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The Sandcastle Girls  By  cover art

The Sandcastle Girls

By: Chris Bohjalian
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell,Alison Fraser
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Publisher's summary

Over the course of his career, New York Times best-selling novelist Chris Bohjalian has taken readers on a spectacular array of journeys. Midwives brought us to an isolated Vermont farmhouse on an icy winter's night and a home birth gone tragically wrong. The Double Bind perfectly conjured the Roaring 20s on Long Island - and a young social worker's descent into madness. And Skeletons at the Feast chronicled the last six months of World War Two in Poland and Germany with nail-biting authenticity. As The Washington Post Book World has noted, Bohjalian writes "the sorts of books people stay awake all night to finish."

In his 15th book, The Sandcastle Girls, he brings us on a very different kind of journey. This spellbinding tale travels between Aleppo, Syria, in 1915 and Bronxville, New York, in 2012 - a sweeping historical love story steeped in the author's Armenian heritage, making it his most personal novel to date.

When Elizabeth Endicott arrives in Syria, she has a diploma from Mount Holyoke College, a crash course in nursing, and only the most basic grasp of the Armenian language. The First World War is spreading across Europe, and she has volunteered on behalf of the Boston-based Friends of Armenia to deliver food and medical aid to refugees of the Armenian genocide. There, Elizabeth becomes friendly with Armen, a young Armenian engineer who has already lost his wife and infant daughter. When Armen leaves Aleppo to join the British Army in Egypt, he begins to write Elizabeth letters, and comes to realize that he has fallen in love with the wealthy, young American woman who is so different from the wife he lost.

Flash forward to the present, where we meet Laura Petrosian, a novelist living in suburban New York. Although her grandparents' ornate Pelham home was affectionately nicknamed the "Ottoman Annex", Laura has never really given her Armenian heritage much thought. But when an old friend calls, claiming to have seen a newspaper photo of Laura's grandmother promoting an exhibit at a Boston museum, Laura embarks on a journey back through her family's history that reveals love, loss - and a wrenching secret that has been buried for generations.

©2012 Chris Bohjalian (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"The granddaughter of an Armenian and a Bostonian investigates the Armenian genocide, discovering that her grandmother took a guilty secret to her grave. . . . [An] unforgettable exposition of the still too-little-known facts of the Armenian genocide and its multigenerational consequences." ( Kirkus Reviews, starred review)
"Chris Bohjalian is at his very finest in this searing story of love and war. I was mesmerized from page one. Bravo!" (Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife)

;In his latest novel, master storyteller Chris Bohjalian explores the ways in which our ancestral past informs our contemporary lives--in ways we understand and ways that remain mysteriously out of reach.

The Sandcastle Girls is deft, layered, eye-opening, and riveting. I was deeply moved." (Wally Lamb)

What listeners say about The Sandcastle Girls

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Bohjalian is Better Than This...

I tried to read this, tried to like it, but it is too large a canvas for my taste. I am not interested in reading about wars, ethnic cleansing, the pointless suffering of innocents - and all the pain that goes along with that, if there is no character development. I can google all about any of those topics without buying a novel or an audiobook. Certainly, I am capable of enjoying a book with a background of war - example: "Sarah's Key" - but only if the individual characters engage. This book offered nothing for the reader in the way of character bonding.

I should have listened to my heart when I read the publisher's summary. When an author whose work I love decides to go in a "different direction", I, too, should go in a "different direction" and walk away.

I like Cassandra Campbell and I thought, "well, with Chris Bohjalian and Cassandra Campbell, what's not to like?". Wrong!!! Alison Fraser, the other narrator and I guess the granddaughter character but I didn't get that far, had an annoying voice that ran too fast, too cheery - you could hear her smiling all the time and for what reason? who knows? - and had a flat accent that was either just too precious and cute (why? is her Armenian heritage "cute"?) or spilling out words at breakneck speed and I just could not tolerate it.

I am interested in varied ethnicities, but does a writer have to make an entire book out of his own heritage? Really? Is Bohjalian not capable of thinking up anything else as a basis for a novel? Can't believe that, and I'll stick to his usual story lines, which are far from clichéd or overdone. Will the writer formerly known as Chris Bohjalian please come back!!!

I am annoyed to the hilt and sad that I have to wait another year or so for the "real" Bohjalian, the writer that I know and love reading, returns.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved the story

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I loved this story and would not hesitate to recommend it. The characters were interesting and well developed. I also learned some things that I didn't know about Armenian history which was an added bonus.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful Story

What did you love best about The Sandcastle Girls?

The exotic location for the story was so phenomenal and interesting, I loved the multi-generational aspect as well.

What does Cassandra Campbell and Alison Fraser bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

It was great to have two narrators with distinct voices record this story, clever.

Any additional comments?

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction about places you don't usually read about.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Lesson in History, Love and More

What did you love best about The Sandcastle Girls?

That it is both a love story and a history of an area of the world that I knew very little about.

What other book might you compare The Sandcastle Girls to and why?

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, because it also tells a story of another time, the love between two people of different nationalities, and the oppression and pain of war.

Which character – as performed by Cassandra Campbell and Alison Fraser – was your favorite?

Elizabeth

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes, it opened my eyes to a whole world that I never knew of . . .a time and place that I was unaware of . . . and it helped me to put things into perspective regarding that area of the world today . . .

Any additional comments?

One of the best audio books I have listened to. I think that men and women both would like this book.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Historical Story-Fantastic Audio

“The Sandcastle Girls” is the first book I have read by author Christ Bohjalian. This book stunned me in such a way that I can’t get it out of my head. One striking point to make about this book is that it is not a happy story to read. I am glad that I listened to this book as an audible instead of reading it myself. The different readers help separate the past from the present and the change in voice helped me get through the terrible details. I cried quite a bit while listening and would have to stop the audio and walk away to compose myself. The Armenian genocide of 1915 is a part of history that I knew nothing about. This fact shamed me as I love history and thought that I knew a great deal about the historical world that surrounded World War One. This genocide was never in anything I have read. I actually stopped the audio at one point and went on-line to do a little research and study some historical maps of the areas the book describes. What I found absolutely horrified me and broke my heart to read about – once again – humans treating other humans as if they were nothing.
The characters in “The Sandcastle Girls” were so well developed for the reader that one seems to actually know them. The modern story of a woman seeking and finding out about her grandparents past was alive with childhood memories that made me smile. The story of Laura’s grandmother, Elizabeth, broke my heart but also filled me with admiration for her courage and selflessness in a world so foreign to what she was accustomed.
I am giving “The Sandcastle Girls” five stars because I believe that the writing was “beyond” excellent along with the research to be historically accurate. The character creation was just about perfect. I recommend that people read this fictionalized version to open their minds to a real part of history that they may have missed while learning in school. Also, for those us audio books, the production of this book was the best I have listened to thus far. I am going to pick up some other books written by Chris Bohjalian because I am a now a fan of this excellent author.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Fast, Moving, Descriptive & Informative!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Sandcastle Girls to be better than the print version?

I couldn't say never read print version.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Elizabeth-She is so brave and bold.

What about Cassandra Campbell and Alison Fraser ’s performance did you like?

They truly seemed to personify the chractors.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes, when Elizabeth discovers Armen's Wife dying in the hospital.

Any additional comments?

Did not like the ending.

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4 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

It was not as I expected

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend it to someone who likes history

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Sandcastle Girls?

The boldness of Elizabeth in dealing with the thiefs that took the supplies

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

no

Any additional comments?

This has not been one of my favorites.It does not move with a flow that makes you want to stop what you are doing to read it .I did finish it but with great difficulties.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous Book

A moving story. Two narrators worked very well. Bohjalian captures the broader picture of the extermination or Armenians in the early 20th Century while building a very personal story line. The brutality of governments toward innocent civilians plays out again and again, century after century. The author captures the futility of well meaning foreigner volunteers trying to make a difference. They do, but in small ways, which of course count. I highly recommend the book for the story and an education about the period.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Storytime Treat you will Love

Profoundly moving book about family history and the Armenian genocide of 1915. I can't quit thinking about it. The book taught me things I didn't know, took me places I haven't been, and just felt very personal. I have a new author to add to my list (he isn't new, I just haven't read his books). There is one image that the author uses over and over to express the anguish of a little girl's soul that deeply moved me, and -from a literary sense- it was just perfect in its devastating simplicity. Also liked his note at the end, and the author interview. It sealed the deal on him for me when he mentioned that he was highly anticipating Toni Morrison's book Home that was published after his interview. I love the true melting pot vastness of American writers.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent

I am embarrassed to admit that I knew very little of the Armenian Genocide of WWI. Because of Chris Bohjalian’s novel that is no longer the case. This is not always an easy book by any means. I do think the two narratives helped give me a reprieve from the tale of individuals during the horrific mass murders of 1.5 million Armenians. The book is well written with well developed characters. I am so glad I read it.

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1 person found this helpful