Book-Review_The-Sandcastle-Girls

The Sandcastle Girls,

by

Chris Bohjalian

 

 

The Sandcastle Girls

by

Chris Bohjalian

 

The Sandcastle Girls, by Chris Bohjalian is a story about the Armenian genocide in World War 1.  Dare I liken it to the Holocaust of World War 2?  I have limited knowledge of the Holocaust, and I fear I am one of the many who had not heard of the Armenian genocide which was very similar.  A racial cleansing; only this time the Turkish army was the villain.

The Sandcastle Girls is written in the first person, which I generally dislike, and in two interwoven parts.  Part one is set in 1915 Turkey, with Part 2 being set in 1979.  The 1915 setting tells the story of a family’s experience and how they manage to survive the Armenian genocide in World War 1, Turkey.  The 1979 part of the story tells of a descendant who, through a chance viewing of a photo, sees someone who she thinks may be a relative in the photo.

This is a story which, at first, did not get my attention.   Still, there was something which kept me listening even though I missed the initial 1979 passages.   Each part was written and narrated in such a manner that I kept listening…and enjoying.

Narrators Alison Fraser and Cassandra Campbell were excellent.  Their voices are so different that not once did I have to think about which part I was listening to.  And as often stated good narrators and character voices can make or break an audiobook.

Even with a negative thought or two in the beginning I will rate The Sandcastle Girls a four star book.  The storyline moved along nicely, narration was excellent and ideal for a two-part story set sixty years apart also my knowledge of the Armenian Genocide is now vastly improved.

The Sandcastle Girls

a solid book.

At the time of writing (April 5, 2019)

Goodreads readers have rated

The Sandcastle Girls

an average of 3.88 stars,

from 33,222 ratings

and 4,595 reviews.

The Sandcastle Girls

may be purchased online at

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