Once, Two Islands

by Dawn Garisch

On an island in the southern Atlantic seas, a baby girl is born one dark winter’s day while the spin-drift wind sings strange songs around the gullies and cliffs. But Gulai’s mother dies soon after giving birth and her father, Dr. Orion Prosper, the only medical doctor on the island, blames himself and refuses to talk to anyone. But Gulai never stops crying and her aunt is forced to seek advice from Sophia, the island’s other healer, in secret. Thus begins Gulia’s life on Ergo Island—betraying her father and becoming inextricably linked to the traditions he is working to eradicate. Gulai is curious about the "witch" the islanders publicly revile but privately visit, the "madness" which drove a young woman to her death, and the secrets which lie at the heart of all their lives.

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

Reviews

[Tara Chevrestt]

This has been an intriguing look at secluded island life.. Ergo Island is a fictional island in the South Atlantic sea. It has a very small population, one doctor, a mayor, a police officer, and no school past junior high. It's also tore between old traditions of the ancestors (witchcraft) and modern day technology (a doctor from the mainland.)


No one is more tore than Gulai. Her mother died just four days after birthing her and she was nursed by the local "witch" against her father's wishes.. Her father is the doctor I mentioned above.. Gulai is forced to adhere to her father's way of thinking, but something keeps drawing her back to the witch's cottage (abandoned) and the island a ways away that the witch was exiled too. Then the witch's son comes to live on Ergo....
To read full review, please click on the link below:

http://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2011/...

[Loulua]

Interesting book. Different than my usual genre.