meganscribbles

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles by Katherine Pancol Review

This book is utterly charming and I couldn't put it down. Pancol is a top writer in France and this book has sold over 2.4 million copies in 30 countries and is now being released in the United States. It's absolutely worth picking up (you might not be able to put it down either).

The story begins with two sisters and their mother, but in separate narratives. Jo kicks her unemployed and cheating husband out. Iris suspects her husband is cheating. Harsh mother Henriette doesn't realize it but her husband, and the girl's stepfather, is in love with another woman.

And so the story proceeds to get ever more complicated.

In short, the book is about Jo though we get to hear the story from multiple perspectives. Jo and Iris live very different lives, the former a struggling expert in 12th century history and the latter a spoiled wife of a successful lawyer. But all characters are searching for something.

Jo's wife runs off the Africa to head up a crocodile farm, dragging his mistress along and running through her savings.

What I liked? The story and characters work. The book is so entertaining and we really do fall into the daily lives of these people. What I didn't like? The translation is a bit sketchy at time and the story strains credibility at times almost to the breaking point.

But I really loved it anyway. At the end of the day, the book engaged me emotionally and had me happily turning page upon page. An A book. Get this one!