Ally Green is a sixty year old woman from Virginia who can’t stay put in life. She travels all over the world searching and running away from her past. When her father dies, she is forced to return to Molasses Creek, a place that holds painful memories for her and lost love. She dreads going back and seeing everything changed. She doesn’t want to remember everything that’s happened to her.
Sunila is a Nepali stone carver. All she has ever known is a life of slavery and depression, being of the Dalit caste. No one spares her a second glance. One day, she finds The Book of the Gods, a mysterious sketchbook that she has carved pictures out of all her life. Now, she is determined to find out how this book connects her to a past she never knew.
The two women’s paths cross in a very unlikely way, helping them both find the true meaning of love, family, and a sense of belonging.
I enjoyed the book. It took me a bit longer to read than I would have liked, but this fact was due mainly to the amount of other work piling up around me at home. I was pleased that the author interwove a bit of the Nepali culture into the book. Being a history buff, I always enjoy learning something new from my reading. The book moved along at a good pace, although it did get a bit slow at times. Overall I was pleased. However, the one thing I could not get past was how shallow the main character, Ally, was. I felt that her narration showed how naive she was and it really irritated me how she viewed certain things. I wouldn’t let this small fact deter anyone from reading the book, though. It was just a minor oversight. I feel the connection to God was a bit vague. After finishing, I can see where the author was going and what they were trying to do, but I feel it could have been done differently. But what do I know?
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a light, easy “airplane” book to read every now and then. It wasn’t too difficult, just a little sad. I don’t think I would read it again, but I enjoyed it the first time around.
Also, thanks to BookSneeze.com for providing me with a free copy of the book in exchange for this review.
