A Young Wife in Around the World in 80 Books

Jun 12, 2011 Stephanie rated it liked it

Shelves: first-reads

Just then came whooping sounds at a distance, and they rushed outside to see what was happening. They were met with an otherworldly sight that she would remember clearly for the rest of her life. A bright orange halo lay to the west with a more brilliant orange center. Fires. Five or six small ones and one very large – all sending out arcs and pinwheels of blazing sparks into the black sky. In all her life, she’s never seen so much fire or heard such sounds. She didn’t know if the sounds were an Just then came whooping sounds at a distance, and they rushed outside to see what was happening. They were met with an otherworldly sight that she would remember clearly for the rest of her life. A bright orange halo lay to the west with a more brilliant orange center. Fires. Five or six small ones and one very large – all sending out arcs and pinwheels of blazing sparks into the black sky. In all her life, she’s never seen so much fire or heard such sounds. She didn’t know if the sounds were animal or human...“The gauchos have come.”

This book baffles me just a little. I am not sure if it was merely my expectation of the book or the actually story that left me wondering. Maybe I missed the intention of this author.
It is a really good story, but very simple and without much of a climatic peak. The plot line was what initially attracted me. The synopsis portrayed the plot as adventurous and even dangerous. But once I delved into the book the characters were blasé and the plot not as intriguing as I hoped.
The main character Minke was the most developed character but had radical moments of change – almost like there was 2 main characters not one. There was no melding of Minke’s character. She was either meek and dumb, or bold and brave. The transition between the two sides was sudden and abrupt. In the first part of the book she was meek and absolutely obedient except random moments, such as when she slapped her boss’s daughter or tried to appear strong in putting of Sander DeVries advances. But it came out of nowhere and was incongruent with the rest of her character. The last part of the book, after several years of submissiveness, she finds the gumption to leave her husband and embark on her own; when up to this point she had no desire or bravado to even leave her own home area without being accompanied.
The rest of the characters were even more blasé than Minke. The evil characters were uninteresting and random. The good characters were simple and without strength. There seemed to be little connectivity between the characters, and what there was, was unexplored and haphazard.
The plot promises adventure from the Netherlands to Argentina to New York. For the time period, early 1900s, it would have been quite a voyage but it seemed so common and uneventful for a young 15 year old to make such a trek. The places were highly unexplored and taken for granted by this character and the plot. The most detailed description were of the Gauchos of Argentina, that albeit interesting, I could not connect as to why there was such a big deal made of them.
This book is loosely, though how loose it was I am not sure, on the author’s grandmother. If it was supposed to be snapshots of an ancestor’s life, the book accomplished that – mere snapshots in history. However, if this book was supposed to be a climatic involved mystery and adventure, I think it missed the mark. Nevertheless, if you have some time on your hands and you want some easy reading, this is the book for you.

“She fingered the half wedding ring in her pocket. Since the beginning, it had been the same contrast of smooth curved metal to jagged edge. She withdrew it and laid it down on the table.”

----I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.---- ...more

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