T.J. Brown

Dolors is a proud young woman who is obsesses about maintaining her reputation. She is a child of parents whe were not married and her grandmother despises her. She is determined to not make the mistakes her mother did. But sometimes life does not always allow us to follow the path we want to, does it?

Dolors is color blind and lives in a world where women are not really appreciated. It is 1917 and Spain is roiling with political upheaval. She is worried about her brother as he is hanging with a wild crowd. She also starts to have disturbing dreams. Dolors finds many people working against her but she knows how to survive. Relying on her few faithful friends she gets by but then the summer comes and with it a sort of freedom as she meets Salvadore Dali and he opens her world and leaves her with decisions to make.

This was a interesting change in historical fiction for me. Spain makes for an exciting location as I don’t tend to read many books that take place in that country. If you don’t know Salvadore Dali – he of the crazy mustache – or his art it’s worth googling to help understand a bit as you read the book. It’s … different. I cannot say that he is one of my favorite artists but he certainly made an impact in the art world.

I do enjoy reading a book that presents a complicated and unique female character and I got that with Dolors. She rises from she thinks is her lessor place in life to find that she is much more than the mistake her grandmother keeps telling her she is. Her early life might be stagnant but she has her eyes opened by a man with an artistic vision far ahead of his time.… (more)

I chose to read this book when it was offered to me for review because the main character is colorblind. I have a son that is colorblind and I struggle to understand exactly what he is seeing through his eyes. I was hoping that through Dolors’ perspective, I could begin to understand a little better what my boy sees in terms of color. (And I think it worked-I do understand a little better, actually.)

Anyway, this is Dolors Posa’s story, which takes place in 1917. Dolors has been raised in the house of her grandmother, her father’s mother, who does not love her and isn’t very nice to her at all. Dolors’ mother gave birth to her out of wedlock and then a great tragedy happened. Dolors has always moved about in the world trying not to stand out, hoping to blend in to her surroundings. She has always wanted to distance herself from her mother and her shame, and this influences everything she does, says, thinks, etc.

This particular summer, Dolors begins to take risks and step outside of herself a little bit. She meets some new friends and begins to care less what other people think of her. She becomes more independent around the house and starts to stand up to her grandmother. And she begins to have some hallucinations or visions that challenge everything she knows about the world around her, including colors.

People begin noticing Dolors.

I love that the author chose to include Dolors’ feelings about her black, gray, and white world into the narrative as the story moves along. It is important to know how Dolors views things literally so that we can understand how huge it is for her when she begins to discover herself. I love stories where women are at a crossroads in their lives, having to decide whether or not to take risks or stay on a safe path. Dolors makes some bold choices given the time and the expectations on her, and I loved watching her take that journey.

I love the setting of Dali Summer in terms of time and place. In the story, there are a few cars out and about, but people are still walking mostly everywhere. They still dress a certain way. It really did have this early 1900’s Spanish/European feel as I read, and I loved that.

The best thing for me, personally, about this story is the expanded view into the world of a colorblind person, but aside from that: I loved the way Dolors really began to explore her family, what family has meant for her in her past, and how emboldening herself challenges her uncomfortable place in her own family. Stories of family and siblings are some of my favorites, and I appreciate the relationships in this one so much. The story read quickly and genuinely did feel like a window into another world.

It was also really cool that young Salvador Dali was in the story.

I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.… (more)