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San Miguel

San Miguel

by T.C. Boyle

3.60 out of 5 (10 ratings)

Format:
Hardback 
Pages:
384 
Publisher:
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC 
Publication Date:
11 October 2012 
Category:
Modern & Contemporary 
ISBN:
9781408830697 

Description

The schooner from Santa Barbara arrives at the tiny, desolate island on New Year's Day, 1888. As the trunks are unloaded onto the wet sand, thirty-eight-year-old Marantha Waters looks at the cliffs falling away into the churning sea. This is the first day of her new life on San Miguel. Joined by her husband, a fiercely possessive Civil War veteran who will take over the operation of the sheep ranch on the island, Marantha strives to persevere in the face of brutal isolation. But the constant wind and sheep-ravaged wasteland shatter her illusions; her husband promised paradise. As he obsessively resolves to stay - and becomes increasingly distant from her and their adopted daughter Edith - Marantha's blighted lungs grow weaker in the dampness. Two years later, Edith, now a spirited teenager and an aspiring actress, will exploit every opportunity to escape the captivity her father has imposed on her. March, 1930. Another family - and another bride - arrives on San Miguel. Elise Lester, a librarian from New York City, and her husband Herbie, a World War I veteran full of manic energy, achieve a celebrity of sorts as the news cameras take an interest in these wayward people living in the wild. But the unyielding island is haunted by its history. Will the family be able to cling together as the war threatens to pull everything apart? San Miguel is a vivid and gripping story of hard lives pitched against the elements, the desires of stubborn men and the unbearable burden of love, from master American storyteller T. C. Boyle.

Showing 1-4 out of 10 reviews. Previous | Next

  • Historical fiction (based on history and diaries) of the island of San Miguel. Doyle brilliantly tells this turn of the century story through the voices of three women from two families who lived on this remote barren island off the Californian coast. Complex and rewarding. SRH

    4.50 out of 5

    StaffReads

  • Historical fiction (based on history and diaries) of the island of San Miguel. Doyle brilliantly tells this turn of the century story through the voices of three women from two families who lived on this remote barren island off the Californian coast. Complex and rewarding.

    4.50 out of 5

    St.CroixSue

  • I enjoy most of T.C. Boyle’s books and this was no exception. Taking place on a remote island off the coast of Southern California, spanning the late 1800’s to the advent of WWII, it is the story of three generations of women embarking on new lives. Their stories are of how each strive to survive the isolation, the struggle and the extremes of life as wives and daughters of men who seem to be “loners” but who also depend on their women for companionship and survival. Frightening, maddening and heartbreaking at times, this book has wonderful period detail and characters that will linger in your hearts for a very long time. Read it and enjoy for T.C. Boyle can weave a tale!

    4.00 out of 5

    dragonflydee1

  • A good read even for those of us who have spent our lives "shuffling through the card catalogue [and opac], unwrapping a sandwich for lunch at her[our] desk..."

    4.00 out of 5

    Marzia22

Reviews provided by Librarything.

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