The Meeting Point in Around the World in 80 Books

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Oct 21, 2016 Julie Griffin rated it liked it

This book was included in listings of books set in Bahrain, which was up on my Reading Around the World List. Not by a native author, but I added it anyway because of the numbers of reviews and acclaim. My opinion of this book is divided. Caldwell is an accomplished author, and the first chapters in the book are one of those passages so well written that you stop and reread some of the sentences to take in the language. But the plot has some issues. We meet Ruth and Euan on the way to Bahrain to This book was included in listings of books set in Bahrain, which was up on my Reading Around the World List. Not by a native author, but I added it anyway because of the numbers of reviews and acclaim. My opinion of this book is divided. Caldwell is an accomplished author, and the first chapters in the book are one of those passages so well written that you stop and reread some of the sentences to take in the language. But the plot has some issues. We meet Ruth and Euan on the way to Bahrain to fill in for a missionary. Faith is a huge part of the story and while it might bother some with the emphasis on New Testament readings and evangelism (not what I typically expect from Anglicans?) this did not detract for me. But, Ruth is a faithful women, following her husband wherever he leads (Biblical allegory?) who loses her faith, whooosh, when her husband has been less than honest, and then she goes to see the purported Tree of Life on one of the Bahranian islands... Bahrain is supposed to be the mythical Eden. It is tawdry and not what she expected, and somehow this translates into her faith itself being tawdry and shallow. It doesn't really hold true. Once she falls, she falls hard into adultery in an even more than usual unwise situation, with a much younger man who could be executed in this Islamic country. We follow Ruth on her journey around her faith and what it means, what her marriage means, while we are also tiptoeing around with Noor, an English-Iranian who is living in Bahrain with her divorced father following a tragedy in England. Noor is the typical moody teenager, wanting attention and love, and she convinces herself that she is getting that from Ruth when she takes to caring for Ruth's toddler, Anna. The tension between what is real and what is believed moves between Ruth and God, and Noor and Ruth. Ruth sees an annoying teenager she uses to care for Anna while she is with her lover; Noor sees love and acceptance from a perfect woman. What turns out to be is, an imperfect woman who is doing her best, perhaps Caldwell's take on the Biblical Ruth and God as well. A scary incident brings it all to a head. I would have wished for a more in-depth view of Euan, who is a stereotype and an annoying one at that, and what choices Ruth makes rather than just going with the flow. Overall, a decent read and a good picture of another country. ...more

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Jul 04, 2014 Ching-In marked it as to-read

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Oct 19, 2016 Julie Griffin rated it liked it · review of another edition

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Around the World in 80 Books