I am a big Julia Alvarez fan, but this one was a bit harder to read.

It's structure is overly didactic: alternating narrators/stories split between two women. One is the author, who must deal with love and loss in Vermont. The other is her character, a fictionalized version of a real woman who helped bring a small pox vaccine to the new world.

Both narrative voices are interesting, but neither is really given enough attention. Instead, the overall plan seems to be to draw your attention toward the similarities between the two women (who are very different). But this becomes overly, painfully obvious to the point that it pushes believability.


That said, despite a slow start, this novel is very readable. It's interesting and informative, and like all Alvarez novels, it contains kernels of truth and a strong voice on matters of love (particularly) that will always draw me back.