chris graduated from Amherst College, and lives in Vermont with his wife and daughter.

You can learn more about him on the Q and A on www.chrisbohjalian.com, as well as on Facebook . And, if you like, follow him on twitter as well.(less)

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Quotes from The Sandcastle Girls

“When it seems you have nothing at all to live for, death is not especially frightening.” — 6 people liked it

“But history does matter. There is a line connecting the Armenians and the Jews and the Cambodians and the Bosnians and the Rwandans. There are obviously more, but, really, how much genocide can one sentence handle?” — 5 people liked it

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