Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 4/15/2019 + 1189 more book reviews

This novel was based on the life of the impressionist artist Camille Pissarro's mother, Rachel, and her life on the island of St. Thomas (now the U.S. Virgin Islands) in the West Indies. The island was a refuge for a community of Jews who escaped from the European Inquisition. Rachel yearned to leave the island and travel to France but fate kept her there until late in life. She was married off to a widower with three children when she was quite young to save her father's business. When her husband dies, she falls for a much younger nephew of her husband, Frederic Pizzarro, who comes from France to run the business. But since she is related to the young nephew through marriage, the Jewish community frowns on her union with him and she and her family are ostracized from the Jewish community for many years. She has several children with Frederic including her favorite Jacobo Camille, who becomes the famous artist. Rachel is also best friends with Jestine, of African descent, who is in love with an adopted cousin of Rachel's and whose young daughter is ultimately abducted and taken to France. The novel does also tell the story of Camille and how he struggled to become an artist even though his family wanted him to stay in the family business.

This novel is full of heartbreak within the Pizzarro family and it shows vividly how traditions and rules within a society often translate into cruelty. This is especially true for the relationships between the whites and those of African descent. I have read a couple of other novels by Hoffman and overall would recommend this one and will be reading more of her work.

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