› Forums › 2024 Reading Challenge Discussion Groups › ICYMI: Books Published in 2012 › Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian › Historical Fiction
- This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 6 months, 3 weeks ago by
Kris Ingra.
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January 9, 2024 at 3:29 pm #1855
Tammy Wasserman
Participant@twassermanI love to read historical fiction because I have learned so much about incidents I have never heard of ( or new very little about)!
This was very true of Sandcastle Girls! I was aware of a conflict in Syria as a youngster, but never realized such atrocities were happening on the other side of the world!
But the personal tragedies of the central characters made it so much more! My heart broke for Karin when she finally found her husband , in love with someone else. She was so beat down by her life, that she didn’t speak up! I wonder what would have happened if she had?!
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January 13, 2024 at 7:21 pm #1915
Sharron
Participant@bookshark44<p style=”text-align: left;”>I think it’s horrible that schools do not teach about the Armenian genocide the same way they teach about the Holocaust… yes, the twist at the end with Karine still alive was heartbreaking … how could Elizabeth live the rest of her life not letting Armen know? I couldn’t do it … it would eat away at me.</p>
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January 16, 2024 at 2:45 pm #1948
Mary Louise Eck
Participant@marylouiseeckI grew up in the next town to Watertown, Massachusetts and was very familiar with the Armenian genocide, as well as having many Armenian friends who had family involved. I agree, we should be more aware of the event.
Poor Karine. After going through so much and then seeing Elizabeth and Armen.
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January 16, 2024 at 2:57 pm #1949
Mary Louise Eck
Participant@marylouiseeckOh please don’t slam me, but I really didn’t care for this book, and it probably should have come with a trigger warning.
It’s not that I haven’t read books about difficult subjects, war or genocide, (and as I said in an earlier comment, I am aware of the Armenian genocide) but I thought the book was too graphic, especially in the first half of the book. The beheading scene gave me nightmares. I didn’t even care much about the characters until the second half of the book.
But I do have some questions about the backstories:
- Why was it titled The Sandcastle Girls? Yes there were mentions of building sandcastles in the book, but I didn’t see the connections to the story.
- What was the importance of the lamb chop for breakfast every morning for the grandfather (Armen) when they came to the United States? Why did they dress the brother up in a costume and the girl had go-go boots? Why did the aunt belly dance to entertain the group and never do it again? I thought some of the back stories were disconnected.
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January 28, 2024 at 7:53 pm #2045
Kris Ingra
Participant@kajingramWhile I was aware of the Armenian genocide, I thought it all took place in areas around Armenia and Greece. This opened my eyes to the Syrian connection.
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› Forums › 2024 Reading Challenge Discussion Groups › ICYMI: Books Published in 2012 › Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian › Historical Fiction