The Sandcastle Girls

by Chris Bohjalian

The book discussed by our group in December was “The Sandcastle Girls” by Chris Bohjalian, an American author of Armenian descent.  It is a novel that deals with the Armenian genocide which took place in 1915.  

Reactions to the book were mixed.  Although most of us found it to be very informative about a horrific event that is not generally well known, some were put off by the descriptions of the incredible suffering inflicted on the Armenian population by the Turkish government of the time.  Others commented that, despite this, they were glad to have learned more about the history of the genocide.  It should be noted that the book was published in 2012, three years prior to the centennial of the genocide.  It should also be noted that “The Sandcastle Girls” was written largely for an American audience, which knew very little if anything about what happened to the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire.

From a literary point of view, the general consensus was that the book was very readable, but did not have great literary value as such. However, the group liked the way the author presented this difficult subject by weaving in two separate stories, that of the narrator living in the present, and of her ancestors, her Armenian grandfather and her American grandmother.  It seems clear that, although the narrator is a woman, the story contains many autobiographical elements relating to Chris Bohjalian himself.

Chris Bohjalian is a very successful novelist, the author of twenty or so books, most of which have become bestsellers.  “The Sandcastle Girls” is his effort to come to terms with his family’s past and, as such, to place himself in the context of being a descendant of those who experienced one of the most tragic events in modern history.

Christine

Suggested reading:  “Rise the Euphrates” by Carol Edgarian

                                    “The Gendarme” by Mark Mustian