| 50 Book Pledge | Book #49: The Roots of the Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santo |
I present a passage from Random House of Canada‘s Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie.
We do not know the answers to the great questions of who we are and what we are capable of,” Rashid liked to say, “until the questions are asked. Then and only then do we know if we can answer them, or not.
In a Northern California olive grove lives the Keller family. Five generations of firstborn women. A remarkable family that has managed to catch the attention of a geneticist that wishes to learn how these women are aging so gracefully and staying alive for so long.
Anna, the head of the family, is 112, the second oldest woman in the world, with no sign of her spark going out anytime soon. She shares her home with her daughter, granddaughter, great granddaughter, and great great granddaughter. It's quite amazing! She knows that she's living longer than most women could ever dream to live, but she has no interest in having someone uncover the secrets to her longevity. In fact, she'd rather ALL of her secrets stayed buried deep.
The matriarch of the family isn't the only one carrying around secrets. Each of the women chooses to hide her true self from one another, made all the more complicated by the youngest woman, Erin, coming home pregnant. Oh, the drama!
Though, a quiet story, each of these women will get into your heart as they tell their stories. The setting within the olive orchard is no accident, bringing to light the deep roots of the family and the strong ties they have to one another, even if they can't always get along. Each woman is very different and well-developed, making it easy to tell one from the other and see the situation from each side.
I absolutely loved all the talk about the olive grove and oil and the different uses for it. Those aspects blend seamlessly into the family story, giving an extra dimension to the lives of these women. I really enjoyed it! Beautiful cover too!
Lots of other blogs are coving this awesome book too...check out
the list here.
The Roots of the Olive Tree
Courtney Miller Santo
320 pages
Adult Fiction
William Morrow
9780062130518
August 2012
Review copy
Being Italian of course I want to read a book having to do with olives! :)
Thanks for being a part of the tour.
I love books like this! I think it's easy to hide ourselves from people for one reason or another.
I can't imagine living to 112. I would only want to live that long if I was healthy and relatively pain free. My grandma is 95 and in a fair amount of pain, and every time I talk to her she says, Well, I'm still here, almost as if she's disappointed to still be alive. Aging can be really hard.
Sounds like this book covers a lot of things that would be fun to discuss with other moms in my book club!