Chris Bohjalian

"Parallel stories of a woman who falls in love with an Armenian soldier during the Armenian Genocide and a modern-day New Yorker prompted to rediscover her Armenian past"--

The sandcastle girls

A haunting love story set during the First World War amidst the horrors of the Armenian Genocide One woman's journey into her family's past reveals a shocking story that has never been told. 1915, Aleppo, Syria.When Elizabeth Endicott steps off the boat from Boston, armed only with a crash course in nursing, nothing could have prepared her for the atrocities she is about to face. For Aleppo is the arrival point for the hundreds of thousands of Armenians who have been forced to march out of Turkey and through the desert to die. There Elizabeth gets to know Armen, a young Armenian engineer who has already lost his wife and infant daughter in the Genocide. When Armen travels to Egypt to join the British army, he begins to write to Elizabeth, and slowly realizes that, unless he can find his way back to her, he risks becoming lost forever. Present day, New York.Laura Petrosian has never really given her Armenian heritage much thought until an old friend calls, claiming to have seen a photo of Laura's grandmother advertising a museum exhibition. As Laura embarks on a journey back through her family's history she'll find a tale of love, loss - and the hidden story of a nation in mourning. 'Chris Bohjalian is at his very finest in this searing story of love and war. I was mesmerized from page one. Bravo!' Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife 'The Sandcastle Girlsis deft, layered, eye-opening, and riveting. I was deeply moved." Wally Lamb, author of The Hour I First Believed 'Powerful . . . Bohjalian's storytelling makes this a beautiful, frightening, and unforgettable read' Publishers' Weekly

The Sandcastle Girls

Melody Izard

Certainly feels autobiographical, and according to the author there are elements. I was a bit put off by the back and forth between the present and the past, but after listening to the reasons from the author (to give you a break from the atrocities of the Armenian Genocide) I am more accepting.

Jeni Enjaian

My low expectations were blown away by this book. As usual, I read a few reviews of the book just after I start reading. These reviews helped lower my expectations of the book. I'm glad it was that way and not the reverse. 
As the great-granddaughter of Armenian immigrants, the "Armenian-ness" of the book appealed to me strongly. The descriptions of the culture from the food to the behaviors resonated with my own experience. This book makes me wish, again, that I knew more of my great-grandparents' stories. (Like most Armenians of that generation they shared little if any information about their past.)
I also liked the name that the granddaughter gave to the Genocide. Unfortunately I don't remember the exact wording and don't have the book in front of me at the moment. It was something like The Outrage/Horror No One Knew About. 
The biggest thing that kept me from giving this book 5 stars was its seeming lack of coherence. I think that the story did need to be told from the preset and the past but Bohjalian dropped the ball on smoothing the transitions and on distribution of narrative text between the two. 
I applaud his effort though. This book, though far from perfect, has a far wider reach than any textbook about the Genocide or biography of a survivor. So many reviewers mentioned that they had no knowledge of the Genocide before reading this book. For that reason, I strongly recommend it. The 100th anniversary of Remembrance Day, April 24, 2015 (the unofficial "start" to the Genocide) is less than a year away.

The sandcastle girls

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