EASTER ISLAND
by Jennifer Vanderbes
Reviewed by Janet Lan of Friday Morning Book Group
(November 18, 2004) Easter Island is a galloping story with
multiple themes of adventure and betrayal, geography and botany,
exploration and discovery. Throw into the plot blind love and
protective love, the rights of women and the mentally ill and
the attempt to decipher rongorongo, the early written script of
the Easter Islanders. Now add sexism, university politics and
a little history of the First World War. As if this were not
enough it is also a mystery story on many levels including human
mystery, mystery of the Easter Island moai statues and the
natural disaster that apparently decimated the vegetation of
the island.
The novel is lyrically written and expertly researched and
we were surprised to learn that the author did not have a
scientific background herself. Vanderbes even makes botanical
Latin names sound poetic. What a pleasure it was to read a
book with such beautiful, elegant language.
Our group discussed whether sexism at Harvard in the 70's
was indeed as bad as depicted in the book and the importance
of fathers or father figures in encouraging the careers of
the two protagonist women. The story is told through the
eyes of these women who were separated by 60 years and whose
lives were seamlessly connected. We were interested in
the nature of the mental illness of one of the characters
and the motivations of her sister. Some book group members
felt certain aspects of the story were unbelievable and that
maybe there were just too many themes for one novel.
Overall, the Friday Morning Book Group enjoyed this lively
first novel and at least one of us hopes to visit Easter
Island, an isolated remarkable place.
FROM THE EDITORS: Find reviews contributed
by other local book clubs at: www.larchmontgazette.com. We'd
love to hear from other Larchmont book clubs and readers;
email us at publisher@larchmontgazette.com.
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