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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
Slow-moving (feels like real time) and enjoyable story (I don't always need fast paced stories) set in Arizona, about a great many things. I live in the UK, so it's interesting to read about life in a completely different environment (the desert on the border between Arizona and Mexico).
It's about Alice, a professional London woman with two kids, nanny, rich (but pathetic husband - towards the end he makes a comment, I'm here now so you don't have to think, which just about says it all about the marriage she's in). He's some kind of investor that's gotten into trouble and ended up owning a ghost town, Temerosa, about 6 miles off the Mexican border. Interesting that this is somewhere people rushed to fulfill big crazy dreams of finding it all and then it all just not working out - rather like Alice running off from London to find herself, the illegal Mexican immigrants coming for the good life. And what a reception they get... So Alice and her kids move to Temerosa to oversee the refurnishment of the ghost town into some kind of spa getaway for rich idiots. Her foreman, Duval, is an American cowboy of few words until you get to know him, working with a team of Mexican workmen. As they settle into life there they get to know the locals and the various levels of corruption going on. There's the white vigilantes with their comfortable, priviledged lives for whom the existence of poor or desperate is an offence, people in law enforcement positions who help, the Mexicans, some legal, some illegally living over there, and all the ridiculous preconceptions that go with them all. It's interesting as well how so many people are fearful of whats gone on before them and what may come after, even though it's all cyclical. Alice has nothing to do with her own mother who walked out on her own family when Alice was a little girl - and yet Alice, who had kids in her early twenties, and is stifled by her marriage, is looking for herself and freedom, perhaps in similiar ways to her own mother. The Mexicans are looking for a better life for themselves and their families - rather as Europeans did a couple of hundred years ago, displacing the native Americans. Perhaps now they're fearful that the Mexicans will do the same to them.
Anyway, it's all a finding yourself story. The kids stop being quite the spoilt London brats they were, Alice's mind opens, she discovers love (slightly predictable and soppy, with melodramatic end but hey ho) and it's interesting to read about the troubles Latin Americans have trying to get a decent life. This was written in 2006, but it's still a big problem and very relevant. And it seems things don't get any better. As if building a big wall will solve the problem... but anyway, let's not get into that.
I've seen some American readers really surprised by how dumb Alice is in not having her driving licence, insurance or car ownership papers on her in the car. This is the norm in the UK. Even back in 2006 no one had car ownership and insurance papers in the car. These days it doesn't matter as the police can just pop the car reg into the computer system and find out everything they want to know about the car anyway.
It's about Alice, a professional London woman with two kids, nanny, rich (but pathetic husband - towards the end he makes a comment, I'm here now so you don't have to think, which just about says it all about the marriage she's in). He's some kind of investor that's gotten into trouble and ended up owning a ghost town, Temerosa, about 6 miles off the Mexican border. Interesting that this is somewhere people rushed to fulfill big crazy dreams of finding it all and then it all just not working out - rather like Alice running off from London to find herself, the illegal Mexican immigrants coming for the good life. And what a reception they get... So Alice and her kids move to Temerosa to oversee the refurnishment of the ghost town into some kind of spa getaway for rich idiots. Her foreman, Duval, is an American cowboy of few words until you get to know him, working with a team of Mexican workmen. As they settle into life there they get to know the locals and the various levels of corruption going on. There's the white vigilantes with their comfortable, priviledged lives for whom the existence of poor or desperate is an offence, people in law enforcement positions who help, the Mexicans, some legal, some illegally living over there, and all the ridiculous preconceptions that go with them all. It's interesting as well how so many people are fearful of whats gone on before them and what may come after, even though it's all cyclical. Alice has nothing to do with her own mother who walked out on her own family when Alice was a little girl - and yet Alice, who had kids in her early twenties, and is stifled by her marriage, is looking for herself and freedom, perhaps in similiar ways to her own mother. The Mexicans are looking for a better life for themselves and their families - rather as Europeans did a couple of hundred years ago, displacing the native Americans. Perhaps now they're fearful that the Mexicans will do the same to them.
Anyway, it's all a finding yourself story. The kids stop being quite the spoilt London brats they were, Alice's mind opens, she discovers love (slightly predictable and soppy, with melodramatic end but hey ho) and it's interesting to read about the troubles Latin Americans have trying to get a decent life. This was written in 2006, but it's still a big problem and very relevant. And it seems things don't get any better. As if building a big wall will solve the problem... but anyway, let's not get into that.
I've seen some American readers really surprised by how dumb Alice is in not having her driving licence, insurance or car ownership papers on her in the car. This is the norm in the UK. Even back in 2006 no one had car ownership and insurance papers in the car. These days it doesn't matter as the police can just pop the car reg into the computer system and find out everything they want to know about the car anyway.
Quick, easy read - sort of chick lit, but not quite.
It was a little slow to start with and I wasn't sure where it was going but eventually I found it quite intriguing - mainly for the story surrounding border crossings and the issues surrounding that.
I thought the female lead was an idiot at times, she could be incredibly thoughtless and selfish and naive but I am willing to temper that with the idea that her unfamiliarity with the country really would mean she would have little clue, and her lifestyle was previously all about her. Not the best mother, but the children provided some moments of relief that I thought were clever and had a character of their own.
Benjamin's character and story was interesting, as were minor characters such as Winfred and Nora. In fact I would have liked a little closer look at them.
Duval I liked, a tough yet compassionate man is alwasy irresistable. He has an interesting part in the story.
Men like the dentist should be forced to do the border crossing, or be hunted across the desert. Its not his land he cares about, but power.
Anyway, an interesting read, an issue that is new to me and would recommend it if asked.
I thought the female lead was an idiot at times, she could be incredibly thoughtless and selfish and naive but I am willing to temper that with the idea that her unfamiliarity with the country really would mean she would have little clue, and her lifestyle was previously all about her. Not the best mother, but the children provided some moments of relief that I thought were clever and had a character of their own.
Benjamin's character and story was interesting, as were minor characters such as Winfred and Nora. In fact I would have liked a little closer look at them.
Duval I liked, a tough yet compassionate man is alwasy irresistable. He has an interesting part in the story.
Men like the dentist should be forced to do the border crossing, or be hunted across the desert. Its not his land he cares about, but power.
Anyway, an interesting read, an issue that is new to me and would recommend it if asked.
Our 18th book. Ginny picked it. Ginny, Elizabeth, Rachel, Darcie, Kaitlyn, Kirsten and Mary met at Coho in Redmond on September 10, 2008.
This is one of those books that involves the landscape as a character in the story. Alice brings her two children from London to Temerosa, Arizona, ostensibly to start rehabbing the ghost town her husband has been saddled with. The plan is to turn it into a retreat or a spa-town.
Within days, she finds herself adjusting to life on her own. The contractor she hires on the advice of the town's caretaker seems to hate her very presence and his employees, she discovers, change daily. They also don't speak English, and she quickly comes to suspect him of trafficking in illegal Mexican workers.
As the story unwinds, the real story becomes more complicated on just about every level: personal, political, emotional, and physical. Alice comes to see how very challenging the geography and interpersonal contacts are, and things certainly don't turn out well. This is a story about the difference between people who have plans and those who don't plan at all.
Within days, she finds herself adjusting to life on her own. The contractor she hires on the advice of the town's caretaker seems to hate her very presence and his employees, she discovers, change daily. They also don't speak English, and she quickly comes to suspect him of trafficking in illegal Mexican workers.
As the story unwinds, the real story becomes more complicated on just about every level: personal, political, emotional, and physical. Alice comes to see how very challenging the geography and interpersonal contacts are, and things certainly don't turn out well. This is a story about the difference between people who have plans and those who don't plan at all.