Book Nook: The Sandcastle Girls

In High School I sort of knew that my French teacher was Armenian, but I didn't really understand why that should be important. Madame Andreassian never really talked about the genocide, she was only just in her early 20s when my parents were in High School in the 70s, so why would she? Soon, a billboard went up in Watertown near my fencing salle that every April had a disconcerting image from the Armenian genocide and cautioned any passerbys not to forget "The Forgotten Genocide." Still the subject was never really something that any of my history classes covered.

Reading The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian opened my eyes to a lot of history that has been purposefully shied away from. This story is an extremely moving and disturbing narrative jumping between a modern day woman of Armenian descent discovering her personal history and the story of how her grandparents met. Unlike The Shoemaker's Wife where Trigiani neatly bypasses the horrors of World War I and many of the social problems of the day, Bohjalian focuses less on the love story and more on the sheer brutality of the Turkish soldiers and the ineptitude of any aide attempts for the Armenian women and children.

Moving, raw, and, at times, heart-breaking this story is a remarkable journey to the deserts of Aleppo and an exploration of the strength of the human character. This book is definitely not for everyone. It is a close up look at war, starvation, torture and loss. Bohjalian doesn't hold back any punches when he describes executions, rape, and emaciated, diseased bodies. I can see this book being very disturbing to certain readers. However, I also think that this story is an important piece of fiction because of the truths that it describes. Did you know it is illegal for anyone in Turkey to describe the extermination of the Armenian people as a genocide? Governments have turned a blind eye to the fate of this group of people and try to pretend that it never existed, Bohjalian brings it back into focus with his storytelling.

On writing style alone I would definitely suggest this book for a book club or paging turning read, but would warn any readers that it is a particularly disturbing subject matter. Similar to John Shors' Dragon House and The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama.

*This blog is part of a grant Medfield has been awarded through the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Library and Services Technology Act administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.