The Rhythm of Memory, by Alyson Richman; 5 Stars

[Hahtoolah]

The Rhythm of Memory, by Alyson Richman (2004) is about how the human is capable of overcoming tragedy even though it takes years to conquer the past. The novel follows two couples ~ Octavio and Salomé, and Samuel and Kaija, each with their own secrets of their respective pasts.

Octavio was an impoverished young student when he first met Salomé, a young girl from a wealth family. They met in Santiago, Chile in the 1960s. He sent her love poems by the famous Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda. They married and soon Octavio became a successful and well-known movie star. Because he became famous, one day in 1973, Neruda approached Octavio and asked for his help in coaching Salvador Allende with his political campaign. Octavio became involved in politics and felt he had come to real meaning in his life.

After Augusto Pinochet staged a coup and Allende was killed, Octavio continued to speak out against Pinochet, never realizing that it would be his wife who would ultimately pay for his political decision. Salomé was abducted and tortured for several months before being released. Octavio, to protect his family, sought political asylum and his family relocated to Sweden.

Meanwhile, Samuel, whose Jewish family fled Europe and bounced around in South America before settling in Sweden, experienced his own feelings of tragedy. He met the beautiful Kaija and fell in love with her. Kaija was a Finnish war “orphan”. Her family was extremely poor, and during the Finnish-Russian War, sent her to Sweden to be with a temporary family in order to give her a better life.

Some of the family members intersect in Sweden, but secrets are still kept, which threaten to tear families apart.

I enjoyed this novel, although I found the author sometimes repeated herself in several places once the action moved to Sweden. Still, the characters were vivid and really came off the page.

[Booknblues]

I read her The Lost Wife and thought it was quite good. I like your review and it sounds like something I would enjoy.

[Amy]

Sounds Terrific!

[Hahtoolah]

Booknblues wrote: "I read her The Lost Wife and thought it was quite good. I like your review and it sounds like something I would enjoy."

I read The Lost Wife, too, and enjoyed it, which is probably why I picked up this book.

[Booknblues]

I am going to keep this in mind. I checked and had no idea she had written that many books.