There are some very beautiful passages in this book. After reading it, I wanted to travel to the Caribbean and walk around the colonial area of some port. The book starts in the late 19th century and progresses some fifty years. The characters are brightly drawn and interesting. However, the view of love is almost sickeningly sweet. Overall, I wasn't impressed.
The main part of the novel deals with a pair of lovers. A young man glances at a young woman (both fifteen or so) and falls in love. They secretly pass love letters back and forth. When her father finds out he is furious and tries to stop them. They persist.
Years later, she finally meets him face to face and he doesn't live up to the unreal expectation that she's built up in her head. She cuts him off and wants him out of her life. He pledges to love her forever. And he does.
It takes another fifty years for him to get another chance to pledge his love, but he waits that long. I suppose we should see that as noble or romantic. Frankly, I found it creepy and rather childish. Move on, buddy!
The heroine of the piece left me cold. She rejected her first suitor because of outsized expectations. She accepted her second one because she felt bad about the first. No matter how modern she was in any other situation she was utterly unable to come to any understanding of her own heart. Maybe she deserves pity, but certainly not admiration.
Not my cup of tea, I guess.
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