San Miguel by T.C. Boyle
I
really wanted to love this book. Generally I enjoy the works by TC Boyle and
enjoy becoming immersed in a sweeping story of historical fiction.
San
Miguel, an island in the western most part of the Santa Barbara Channel, is the
title character in the book. Boyle
writes with lyricism about the island and its forbidding wind, weather, and
rocky terrain and how pioneers of sorts tried to tame the land and make lives
for themselves with varying success. The book is actually based on the lives of
two families, the Waters and the Lesters, who inhabited the island at different
times between 1888 and the beginning of World War II.
The
first story begins with the dawning of 1888 when Marantha Waters, her adopted
daughter, 2nd husband who is a veteran of the Civil War, and servant
girl relocate to San Miguel to operate a sheep ranch on the island, which
purportedly will provide the fresh air necessary to cure Marantha’s
consumption. While the writing is filled
with details about the decision to move, the attempts to make the place
habitable, and the trials and tribulations of life on an isolated island with a
single, rustic house and that receives supplies irregularly by ship, I did not
feel empathy, sympathy or ultimately any interest in the characters. To me
Marantha seemed perpetually resentful, angry, bitter and self-pitying as she constantly
coughed up blood. While her negative
attitude was no doubt, one of the facets the author wanted to convey, I struggled
to read to the mid point of the story. Despite the raw beauty of the place, and
Boyle’s inimitable writing style, I did not like the people who inhabited the
book. As such, I can only award 3
Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolates out of 5.
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