The Marriage of Opposites in Retro Chapter Chicks

Sep 04, 2018 Candi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, historical-fiction, caribbean

"Then I understood that when someone begins to tell you her story, you are entwined together."

This quote is much like the way I felt after reading this excellent novel. Rachel Pomié Petit Pizzarro shared her story and that of her son, the renowned Impressionist painter, Camille Pissarro. For a time, I was completely wrapped up in their lives and immersed in the vibrant colors and rich history of the island of St. Thomas. Books like this are the reason why historical fiction remains one of my fav "Then I understood that when someone begins to tell you her story, you are entwined together."

This quote is much like the way I felt after reading this excellent novel. Rachel Pomié Petit Pizzarro shared her story and that of her son, the renowned Impressionist painter, Camille Pissarro. For a time, I was completely wrapped up in their lives and immersed in the vibrant colors and rich history of the island of St. Thomas. Books like this are the reason why historical fiction remains one of my favorite genres of writing. This is historical fiction at its finest – not just a recounting of historical events, but a telling of a story filled with strong characters, vivid descriptions, beautiful prose, family dynamics, and rich culture. The historical details were fascinating and woven throughout the narrative in a way that made it a pleasure to learn and read. Alice Hoffman includes island folklore, superstitions, and a splash of magical realism in her novel which adds another wonderful layer to the whole experience. She never went overboard in this book; never made me shake my head in disbelief. It was all part of the culture of the island and thus felt natural and true to the life of this exotic location.

Rachel was a dreamer; she was strong-willed even as a young girl. She was of Jewish heritage and the story of her parents and their ancestors was one of flight and escape from persecution. They settled on this island to make a life where they could practice their faith without fear. But it was in Rachel’s blood, that desire to strike out and explore the world. She wanted to see Paris. She wanted to break free from her mother, a woman filled with bitterness.

"Heat was at the core of our lives, a shape-shifter that never was too far from the door. It made me want to step out of my clothes and dive into another life, one where there were linden trees and green lawns, where women wore black silk dresses and crinolines that rustled when they walked, a country where the moon rose like a silver disc into a cold, clear sky."

Of course, living in St. Thomas during the early 1800s, women didn’t have the freedom to do as they wished. Education in a school was not even an option for a young girl. Her father’s library was a lifesaver and the place where Rachel grew to understand more of the world. Her father taught her the basics of the family business. She befriended their cook’s daughter, Jestine, a girl of mixed blood – her mother is of African descent, and her father is unnamed but likely a member of her own community. This broadened her world further; now she saw life from the different perspectives of the island’s various and colorful inhabitants. But, as fate would have it, Rachel needed to step up and show her practical side in order to save her father’s business from ruin. She did just this but never truly abandoned her dreams completely.

Mixed within this historical novel was also a beautiful love story - one that didn’t detract from the novel’s sophistication but instead added to it. A scandal arose in Rachel’s faith community when she fell in love with a young man. Their relationship was strictly forbidden, yet this determined woman would not listen to ‘reason’ and instead listened to her heart. "His presence was like a spell, his name an incantation." What followed was heartache but also much joy. Here we finally meet Camille Pizzarro (later changed to Pissarro) and are witness to the growth of a remarkable and gifted artist. The tragedy was that Camille was perhaps much like his mother in her youth, and yet as is often the case in parent-child relationships, there is the sting of disapproval for one trying to live outside the conventions of society. I am not creative; I don’t have a single artistic bone in my body, yet I adore watching and reading of the creative process. It is done so well here. Hoffman manages to make us feel for Camille and root for him in his longing to express himself through his painting. He was seen as an oddity in the community, and Rachel tried to stifle his talents. "We’re likely to see our children as we wish to, not as they are." Like his mother before him, Camille felt constricted in the closed community of the island. He wished to escape as well, to find the freedom to express himself. He skipped school to practice his art and to explore the rest of the island. He watched the boats from faraway lands come into the harbor; he mingled with the people of color, learned their stories, and painted their portraits. "Flesh tones didn’t show the real substance of people, neither their physical aspects nor their souls."

Eventually, we have the opportunity to travel to Paris and see it from the eyes of this artist. I loved those scenes as well. I could go on and on about this book, but I’m going to stop myself here. This book is full of emotions, colors, mother-child relationships, love, meaningful friendships, grief, and artistry. I so enjoyed learning of the lives of such compelling characters. I may not always have agreed with Rachel’s decisions and actions, especially as a mother, but Hoffman managed to make me understand her nevertheless. I already knew mother-daughter bonds could be tricky, but I didn’t quite imagine mother-son relationships to be equally complicated; and I have experience with both! I adored the only other book I’ve read by this author – The Dovekeepers, but I loved this even more. Highly recommended.

"Love him more, not less." ...more

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Aug 07, 2018 Brina rated it really liked it

Shelves: magical-realism, historical-fiction, art

I had had The Marriage of Opposites on my radar for awhile, after savoring Rules of Magic and its sequel Practical Magic late last year. Magical realism has been my favorite genre since I transitioned to reading adult books during middle school- its been years to say the least- and I have found Alice Hoffman's books to be full of magical occurrences that make ordinary days vibrant. I have also been fond of impressionist art since my childhood of going to the Art Institute of Chicago and viewing I had had The Marriage of Opposites on my radar for awhile, after savoring Rules of Magic and its sequel Practical Magic late last year. Magical realism has been my favorite genre since I transitioned to reading adult books during middle school- its been years to say the least- and I have found Alice Hoffman's books to be full of magical occurrences that make ordinary days vibrant. I have also been fond of impressionist art since my childhood of going to the Art Institute of Chicago and viewing the works of master artists. Needless to say, The Marriage of Opposites appeared to contain many facets that made it a book that I would savor. I proposed this book as a buddy read and found two groups of ladies happy to join me, in the groups reading for pleasure and retro chapter chicks, both here on goodreads (check them out). What followed was a tale of descriptive island life followed by heightened discussions.

Rachel Pomie grew up on the island of St Thomas during the early 1800s when Jews and Blacks enjoyed full rights granted to them by the Danish government. Despite being able to practice their religion freely, groups did not intermix. Most well to do people still kept housekeepers in their homes, and, while they developed friendships inside the home, it was looked down upon by society as a whole if they mixed in public. Rachel's father Moses Monsanto Pomie escaped to St Thomas in a manner similar to that of his biblical namesake. Carried to freedom in a basket by his able servant Enrique, Moses moved his family along with their family apple tree from San Domingue to St Thomas amidst calls for a revolution and rioting. It was in the relative safety of St Thomas that the Pomie family flourished as traders and local business men and became pillars of the island's Jewish community.

Women, however, were still considered property of both their fathers and husbands. Rachel Pomie was the sole surviving child of her parents Moses and Sara, and her father was determined to teach her as he would a son. Rachel learned how to balance account books as well as to converse in Dutch, French, Spanish, German, and English. This angered her mother, who had always desired a male heir, having lost a boy in infancy, and lead to a rivalry between the two women that would last a lifetime. Rachel found solace in reading fairytales by Charles Perrault as well as writing her own stories in a notebook that she kept hidden from her mother. She explored the island alongside her only and closest friend Jestine, the daughter of family housekeeper Adelle, and the two girls grew up like sisters. While their relationship, as well as any interracial relationship was frowned upon by most islanders, Moses Pomie was color blind when it came to race. As such, Rachel and Jestine grew up as sisters through their ups and downs and learned every inch of their vibrant island home, and swore to each other that one day they would live in the fairytale city of Paris.

When it came time to marry, Rachel married a widower Isaac Petit in order to expand on the family business; however, it was not a match of love as Isaac favored his deceased wife Esther. Rachel called upon the spirit of Esther in order to help her through trying times and became a loving step mother to Esther's three surviving children as well as the four children she had with Isaac. Yet it was not a love match, and Adelle, who Rachel viewed as a mother, insured Rachel that she would fall in love, and she would know instantly when it happened. This love match occurs when Isaac passes away and his nephew Frederic Pizarro arrives from France to take over the family business. The two are smitten with each other even though the Jewish community calls the relationship incest, Rachel and Frederic carry on as though its nobody's business but their own. After years, the scandal blows over, and the two go on to have four more children, including Abraham Jacobo Camille Pizarro, the father of French impressionistic art.

Hoffman vibrantly describes both St Thomas island life as well as Paris so that the reader feels as though they are there. She uses colors and textures to enrich the prose which includes ample references to St Thomas food and culture as well as Camille Pizarro's paintings down to the most minute details. Yet, what takes this novel to new heights is the use of magical realism, especially in the sections of the book that occur in St Thomas. Apple trees produce fruit whose taste mirrors the family mood, birds live as long as humans and become messengers of good news and protectors of fates, and Rachel and Jestine in their childhood adventures discover the place where sea turtles lay and hatch their eggs on their march to the sea and develop a turtle-woman who can not decide if her place is in the sea or on land, and remains as poignant symbolism throughout the duration of the novel.

Besides the vibrant island culture and bright life of mid 19th century Paris, Hoffman's text is full of mature talking points that make this novel ripe for book discussion groups. With the rights granted to all people on St Thomas, many interracial romances occur, including those denounced by the majority of the island. Yet, Adelle says love is love and should be color blind. Hoffman weaves these characters' stories into the text flawlessly, and these scorned love matches occur for nearly every couple in the novel. Then their is conflict between parents and children, religious practices and modernism, and the contrast between St Thomas and Paris and their societies and how all of these locales affect Camille Pizarro's art. With descriptive prose full of color, The Marriage of Opposites became a quick, vacation, beach read yet also a novel full of discussion talking points. Suffice it to say, this will not be the last time that I suggest to my friends at reading for pleasure and retro chapter chicks that we read one of Ms. Hoffman's vibrant novels.

4 shiny stars
...more

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