The Crooked Path
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
From the bestselling author of The Girl From the Train, comes another compelling coming of age story of delayed love, loss, and reconciliation in WWII-era South Africa.
Lettie has always felt different from and overshadowed by the women around her– this friend is richer, that friend is more beautiful, those friends are closer. Still, she doesn’t let this hold her back. She works hard to apply her mind, trying to compensate for her perceived lack of beauty with diligent academic work and a successful career as a doctor. She learns to treasure her friendships, but she still wonders if any man will ever return her interest.
Marco’s experience in the second world war have robbed him of love and health. When winters in his native Italy prove dangerous to his health even after the war has ended, he moves to South Africa to be with his brother, husband to one of Lettie’s best friends. Marco is Lettie’s first patient, and their relationship grows as she aids him on the road back to restored health.
In the company of beloved characters from The Child of the River, Marco and Lettie find a happiness that neither of them thought possible. With that joy comes pain and loss, but Lettie learns that life—while perhaps a crooked path—is always a journey worth taking.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Joubert's ambitious latest (after Child of the River) follows South African doctor Lettie Louw from her teenage years during World War II through the early 1980s. An unattractive teen, she falls in love with her friend's older brother, De Wet Flourie, and, when he chooses one of her best friends instead, she is left heartbroken. After another unrequited crush, she decides to give up on men and throw herself into her studies. It is as a doctor that she meets Italian immigrant Marco Romanelli, a patient suffering lingering mental and physical effects from the war years. In time, the two are married and have two daughters. There are moments when the story is spellbinding; the section on Marco's experiences in Italy during the war is heartbreaking; the story of Lettie and Marco's romance and experience with their daughter's illness is also well-crafted. However, the attempt to cover so much chronological time results in a choppy, uneven tale. Large periods of time are summarized in a few paragraphs, and secondary characters have little development. This expansive novel suffers for attempting to cover so much ground.
