book review: The Lovers by Vendela Vida

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The Lovers: A Novel
The back story: I am a huge fan of Vendela Vida, and when I first heard about her new novel, the advance praise alone had me longing for it. Thankfully, I got a copy from the publisher via Book Browse.

The basics: Yvonne is a middle-aged widow with two grown children who decides to travel alone to Datca, Turkey. 

The verdict: I savored every word of the novel's 240 pages. Vida does a masterful job of showing the reader how even an intelligent, self-aware and honest character, does not really see what is going on around her. Yvonne's slow admissions of her back story made me realize the better I knew her, the less well she understood herself. I loved  Yvonne, and I loved the descriptions of marriage, parenting, teaching and travel. Overall: it's my favorite read of 2010 so far.

Rating: 5 stars (out of 5 stars)
Pages: 240
Publication date: June 22, 2010 (pre-order it from Amazon.com)
Source: I received this book from the publisher

As an Amazon affiliate, I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase through the above link. Thank you!

Comments

  1. bermudaonionApril 18, 2010 at 4:30 PM

    Wow, this sounds amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AmusedApril 18, 2010 at 7:16 PM

    Oh I love a travel memoir and this one sounds wonderful! Can't wait to check it out!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousApril 18, 2010 at 8:21 PM

    Wow, that's pretty high praise. I enjoyed Let the Northern Lights...but I was bowled over by it. This does sound good, though.

    ReplyDelete
  4. (Diane) Bibliophile By the SeaApril 18, 2010 at 9:51 PM

    OH YAY...a fellow blogger mailed me this one as I loved this author's previous book. Thanks for the great review.

    ReplyDelete

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