I liked it, but I wanted to like it a lot more than I did. The book is about two women who have traveled to Easter Island: Elsa, who goes there with her new husband and her mentally disabled sister just before World War I, and Greer, who goes there in the 1970's as a female scientist looking to do research and also recover from both her husband's betrayal and his death. Chapters alternate between the two women. I thought the book sounded so interesting, and I was disappointed that the two stories weren't ever really intertwined. There were many things I liked about it, but in some ways I felt it fell short.

I liked:

Greer's story. I thought Greer was frustrating, but I was still able to relate to her. Her struggle as a woman scientist in the 1970's to have her work recognized and taken seriously, her troubled relationship with her biologist husband, the way she gradually and reluctantly copes with disappointment, betrayal, and grief - these were all depicted believably and naturally.

The writing. I liked the writing in the chapters about Greer. It had a clarity and straightforwardness that I thought was really smooth and natural.

The history. Easter Island itself is fascinating. Facts about the island were always interesting, and were usually pretty well integrated into the story.

The science. I really liked that Greer was a scientist at heart. Her love and respect for scientific research comes through in the way she acts and thinks. I liked how she is one of those people who can't shut up about her own atheism - what a realistic flaw! I liked how the thing she fixates on most when looking back at her relationship is how her fraud husband could call himself a scientist, doing what he'd done. Greer's love for science was so strong and so natural, I almost took it for granted. Even Elsa's interest in research was well-portrayed and subtle. In fact, I think this parallel attraction to science was really the only thing that tied the two stories together for me.

I didn't like:

Elsa's story. Throughout most of the book, Elsa's story seemed like backdrop or intermission for Greer's. I was always bored during the Elsa chapters, and felt like they broke up the more interesting Greer storyline. The pacing of Elsa's story is a little awkward, plodding along until the very end, where a lot of twists and surprises unfold all at once... and then the book ends. Elsa's story doesn't get any time to wind down.

Present tense. The Elsa chapters are written in present tense, and also have a lot more direct description of thoughts and emotions. You are much more "in Elsa's head" - whereas in the Greer chapters, you're an observer. I don't generally like present tense much, and I thought it was pretty awkward here.

Ubiquitous sexual tension. For some reason, every character interaction was colored by sexual tension. No one was just a friend or just a colleague. For instance, Greer's best friend in college was a lesbian who had unrequited love for her. When we learned this, it colored all their previous friend interactions, in which the friend had been very loyal, honest, and supportive - a good friend. I was especially disturbed reading about the sexual tension between Elsa and her SISTER.

Ending. I actually liked the ending in a lot of ways. I liked how Greer finished her research via an event that was kind of a fluke - thought it made sense that when she finally started to recover and didn't need the research as a crutch, the answer came to her. I liked the tragic ending in Elsa's story and the fact that their problems didn't really get resolved (though I still wanted to have more wind-down to see Elsa deal with her loss and lack of closure). What I didn't like was the attempt to force a connection between the stories at the very end; it felt a little cheap, and made the lack of connection throughout the book seem even more obvious and disappointing.

In the end I still really liked Easter Island, but I thought it didn't quite live up to its potential. I'd definitely be interested in Vanderbes's future work.

The mighty statues that stand like ancient sentinels on Easter Island are some of the greatest archeological mysteries in the world. Who built them and why are only two of the questions that have swirled about them since they were first discovered. Using this mystery as merely a starting point, this well-written and deeply researched novel posits two additional historical mysteries as well as several personal ones onto the island for our consideration. It all makes for an excellent suspense novel with several concurrent stories adding a multi-layered historical resonance. The author creates an environment for richly enjoyable and interesting reading as long as we are capable of mentally juggling the various histories that seem to surface in the novel at the oddest moments. Well worth your time and effort if you like historical or scientifically flavored fiction. Recommended.

Like another reviewer here stated, I, too, do not understand the negative and highly critical reviews of this novel some readers (a minority, it should be noted) have posted. I enjoyed it immensely, devouring it in two sittings over a weekend.

The story had something for so many of my interests. I love historical fiction first off, and this book is certainly a fine example. I am fascinated by exotic locales - undoubtedly, Easter Island fits the bill. I love science, and archeology, anthropology and the natural sciences were well represented in this novel (and, I might add, presented in a not overly technical manner). Finally, two interesting and engaging personal sagas were expertly presented and, in the end, tied together, holding my attention throughout.

I felt that the author's writing style was fluid and engaging, the story compelling, and the end satisfying. I could not recommend this novel enough. I look forward to more from Ms. Vanderbes.

The central theme of this is excellent. A story worth telling. What it lacks is seemless continuity between the threads. I found myself getting lost between several well developed threads. I would get interested and involved only to find myself in another chapter trying to figure out where I was.

Still, I was drawn to this mysterious place and time and appreciated the opportunity to learn more about it.

The great thing about this book is that it allows you to form your own assumptions as to how the two stories are connected. Both stories contain two very strong and independent women in times when women aren't considered to be anything but wives and mothers.

The two stories is set 60 years apart from each other and both revolve around, as the title suggests, Easter Island. They are both written beautifully and the characters really stand out from one another. The unique personalities of each character makes the story even more riveting. In fact, the characters seem so real that I could believe it as a non-fiction.

The only thing that I did not like about the books is how it would drag sometimes about how Greer (one of the main characters) collects her plant samples. It would give a lot of specifics about how she is cleaning the sample or what she is doing work-wise that it takes away from the story a little. Plus, I found Elsa's story a lot more interesting as a whole than Greer's. Greer's did not get interesting until halfway through and too much of the book was spent on Greer than Elsa.

Overall, this is still a very strongly written book with great characterization and interaction. The only downside is that it could have been shorter than it is without a lot of the details of plant sample work. That's the only reason that I knocked one star off of this.