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He befriends a Spanish missionary who comes to work in Burundi and plots to leave his home land and head to Spain for a better life. When tragedy strikes he too is determined to leave for a better life and embarks on the long, long journey. The story is eventually woven to its conclusions and the revelations are painful but ultimately beautiful. Another book that made me feel like this was Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and I am sure that Augusta Hope will get compared to Eleanor Oliphant, as they both feature a quirky main character who is isolated and considered strange by many around them. Gradually, Augusta Hope worked her way under my skin, there was a lot to love about her and I think that I wanted to be her friend.
Some of this book is set in a small town in England, some are set in Burundi and the rest in Tarifa in Spain. She’s determined to find where she belongs – but what if her true home, and heart, are half a world away? I don’t have enough superlatives to describe how stunning this book is, it really has made such an impact on me and I think it’s a book I will read again in the future.Parfait leaves war-ravaged Burundi in the midst of civil war, and so their stories start to intertwine in the most unexpected ways. Their different birthdays are just the beginning of their differences, Julia is blonde, Augusta is dark, Julia is the perfect daughter who does as she is told, Augusta questions everything in life, Julia is a homebird and happy to stay in her home town, Augusta wants to move away, discover the world, as home doesn’t feel like home for her, and she feels second best. Once we reach the tragedy, the novel certainly picks up, but it also speeds up, so there could have been a bit more balance applied to the narrative. Augusta and Parfait's stories are complex and interesting, tied to the political realities of their worlds but operating in parallel - it's hard not to root for them.
They come from different worlds but they have such a lot in common you knew they were bound to meet at some point. She is very bright, reads encyclopedias and dictionaries for fun and is not entirely happy with her lot in life. This isn’t the only difference, Julia was born to please and is happy to live up to their parents limited expectations, marrying the boy next door and staying close to home even though his family are Spanish. The story is run in parallel between Augusta who lives in Britain but finds it hard to fit in with most people, including most of her own family. To say more would give away the plot of this memorable and beautifully-written story of two intelligent, courageous people who both resent the restrictions of the life they were born into.It is clearly a passion and she makes good use of it in this book, particularly the way she explored duende (a "Spanish term for a heightened state of emotion, expression and authenticity, often connected with flamenco", according to the dictionary). I found this a captivating and heartwarming read and one that will stay in my memory for a long time; a moving and remarkable read. Thanks so much to Harper Collins, Joanna Glen and NetGalley for the opportunity to read THE OTHER HALF OF AUGUSTA HOPE. Their lives weave in and around each others and the reader assumes that one day they will meet and their worlds will collide together.
Living in Hedley, Augusta is the younger twin, her beautiful sister, Julia, who is supportive of her and her world, despite the fact that the sisters could not be more different. Joanna Glen is an accomplished wordsmith and her use of language is clever , emotional and to be admired. It’s the sort of book you think about when you have to put it down and don’t want to finish because it is so good. Augusta is a twin, who has a fascination for words, and etymology and is the complete opposite of her beautiful twin sister Julia.I was instantly engaged by the narrative, and my heart was scalded by the shocking events that linked the distant lives of edgy, awkward Augusta and her ‘other half’, big-hearted, cool Parfait – two wonderful characters who will remain with me for a long time. She enjoys words and Burundi and she doesn't like the small town she lives in finding it very parochial. The characters of Augusta and Parfait are so well drawn (Augusta in particular, Parfait is slightly less 3 dimensional, though still a real person) and the way Joanna has drawn the threads of their very different lives together, weaving coincidence into a believable whole is beautifully done.
Thrust into the role of head of the family at only 14 he struggles to remain cheerful and keep his family safe. Running parallel with this story is the story of Parfait a boy who is born in the troubled African country of Burundi. There was so much sadness in the book and I didn’t feel that it was ‘heartening’, ‘full of hope’, ‘entertaining’ or ‘mesmerisingly beautiful’ (endorsements from the cover and inside pages). We follow the story of Augusta Hope, one half of a set of twins: Julia and Augusta - two girls born on either side of midnight July 31st, meaning on was born in July and the other in August. That The Other Half of Augusta Hope is authors Joanna Glen’s first book is really quite amazing and I can’t wait to hear more from the author.The second plotline takes us to the war-torn African country of Burundi, where young Parfait is determined to help his brothers and sisters escape poverty by travelling to Europe. The Other Half of Augusta Hope is a stunning debut novel, full of emotion and heart and I think it will be one of those books we will be talking about for the rest of the year. I cant say that knowingly would have read a book that handles such heavy, depressing issues, but I will say that it was delicately handled and threaded with hope so that I felt richer for having read it.
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