Review first published on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-roots-of-olive-tree.html
The Roots of the Olive Tree is a story of five generation of women. Anna is the matriarch of the family and have lived to become the oldest person in the world. Elizabeth or Bets is next. Then come Callie, Deb, and Erin. Added to the mix is the geneticist studying the Keller family to determine the reason for the longevity of these women. Also added to this is the lovely California setting of the Keller family olive farm which has a history of its own.
Anna's story in buried in secrets in the past. Bets is occupied with her ailing husband. Callie is in search of her own life. Deb is paying for mistakes of the past. Erin is trying to forge her own way and has come home, pregnant and alone.
This book and story never really comes together for me. The individual stories of the women could have been interesting, but they are not fully developed in an effort to address all of them. The individual characters and their relationships could have been interesting, but again are not fully developed. The book seems to hover at the surface of these stories without delving deeper. As such, it keeps the reader at bay and not fully engaged in the story.
*** Reviewed for LibraryThing Early Reviewers program ***
The Roots of the Olive Tree is a story of five generation of women. Anna is the matriarch of the family and have lived to become the oldest person in the world. Elizabeth or Bets is next. Then come Callie, Deb, and Erin. Added to the mix is the geneticist studying the Keller family to determine the reason for the longevity of these women. Also added to this is the lovely California setting of the Keller family olive farm which has a history of its own.
Anna's story in buried in secrets in the past. Bets is occupied with her ailing husband. Callie is in search of her own life. Deb is paying for mistakes of the past. Erin is trying to forge her own way and has come home, pregnant and alone.
This book and story never really comes together for me. The individual stories of the women could have been interesting, but they are not fully developed in an effort to address all of them. The individual characters and their relationships could have been interesting, but again are not fully developed. The book seems to hover at the surface of these stories without delving deeper. As such, it keeps the reader at bay and not fully engaged in the story.
*** Reviewed for LibraryThing Early Reviewers program ***
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