"Maia D’Apliese and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home, “Atlantis”—a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva—having been told that their beloved father, who adopted them all as babies, has died. Each of them is handed a tantalizing clue to her true heritage—a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Once there, she begins to put together the pieces of her story and its beginnings.Eighty years earlier in Rio’s Belle Epoque of the 1920s, Izabela Bonifacio’s father has aspirations for his daughter to marry into the aristocracy. Meanwhile, architect Heitor da Silva Costa is devising plans for an enormous statue, to be called Christ the Redeemer, and will soon travel to Paris to find the right sculptor to complete his vision. Izabela—passionate and longing to see the world—convinces her father to allow her to accompany him and his family to Europe before she is married. There, at Paul Landowski’s studio and in the heady, vibrant cafes of Montparnasse, she meets ambitious young sculptor Laurent Brouilly, and knows at once that her life will never be the same again."
I was recommended this book by my Grandmother. If that doesn't tell my enough about this book already...
To be honest while I was reading this, it didn't feel that terrible. I was reading very quickly however, and in a bit of a pain fog. Only when I finally put the book down and thought about the plot did I realise it had some significant problems.
Firstly lets talk about the writing. It was poor, trite and awfully sentimental. The characters spoke to one another as if they barely knew one another, despite being a family. Then Maia talks to another character, an actual stranger like she has known him all her life. I know this is not impossible but who wants to read it? The characters themselves are limp and unlikable and the stilted writing for the characterisation didn't help. Our heroine was wet, self-pitying, unexplainable dowdy and thoroughly unrelatable. Izabela was boring and lacked any personality other than pining.
The plot itself was strange and improbable. Pa Salt collecting baby girls from around the world to be brought up in, I kid you not, "Atlantis." I mean... if that doesn't raise alarm bells.
The plot also set out several false trails that were never developed or explained. The mystery of Pa Salt is started but never again hinted or delved into. How did Pa Salt know about the secret romance? What happened to the young boy Izabela rescued? Why did Pa Salt adopt Maia if he knew her grandparents wanted to adopt her? However, if you think I am going to read 5 more books of bad romance and historical fiction to find out, you are sorely mistaken.
Romance plays a large role in this story, way more than I was expecting, but I unfortunately found the romances of the past and the present to be weak. Izabela and Laurent told me they were in love, rather than allow me to feel much of anything. I don't know why or how they are in love and they never act like they are in love other than having sex. Maia and Floriano have the most stilted conversations, I never saw what made him appeal to her at all or vice versa. It was also very much insta-love, after only know each other for 3 weeks you want to live together? The love story of the past was also something that I had read numerous times before, absolutely no originality or anything even remotely new.
I did like the setting of 1920's Rio however as it is something I know nothing about. The settings felt rich, fully fleshed out and was actually a redeeming aspect.
Overall, this book is overly sentimental and trite. The writing was okay in description, terrible in emotion and characterisation. The plot was obscure and unoriginal, the characters bland and weak.
Age Rating 16+ Izabela is raped by her husband repeatedly. Sex is described and heavily alluded to.
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