Today on WKAR’s Current State, I was really excited to share a great new novel with the listeners (and you!). It is The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman.

You can listen to my review here: http://wkar.org/post/book-review-alice-hoffmans-marriage-opposites

If you would rather read my review, you can do so below.

Hey, did you know Current State has a podcast? If you subscribe, you can download episodes and segments (and you can find me every other Thursday). Here is a link to find it on iTunes- https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wkar-fm-current-state/id594609653?mt=2

If you want to read The Marriage for Opposites for yourself (and I do highly recommend it), you can find it on amazon here. If you want to check out my other book reviews for WKAR’s Current State, you can do so via links on this page. 

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The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman

Historical fiction authors have to walk a thin line. On the one hand, they want to avoid writing a book so caught up in historical details that readers feel like they’ve opened a textbook. But they also don’t want to lose what makes the genre interesting with a story that totally ignores the time period in which it’s set. In her new novel, The Marriage of Opposites, Alice Hoffman walks this tightrope with ease. The book is filled with beautiful, lyrical writing and characters so real that it’s not surprising they once lived and breathed. Hoffman manages to capture the spirit of a past time and place with writing that still feels exciting and fresh.

The Marriage of Opposites is the story of Rachel Pomie, a Jewish immigrant living on the island of St. Thomas in the early 1800s. Rachel is a dreamer and a firebrand. She is constantly keeping the people around her guessing what she will say or do next. As a young woman, Rachel dreams of visiting Paris and falling in love. But those plans are dashed when she is forced into an arranged marriage with a widower much older than her. At this point, many readers will hope that Rachel will run away and seek out her dreams. It feels like this arrangement will ruin the character we have fallen in love with. But she doesn’t leave. Instead, she and her husband form a friendship for the sake of his children and accept that they will never find love in their arrangement.

One of the wonders of Hoffman’s writing is how alive she makes the world around Rachel feel. Throughout the story of Rachel’s life, the island of St. Thomas is just as much a character as any of the others on the page. Everything about it feels vivacious, from the smells in the air to the overbearing heat that makes less prepared arrivals faint. It is a land of superstitions and magic: the kind of place where after calling a doctor you stop by the local mystic for an herb cure. It will be hard for readers not to immediately book a plane ticket to the island after reading Hoffman’s masterpiece.

Usually, when you read historical fiction, you expect the main character to play a part in something groundbreaking. Maybe they’re a key player in a war or some cultural upheaval. But that’s not what Hoffman gives us in this book. Instead, she shows us how an ordinary person can influence a great talent. When Rachel falls in love after the death of her first husband, she is vilified. The man who wins her heart is not only younger than her, but he’s also the nephew of her deceased husband. In the eyes of the church, everything about their love is a sin. Yet, the product of that forbidden love will be painter Camille Pissaro, who many consider the founder of impressionism. Hoffman doesn’t focus on the important figures who will make it into the history books, but on the people who inspire them. In doing so, she digs deep into the lives and decisions that shape our history, but are often forgotten.

It’s not often I say that I wish a book didn’t have to end, but that’s exactly how I felt about The Marriage of Opposites. I wanted to follow the stories of each of Rachel’s children, not just Camille. This beautiful novel left me wondering: is there is a greater compliment that I can give to book about historical figures than saying “I felt like I knew them”? Because I did, and you will too.  When I reached the last page of The Marriage of Opposites, it was like saying goodbye to an old friend. And while I probably won’t run into Rachel Pomie again, I do hope it’s not the last I see of Alice Hoffman.

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New book! New book! New book!

My latest novel Permanent Spring Showers was just published by 5 Prince Books. You can find out more about my novel as well as my other books (including A Jane Austen Daydream and My Problem With Doors) and grab a copy via my author page on Amazon.com here.