Book Description:
This is a tale about the extraordinary fate and survival of a young woman fleeing the cataclysm of civil war in Central America, and about the strangers who risk everything to rescue and mend her.
Kate Bowman, in her mid-forties, travels to Central America with her brother’s favorite son, a tall handsome 22-year-old engineering graduate from the University of Illinois. Bowman, a wildlife biologist from the upper Midwest, teaches literacy classes in the midst of a three-week long medical aid mission sponsored by healthcare teams from Chicago and California. The moment Andrew Gustafson sets foot in the village of Talapa, a young Mayan teen named Flora Enriquez follows his every move, enthralled by him. The small dark eyed girl demonstrates for Kate Bowman that she already reads, taught by a priest two years prior, even inheriting the deceased clergyman’s books.
Andrew quickly discovers his own project, planning and preparing for the installation of a hydroelectric turbine on the village stream to deliver electricity to the remote community in the land of volcanoes. He declines to travel home with his aunt and the rest of the aid party, insisting on remaining in the dangerous and beautiful jungle highlands. Sick at heart, Kate boards a plane to return to her home on northern Lake Michigan, terrified for her nephew left behind in a country convulsing in a murderous civil war.
Then the midnight call comes from the aid director in Chicago ten days after her return. Andrew has gone missing, never to be seen again. And Kate falls under the blaming cloud of her extended family forever.
Then, some years later, a wretchedly wounded Flora Enriquez unexpectedly reenters Kate’s life, the younger woman having fled the land of volcanoes that erupted in civil conflagration. The young Mayan, desirous of healing for her horrifying injuries and desperate to restore what remains of her family, reignites a fire in Kate to determine the fate her long lost nephew.
The harrowing journey for the two women on the healing and search mission, and employing a wounded Viet Nam veteran to help them, utterly consumes them.
About Author:
Gary Stelzer wrote The Cost of Dreams while working full-time as a doctor. Now retired, he lives with his wife in the northern Midwest. The native Texan has studied Spanish and traveled to his novel's sites in Central America and Mexico and the USA. His intention in writing The Cost of Dreams, he says, was "to lend a voice to the struggle that the downtrodden of this earth make for a dignified survival." His next several novels will adhere to this theme.
©2009
My Take on the Book:
When the last thing I said while closing the book, "that's it?!", must be a good sign it was a gripping story. I hated that the story was over, and sincerely hope the author plans on telling us more, or shares new stories with us. Every single chapter was fantastic, I didn't feel a slow moment once.
The characters were all so wonderful, even the one character I wasn't fond of. Flora, the main character in the story, she was amazing. Her story is one of constant struggle, and yet she stays so positive throughout it all. A woman to be admired if ever I read of one. I found myself drawn to her, and hoping her life would turn around right. I couldn't get enough of her story.
Very entertaining book, and my first recommendation of 2010!!
~ I was not compensated for this post. This review is my honest opinion. ~
A book that you don't want to end is such a treat! Thanks for the review.
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