Next installment of Tommi Reads the World – still in the As.
Country: Armenia
Title: The Sandcastle Girls
Author: Chris Bohjalian
Language: English
Translator: N/A
Publisher: Doubleday (2012), First Vintage Contemporaries Edition (2013)
“But history does matter. There is a line connecting the Armenians and the Jews and the Cambodians and the Bosnians and the Rwandans. There are obviously more, but, really, how much genocide can one sentence handle? You get the point. Besides, my grandparents’ story deserves to be told, regardless of their nationalities.”
This one may be a bit of a cheat as it is written by a rather prominent American author. (I read Midwives over 20 years ago.) But while American, Chris Bojalian is also Armenian, and his Armenian grandparents, survivors of the Armenian genocide, are the voices in this historical novel of love, resilience, brutality, and the secrets and scars a family carry.
I don’t usually care for novels about authors and their writing process, but Laura’s journey through her grandparents’ history and her determination to tell their story didn’t bother me – perhaps because I didn’t hear her voice when we stepped back in time to 1915 Aleppo where Elizabeth, her wealthy, white grandmother, has arrived to bring food and medical aid to the refugees of the Armenian Genocide. Elizabeth, bold and fierce with a naïve strength, falls in love with Armen, an Armenian engineer who has lost his wife and infant daughter.
Another benefit of having Laura’s present view as she uncovers the past is the realization that she knew nothing of the history, had no real grasp as to why it was such a big deal when her first love was a young Turkish boy, mirrors the realization of a reader who like Laura, might not even be able to find Armenia on the map let alone know the horrors faced. Structurally, I find it a success.
Story wise, it’s also an expected success. Bohjalian writes in a familiar and comforting style that is extremely palatable. I stand by my decision that this counts as Armenian literature – an Armenian American is telling a story inspired by the resilience and survival of his own grandparents.
Read this book.
*Please recommend any Armenian novels, translated into English, that you have enjoyed! *
A Girl Named Tommi 