Jeanne Williams (1) (1930–)

Nearly 400 years of Brazilian history is crammed into the nearly 400 pages of this book. The book begins with Marilia, an activist trying to protect a village from being razed by her ex-husband's company. She gets sick and goes to stay with her mother. While she is recovering, her mother tells her of their ancestresses, hoping to impart the strength of these women. Unfortunately, horrifically terrible things happened to all of them. For starters, all of them were raped at some point. All of show more them lost a beloved friend or family member in an appalling manner. The land of Brazil is soaked with the blood of native "indians", imported black slaves, Portuguese and Dutch. Many wanted (and still do, apparently) to exploit the richness of the land. A very few would just like to survive. Despite the mortifying nature of the events in this book, it was quite well written. It is a testament to the writer that the characters are so sympathetic and relatable that when the abhorrent things happen to them, the reader feels wrenched as well. You will learn a lot from this book and your heart will go out to the people of Brazil. One hopes that the situation will be improved, and might be moved to try to help. show less

This was an interesting story of harvest season in the days of early harvesting machines. Starting in Kansas and traveling with their machines northward, zigzagging across the states, harvesting for hire. Descriptions of Kansas were perfectly rendered. Characterization, many based on real people, was nicely done. (Note to self – remember the cat under the beard.) Also portrayed well was the life of the traveling harvesters as lived on the road, quite different from the stories you read of show more migrant workers in current times. There was a bit of a love story involved; not really my cup of tea, and that part was kind of lame. But the historical aspects of the harvest season in the 1920’s were fascinating. show less

It's been a very long time since I read this, but I remember being fascinated by the very long line of mothers and daughters represented by the main characters, from prehistoric times to the 20th century. It was also interesting for being set among the Basque, a culture I have not read much about before.

a typical western romance ... lots of possible bad things to happen but it all works out and ends in good things ... the first 90% of the book covered one year then the last 10% jumped ahead four years for that happy ending ... overall still a pretty good, quick summer weekend at the cabin read.