The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian

In The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian we follow Elizabeth, a Boston nurse, on an epic journey to Aleppo, Syria to aid the refugees of the Armenian genocide in 1912. Elizabeth becomes friendly with Armen, a young Armenian engineer who has lost his wife and daughter in the genocide.A forbidden love blossoms that will change the course of their lives forever.

This insomniac's opinion:

I adored this novel! I have read and loved several of Mr. Bohjalian's(I am so glad that I am writing this and not having to pronounce his name, which I am sure is lovely when I am not butchering it) novels. What amazes me the most about his talent is that every novel is such a unique journey. He doesn't have a formulaic writing style `a la Jodi Picoult or Nicholas Sparks, which I very much appreciate.

The love story in this book just took my breath away. I admit that I am a sucker for love that blossoms during war. Beauty in the middle of ugliness. A rose in the desert. Ahhhhhhh, I love a good, non-cheesy romance. But this novel was about far more than simple romance. I had never heard of the Armenian genocide of 1912 and was horrified to hear the details of the tragedy. There were so very many stories in this novel that ripped my heart to shreds. As a pediatric nurse, I wanted to jump into the story and help tend to the suffering women and children. How can human beings do these things to others and rationalize it in their minds? I will never understand.

Worth staying up all night to read?

Abso-freaking-lutely.

Rating: 5 stars