Description
From Booklist Loss, sorrow, and faint yet insistent hope drive a story centered on the foibles and longings of the human heart in a world filled with atrocities and carelessness. Octavio Ribeiro deeply adores his wife, Salomé, and the life they have created with their three children in Chile. When Salomé pays a terrible price for her husband’s outspokenness under a military regime, their family is splintered in ways that will haunt them for years. The setting alternates between Chile and Sweden, where the fleeing Ribeiros find sanctuary. There they meet expatriates Samuel and Kaija Rudin, who have their own troubled pasts to reconcile. A therapist and a French Jew, Samuel was bought up by parents who escaped the Holocaust, and this makes him expertly suited to treat the emotional and mental scars left by Salomé’s experiences in Chile. The graceful narrative leapfrogs between decades, visiting past events before hurtling into the future and then back again. Richman’s (The Lost Wife, 2011) story line is captivating, intertwining lyrical nuances and devastating subjects. --Julie Trevelyan Praise for The Rhythm of Memory "An engrossing examination of the prisons people create for themselves...an ambitious exploration of political and personal struggles."— Publishers Weekly "A heart-wrenching story of loss and love."— Library Journal "Beautiful, evocative language and sense of place."— Kirkus Reviews Praise for The Lost Wife "A truly beautiful heartfelt story...I couldn't put it down once Ixa0started it.xa0Ms.xa0Richman is a very special talent."— New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah "Staggeringly evocative, romantic, heartrending, sensual, and beautifully written...the Sophie's Choice of this generation."— New Yorkxa0Times bestselling author Johnxa0Lescroat "Daringly constructed."—Two-time Emmy Award-winning screenwriter Loring Mandel "Tense, emotional and fulfilling."—NBC News Special Correspondent and Jewish National Book Award winner Martin Fletcher Alyson Richman is the author of The Mask Carver’s Son , The Last Van Gogh , and The Lost Wife . Read more
Features & Highlights
- In this sweeping epic, true love transcends the brutality of war. Octavio Ribeiro loves truth, beauty, literature, and above all else, his wife Salomé. As a student in Chile, he courted her with the words of great poets, and she fell in love with his fierce intelligence and uncompromising passion. Then a sudden coup brings a brutal military dictatorship into power, and puts anyone who resists in grave danger. Salomé begs Octavio to put his family’s safety first, rather than speak against the new regime. When he refuses, it’s Salomé who pays the price. Belatedly awake to the reality of their danger, Octavio finds political asylum for the family in Sweden. But for Salomé, the path back to love is fraught with painful secrets, and the knowledge that they can never go home again. Previously published as
- Swedish Tango
