Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
|
Loading... The Paradise Guest House: A Novelby Ellen Sussman
   No current Talk conversations about this book.  Carolee888 | Jan 14, 2022 |   I have been to Bali before and I was interested on Sussman's take on an American woman who survived the Bali nightclub bombings in 2002. The story revolves around two people. Jamie, an American adventure guide, and Gabe, an American ex-pat who comes to live and teach in Bali after dealing with a loss. Jamie goes back to Bali a year later at an anniversary recognizing the victims and survivors of the nightclub bombing. She stays at the Paradise Guest House and befriends the owner Nyoman who lost his wife in the bombings. Along the way Jamie meets a street kid named Bambang who she finds herself becoming reluctantly attached to. However, Jamie's main reason to be there is to find Gabe who saved her during the bombing. I do think that Ms. Sussman can write. Her description of the people and food in Bali was written very well. I think all of the characters were very fleshed out. I really did love Nyoman's character and his explanation of Bali, the culture, and traditions. However, I only rated this novel three stars because though the story should have been engaging, it was not. I think it could have been that I knew the way the novel would end after we find out why Jaime has returned to Bali and I just wasn't in the mood to read about Jaime and Gabe. Jamie's back story took forever to be told and when we get to her and Gabe I found myself hurrying to get to the end. Additionally, I found myself more interested in Nyoman and Bambang's stories not Jaime and Gabe's. Also I felt as if Jaime had more of an emotional connection with Nyoman and not Gabe. Last, splitting up the novel into parts so that we get to read about Jamie, then Gabe, then back to Jaime took me out of the novel and I had a hard time switching mid-stream so to speak. I would recommend to fans of Ellen Sussman. I received this novel for free via the Amazon Vine Program. (  ) ObsidianBlue | Jul 1, 2020 | janb37 | Feb 13, 2017 | Finally, I am a little curious about the title, since I'm not sure the Paradise Guest House is really the best symbol of Jamie's journey. I'd love to know if the publisher had a hand in this and whether less appealing titles were originally on the table. Don't expect a carefree read, but do enjoy the wonderful depth of this tale. 4.5 stars. (  ) paulinewiles | Jan 26, 2015 |  This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers. ) journeygirl | May 23, 2014 | no reviews | add a review
Fiction.
Literature.
Romance.
HTML:A riveting and poignant novel of one woman??s journey to Bali in search of love, renewal, and a place to call home??perfect for readers of Elizabeth Gilbert??s Eat, Pray, Love and Alex Garland??s The Beach. It starts as a trip to paradise. Sent on assignment to Bali, Jamie, an American adventure guide, imagines spending weeks exploring the island??s lush jungles and pristine white sand beaches. Yet three days after her arrival, she is caught in Bali??s infamous nightclub bombings, which irreparably change her life and leave her with many unanswered questions. One year later, haunted by memories, Jamie returns to Bali seeking a sense of closure. Most of all, she hopes to find Gabe, the man who saved her from the attacks. She hasn??t been able to forget his kindness??or the spark between them as he helped her heal. Checking into a cozy guest house for her stay, Jamie meets the kindly owner, who is coping with a painful past of his own, and a young boy who improbably becomes crucial to her search. Jamie has never shied away from a challenge, but a second chance with Gabe presents her with the biggest dilemma of all: whether she??s ready to open her heart. Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader??s Circle for author chats and more. Praise for The Paradise Guest House ??Two survivors of Bali??s terrorist bombing find love and spiritual rebirth on an island whose inhabitants believe in reincarnation in Sussman??s touching panorama of paradise. . . . Throughout, Sussman celebrates lovers, quiet healing, and the sweetness of the island and its people.???Publishers Weekly (starred review) ??A story of healing and redemption, of finding love in the most unexpected places, and of the importance of moving forward . . . Sussman has drawn a vivid, well-balanced portrait of a woman and a country working to recover from an unimaginable event and a very personal look at a global tragedy.???Booklist ??Echoing Bali??s difficult recovery from [the 2002 terrorist bombing], the characters tread the difficult terrain of post-traumatic attachment. . . . A respectful and earnest . . . treatment of devastation??s aftermath.???Kirkus Reviews ??[A] moving story about making sense of life after a tragedy . . . This touching tale will cause co No library descriptions found. |
LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumEllen Sussman's book The Paradise Guest House was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.  Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.86)
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia in English
1
Jamie is an adventure guide. She is returning to Bali after a year for a ceremony of the people who died in the bombings of two night clubs. We learn about her broken family and her childhood when she developed a love for hiking. Then, we are abrupty in Bali, the year before, a handsome adventure guide, named Miguel is fiercely in love with her and proposed marriage. He wanted to have children but she says no, she had never had a long term relationship and what she felf for him was lust, no love that meant marriage and children. Miguel runs from her crying and there is bombing of two nightclubs, confusion, screaming people, flames of burning and collapsing buildings.
An ex-pat, Gabe sees her in all the noisy and blinding confusion and he saves her life. There is much more about him, how his four year son died and his inability to share his grief. He quits his journalist job, his falls apart and he goes to Bali, ending up as an elementary school teacher.
This story is richly textured like the gamelon music, notes of beauty, grief, unlikely friendships and the terrible memories of people dying everywhere in the bombings. There are many layers to this story and the setting works perfectly. (