Margaret MascarenhasReseñas

The book was OK- it was confusing at times because each chapter is in the voice of a different character, and it was hard to keep all of the characters straight. A few times I had to go back and scan through previous chapters to recall why a "new" name sounded familiar. Also, the ending left much to be desired, and while I did take Spanish in HS and college, I still didn't know some of the things being said, as many times the author would inflect certain words or sentences in Spanish. But for the most part, I did enjoy reading the individual stories of many of the characters.

Warning: The title is a bit mis-leading. While the underlying story is of the friendship between Lily and Irene, a better title would be "The Lives and Past of the People in Lily Martinez's Life".

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.

There is much I liked about his novel: the setting, the history, the main story about Lily and her baby, her parents and the midwives story. Reading the back stories of every character, however, soon became very tedious. As for Irene, I have to say that I just found her irritating. So for me this book was just okay.

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 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.

The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos has been on my shelf for a few months and I am glad that I finally got to read it. Lily and Irene were childhood friends often separated because of the things that Irene would get into. Lily's family took great care of Lily and watched out for her while Irene's family was pretty out of touch with what Irene was really involved in. After a period of separation, Lily's parents agree to take Irene with them on a vacation to the jungle. It is while there that Irene disappears. Lily and everyone else is lead to believe that Irene has drowned. While it appears that Lily, after a period of recovery, goes on with her life the disappearance of her friend haunts her. While Lily is convalesing from a fall during her late pregnancy, each of the people in her life tell a tale about themselves. Through these stories many things are revealed but does it unravel the mystery of Irene?

I won't indicate here whether or not the mystery is solved but I will say that I was rather disappointed in this book's ending. I enjoyed the journey back in time that each character took
me on. I found the novel to be well written and cohesive. Just wished that it had ended differently.

I would recommend this book mostly because it gives a history lesson regarding the political and social unrest of Venezuela.

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 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.

I was lucky enough to win a copy of The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santosin a giveaway hosted by another blog. I had never heard of the book prior to then, but after the giveaway I began to notice it all over the place. It was touted by critics everywhere, and by the time it arrived I was dying to read it.

When I read the back flap, I got the impression that the book would focus primarily on the disappearance of a teenage girl, Irene Dos Santos (I know, I should have gathered that much from the title) while on vacation with her friend, Lily, and Lily's family; as well the effect that Irene's disappearance had on the remainder of Lily's life. I was wrong.

The story begins as described: Lily is a grown, married woman 8 months pregnant with her first child. After an accident, she is put on bed rest (after staunchly refusing a c-section) to await her son or daughter’s birth. Her family's live-in housekeeper (who has been with the family since Lily was a child) is convinced that someone has given Lily and her unborn child the "evil eye" and that the only way to counter the effects is to perform a 9 night ritual called a Novena, in which family members pray and tell a story about a happy memory for the baby each night.

It is through these nightly stories that Lily's family history unfolds for the reader. The stories are about everything from love, to imprisonment, to the quest for freedom in Venezuela as told by the revolutionaries, of which Lily's father Ismael was a member. We also get a richly detailed lesson in the religious beliefs of the Venezuelan people and indigenous Indian tribes.

Frankly, I had expectations for this book that I didn't feel as though it delivered. I was expecting more focus on the mystery surrounding Irene's disappearance, but felt like that subject became almost a footnote within the scope of a much wider tale. While I enjoyed the book, I felt as though it took an exceptionally long time to go a very short distance, and was left feeling unsatisfied by it's conclusion. Without truly being a spoiler, I can say that the truth of Irene's disappearance is wrapped up in a few short pages.

All in all, while I have to digress that the book was exceedingly well written, I didn't really care for the way that the story flowed. It jumped around in time and from different character's points of view. And, especially at the beginning, it often did so without preamble. If you are looking for a historical novel about the revolution in Venezuela, you will probably really enjoy the richness in which this book tells the tale of hardship, sacrifice, and the endurance of spirit that were prominent throughout. However, if you are looking for a satisfying mystery, this book probably isn't for you. I give The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos 3 1/2 stars.

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 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.½