Margaret Mascarenhas

First let me admit that I am not a literary fiction/book club fiction type reader. But this book may have changed my mind about that. I was so completely absorbed in this book that I lost track of time while laying out and baked a little too long on my stomach that day. That is how completely I got into the story.

Centered around pregnant Lily, and her last days of her pregnancy spent in bed due to a fall with all of her family and close friends around her. Each of them entertains her with a show more story, mostly stories of their past that she has never heard. She hears from both her mom and dad how they met and other things from her husband, her nanny that helped raise her and still works in her house, her nanny's daughter who is like a cousin to her, her midwife and mother's good friend, and a few others. The suspense builds through the book because the main question is what happened to Irene Dos Santos, Lily's good friend from childhood. The book as a whole flows very well and when you are left questioning at one moment, the questions are eventually answered.

This story was different to me because it is told by different people and you learn things about the past and the present when they are telling their story. When I read this book I was there with whoever was telling the story at the minute. I enjoyed learning about each character and how their lives intertwined with the other characters. It's amazing to get to the end of this book and think back and realize how all the characters though very different at times were interconnected. This is one of those books you finish and say "Wow" and then you want to read it again so you can put more together. It's kind of like seeing the Bruce Willis movie The Sixth Sense for the first time and then you want to go back and watch it again to see if you pick up on all the clues (no it's not told from dead people's perspective, it's just the only way I can describe it). You can take it all in on the first reading, but it's so enjoyable and intricate, that you want to read it again to get the full effect.

An amazing book. It took me to a different culture (it takes place in Venezuela) and through a wonderful cast of characters that will stick with me. I finished this one on Saturday and I am still thinking about this story and the characters and I think I will for a long time to come. Very touching and different. This is one book you don't want to miss. show less

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually did. All of the life stories contained therein were interesting, and many were fascinating, and even though I know zilch about the history of Venezuela I could still relate to the book. But it skipped around in time and place and point of view WAY too much. I had a hard time figuring out what was happening to who. There were several instances where the book says "So-and-so did this," some important event, but doesn't actually describe the show more action for several more chapters. And the final revelation about Irene Dos Santos was a bit of a let-down -- though quite a believable let-down.

I would probably give this author another chance. She seems very ambitious, and I think the large cast in this story held together well. It's just that I'm not used to trying to juggle so many different people's life stories at the same time. show less

I enjoyed reading this book because of all the wonderful stories each character lived and related to Lily and her baby. The background of Venezuela's political troubles, government kidnappings, torture and murder make the characters and their stories more vibrant and urgent.

But the book's ending is difficult to accept, hurtful and disappointing.

Irene Dos Santos is the new girl in school and Lily has been assigned to show her around. The girls come from very different backgrounds. Irene’s family is wealthy and she is given lots of freedom by her stepfather and gunrunning mother. Her mother is rarely home and she doesn’t have much of a family life. Lily comes from a family that is closer to being middle class, leads a structured family life and is close to her mother. Despite their differences, the girls become best friends.

Irene show more is not the best influence on Lily and teaches her to French kiss when the girls are thirteen. When one of her teachers tells Lily’s mother, the girl’s friendship is severed and Lily is sent to a Catholic boarding school. The girls do manage to get together a few times through the years without their parents knowing about it.

A few years later, Lily is allowed to invite one friend on a family trip to the jungle. When she chooses Irene, her family reluctantly agrees. While on the trip, the girls go swimming in a lake but only Lily comes out. There is no trace of Irene anywhere, and Lily doesn’t seem to have any memory of the event.

Fifteen years later, as Lily is about to give birth, she discovers an old letter from Irene and hopes to discover what happened to her old friend.

Since The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos by Margaret Mascarenhas is full of characters and is told in a non-linear fashion from different points of view, I had some trouble getting into it. The writing is beautiful and the underlying themes of Venezuelan myths and revolution are fascinating, though, so I was quickly reeled into the story. I would like to read more about Venezuela after reading this book. The ending of the book, however, left me wanting, and kept me from totally loving the book. I did enjoy it; I just didn’t love it. This book is full of symbolism and I’ll readily admit that I didn’t understand all of it. show less