by
Publisher: Independently Published
Date of Publication: March 26, 2020
Galveston Island, Texas, September 2008 Katie doesn’t believe in ghosts. And she certainly doesn’t believe the rumors that her family’s home is haunted, despite its tragic history: two young women who lived there in different eras died in hurricanes—one during Hurricane Carla in 1961, one during the Great Storm of 1900, the greatest natural disaster to befall the United States. But that was the past, a fact Katie reminds herself of when she returns to Galveston to await Hurricane Ike with her parents and boyfriend in her family’s Broadway mansion, hoping to rekindle her flailing relationship.
While Katie is not afraid of the ghost stories she’s heard, she is afraid of the monster storm approaching. As even die-hard Islanders evacuate, her fears grow—fear of the looming hurricane, fear that she’s talentless as a painter, fear that her relationship with her boyfriend is already over. As Katie struggles against her fears, the past whispers to her of the women who died there and the haunting similarities they share with Katie’s own life.
Through three different timelines, Storms of Malhado weaves a story of Galveston’s past, underscoring its danger and isolation, as well as its remarkable resilience, and its capacity for both nostalgia and reinvention. Full of contradictions, at once insular and open to the world, Galveston Island is as much a character of the novel as Katie, Suzanne, Betty, their lovers, and their confidantes.
“Taking place entirely on a beautifully moody Galveston Island, Ms. Sandovici weaves three simultaneous stories with ease. With a timeless tale, ethereal language, and complicated characters, readers will be entranced by this modern ghost story. How many times can the past repeat itself? How do we recognize people through generations? The author tackles this topic amid a backdrop of violent nature and intangible dreamscapes.”
—Courtney Brandt, author of The Queen of England: Coronation, Grand Tour, Ascension
”Three women, three great storms, and one house, haunted by forbidden love and frustrated ambition. Get ready to be swept away by Sandovici’s foray into Galveston Island’s tempestuous history in this tale of lives intertwined across time.”
—Donna Dechen Birdwell, author of Not Knowing
Storms of Malhado by Maria Elena Sandovici is a maelstrom of lives interconnected throughout time in Galveston, Texas. Suzanne during the Big Storm in 1900, Betty during Hurrican Carla in 1961, and Katie during Hurrican Ike in 2008 face the storms of life sometimes head on and sometimes obliquely but always with the desire to love and be loved. The literal storms during these three times change lives, landscapes, and dreams, but they also churn up relationships between these three young ladies, their loves, and their devoted companions.
Everything about Storms of Malhado is beautiful and filled with raw emotions, desires, mistakes, fear, and love. How are Suzanne, Betty, and Katie connected through by time and storms? That discovery is a sensational journey into their lives, their similarities, and their desperate fear of abandonment by the men they love. But they are connected in another special way, and unraveling that connection throughout the story is a mesmerizing experience that needs to be savored.
Sandovici tells a tale that leaves the reader reeling from the complicated entanglements yet marveling at how seamlessly the stories of these three women are woven together into a lyrical novel about following your heart, even if that means scandal, heartache, and even death. A mansion on Galveston Island and artistic talent connect the three women, giving the overall story a solid anchor amidst the agitation of both the actual storms and the often reckless choices these three face. The characters are all fantastic and full of depth and intriguing personalities. Outside of the three women, their loves—Desmond, Cornelius, and George, respectively—are all tempests in themselves, giving off volatile anger one minute and then tender love the next.
At the end, in 2008, Katie, her boyfriend, George, and her mother face the wrath of Hurricane Ike, but that storm does more than pummel Galveston. Dreams and emotions and tossed up as well, changing their lives forever as they merge with the past and wonder at both the fragility and strength of true devotion.
Enter the giveaway below on or before May 31, 2020, for a chance to win a signed copy of Storms of Malhado by Maria Elena Sandovici.
I received a free copy of this book from Lone Star Book Blog Tours in exchange for my honest review.
Maria Elena Sandovici is a full-time writer, artist, and gallery owner living in Houston, Texas. After obtaining a Ph.D. in political science from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 2005, her curiosity led her to Texas, where she taught at Lamar University for fourteen years. She felt attracted to Galveston Island from her first visit and lived there part-time for three years before her artistic career took her to Houston.
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Thank you for the wonderful review, Ruthie! I feel like you really get me! ❤️
I cannot wait to read this book — it sounds like such a great break from reality and a chance to get immersed in other lives. Thanks for a great review.
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