A few years ago, I embarked on reading the English version of this book. However, I didn't take much pleasure in it and ultimately didn't complete it.

Now, having read numerous of her books in Spanish and thoroughly relished them, I decided to give this English version another try.

There is indeed a significant difference when one reads a translation compared to the original version. In this case, the book is so much better in Spanish. The nuances, the flow, and the essence of the story seem to be more vivid and engaging in the original language.

It makes me realize that sometimes, a translation might not fully capture the true spirit and beauty of the original work. Nevertheless, I'm still glad I gave it another chance, as it gives me a different perspective and allows me to appreciate the efforts that go into translating literature.

Maybe in the future, I'll be more inclined to seek out the original versions of books whenever possible to truly experience the author's intended vision.

This was a rather long and arduous road to reach a particular point.

To be honest, I wasn't precisely fond of the characters in this story. However, there was one redeeming factor. The woman who did the reading was extremely energetic, and her accent was truly wonderful.

From a nursing perspective, the efforts to halt the smallpox virus were quite interesting. It was fascinating to learn about the various strategies and measures that were implemented.

Nevertheless, a significant portion of the dialogue was what I would describe as "head talk" and it became rather repetitive after a while. This made it a bit challenging to stay fully engaged throughout the entire narrative.

Overall, it was a somewhat mixed experience, with both positive and negative aspects.

Two stories are alternately told in this work.

They are separated by time, yet they are linked thematically. It is an excellent story or stories, beautifully written.

Overall, I thought it "worked" and I was truly fascinated by the true story of the Spanish Royal Philanthropic Expedition. I had never heard of it until I read this book.

Although some critics have disliked Alma, the contemporary protagonist, I have a different view. I thought Alvarez really captured the self-absorption, which is so rampant today, and the attendant consequences of this modern malaise.

The way the two storylines unfold and intersect is masterful, drawing the reader in and keeping them engaged until the very end.

This book is a great example of how different times and characters can be brought together in a meaningful and captivating way.

It makes the reader think about the past, the present, and how they are all interconnected.

Whether you are a fan of historical fiction or contemporary stories, this book has something to offer.

It is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a well-written and thought-provoking tale.

What a huge disappointment! I had such high hopes for more of Julia Alvarez's brilliance, perhaps in the style of In the Time of the Butterflies or something similar. However, this book was a meandering, boring, and unengaging mess. It felt trite and lacking in any real substance. Man, Julia, what on earth happened to you? I truly believe she has been writing YA lit for far too long. This particular book seemed like YA lit that had been sloppily edited in an attempt to masquerade as adult literature. From what I can recall, it had something to do with smallpox, orphans, and a woman who time travels in dreams or something equally convoluted. God, I don't even want to think about it anymore. It was just that bad. The only reason it managed to get two stars was due to my lingering affection for Julia Alvarez's better works. When she's on her game, she can be truly amazing, but this one was straight up painful to read.

Yeah, it was okay.

You know how a book can do everything okay but just be a bit too obvious? The history of Balmis taking the smallpox vaccine around the world in the 1800s was cool. I thought, hey, I could really learn something here about Spain and colonisation and slavery and stuff. But I didn't really because all that was just spelling out this message with a sledgehammer.

It's like the author was trying so hard to make a point that it became overwhelming. Instead of letting the story unfold naturally and allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions, it was all just laid out there in a very blatant way.

I kinda hate when historical novels have alternate chapters with a parallel contemporary story. You always know what's coming. It feels like a cheap trick to try and make the book more relevant or engaging, but in reality, it often just disrupts the flow of the historical narrative and makes it seem forced.

Overall, the book had its moments, but it didn't quite live up to its potential.

Had I been reading this book rather than listening to it on my commutes, I would have quit.

The protagonist, Alma, whose story is awkwardly written in the present tense, is suffering from writer's block and depression. She discovers that one of her older, aging friends is dying from cancer. Meanwhile, her husband is sent to her native land, the Dominican Republic, under the guise of setting up a clinic for the natives to develop an AIDS vaccine. However, he is taken hostage.

Instead of writing her overdue novel, Alma becomes obsessed with an expedition in the 1800s to New Spain. In this expedition, a lady named Isabella, along with a doctor, Don Francisco, led a group of orphan boys as carriers of a smallpox vaccine to inoculate the New World. The descriptions of vesicules, pus, etc. are quite disgusting.

The reader is expected to make the connection between the two epidemics. Unfortunately, the book progresses at a snail's pace. Alma is an irritating heroine, and her friend activist, Tara, is equally trite and irritating. On the other hand, Helen, her dying friend, is portrayed as a saint.

I thought perhaps I was missing something, so I read a NYT review. To my relief, the reviewer and I were in agreement.

This is a remarkable book that presents two captivating stories within one volume.

The first story follows Alma, a novelist in modern times. She finds herself unable to continue writing a story that she no longer believes in. Instead, she focuses on the tale of Isabel, a rectoress entrusted by the Spanish king to lead several orphan boys for the smallpox vaccine in the Spanish provinces.

Both Alma and Isabel are on a mission. Alma's husband is working to set up a clinic in the Dominican Republic, while Isabel is determined to save the world through the complex process of the smallpox vaccine.

Despite the many challenges and dark hours they face, there is a powerful message of faith and hope that shines through.

It is an interesting story that had a profound impact on me. While it left me heartbroken at times, I couldn't help but be drawn in by the characters and their struggles.

I found myself wondering why authors often seem to think that tragedies are more interesting. Reading this book was an emotional journey, and by the end, I did like it, but I didn't love it.

Just like the modern protagonist, I felt a bit ambivalent about what I was supposed to take away from the more modern of the stories.

Overall, it is a thought-provoking and engaging read that will stay with me for a long time.

I have a great love for In the Time of the Butterflies. So, when I, along with my brand-new library card, happened to come across a Julia Alvarez book that I had never heard of before, I decided to give it a shot.

Well, unfortunately, this book is nothing like In the Time of the Butterflies. There is very little action, and it alternates back and forth between two stories without effectively unifying them. We begin by reading about Alma, a modern-day Dominican woman residing in Vermont. She is attempting, but failing, to complete the novel that she has promised to her publisher for years. Her publisher desires a saga novel about a Dominican family, yet Alma keeps getting distracted by the story of the Spanish Royal Philanthropic Expedition in the 1800s, which aimed to carry smallpox vaccine to the New World. It turns out that a nun named Isabel accompanied the young boys who served as a living chain of vaccine carriers. Although Isabel is just a minor mention in the books Alma has read, Alma is intrigued by this solitary woman traveling in a male-dominated world. Then the book switches to Isabel's story, and we learn how she managed to talk her way onto the ship to accompany the boys from her orphanage, ensuring they are not without a nurturing and motherly influence as they embark into the unknown.

It truly seems that Alvarez wants us to connect more with Alma's story. It is set in the present day, and Alma is clearly a surrogate for Alvarez herself. However, it is never entirely clear from the book whether we are truly reading Isabel's thoughts or if the Isabel chapters are actually the novel that Alma eventually intends to write about her. Nevertheless, Alma's chapters are generally slow and tiresome. She is simply too self-absorbed, self-centered, and uninteresting with her writer's block, marital dissatisfaction, and overall wish for everyone to leave her alone. Isabel's story contains most of the action, yet it is written in a manner that keeps the reader at a distance throughout. And when Alma's story finally starts to have some action, it is too little, too late, and I simply do not have the sympathy for her that I need to be compelled by the events that befall her.

Despite being critical of this book in this review, it is not as糟糕 as I might be making it sound. Isabel's story, in particular, was fascinating to read. I think I would have preferred a story solely about her rather than this alternating-narrator format that I received instead.

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time! As soon as I finished it, I wanted to start again.

It offers a unique perspective as it chronicles the Balmis-Smallpox vaccination expedition from Spain around the world. What makes it even more fascinating is that it does so through the eyes of the only woman included in the mission.

Simultaneously, the book delves into the concept of aid work within the context of the present. It makes you think about how far we've come in the field of vaccination and global health, yet also reminds us of the ongoing challenges.

The author's vivid descriptions and engaging narrative bring the historical events to life, making it a truly captivating read. Whether you're interested in history, medicine, or just a good story, this book has something for everyone.

AWFUL. I can't believe I even picked this book back up after I motored through HP7. What a waste of time. It is extremely redundant, which actually hurts my writerly soul.

Previously I had said that I've only just begun this book, so it's hard to say how good it will end up being.

The novel follows Alma, a 49-year-old woman attempting to pull herself out of a depressive funk while also attempting to write another novel. However, she keeps finding herself sidetracked by the novel's side research - a sea voyage in which a rectoress and 22 orphan boys are being used as carriers for the first smallpox vaccination. (Those of you who know me well are likely not surprised as I do enjoy a good disease book.)

The chapters alternate between Alma's story, as her husband travels to the DR and she stays home to finish the novel (and thus far also to wallow in self pity), and the story of the ship's crew as they travel on their mission of mercy. This is a very tough literary tactic for a writer to utilize successfully, this hopping back and forth, and I haven't yet decided whether it's working for me.

Thus far, the smallpox side of the story is the more compelling half. It has the potential to be a great historical account, but the redundancy in the writing is really dragging it down. I hope the author can pick up the pace and add more depth to the characters and the plot as the story progresses. Otherwise, this will just be another forgettable read.

Story within a story.

Alma Huebner writes about a medical do-gooder, the Spaniard Francisco Xavier Balmis. In 1803, he undertook to vaccinate the populations of Spain's American colonies against smallpox. To achieve this, he needed live "carriers" of the vaccine, which were orphan boys under the charge of Isabel Sendales y Gomez, who herself was scarred with smallpox.

Alma decides not to accompany her husband Richard when he travels to her native land, the Dominican Republic, on an extended AIDS assignment. Alvarez reveals the conflict between altruism and ambition.

This story within a story not only showcases the historical efforts of Francisco Xavier Balmis but also delves into the personal decisions and conflicts of Alma and Richard. It makes us think about the choices we make between our own desires and the greater good.

Will Alma regret her decision? How will Richard's assignment in the Dominican Republic impact their relationship? These are some of the questions that this story leaves us with, making it a thought-provoking and engaging read.

Hmmm. Well, the book initially held my interest and kept me going. However, as I delved deeper, it started to seem a bit ridiculous at certain points.

Essentially, there are two stories within the book, and one of them is significantly more captivating than the other. The historical research that Alvarez conducted and presented in the book regarding the first smallpox vaccine was truly intriguing and amazing. It was fascinating to learn about the details of that era. But, about three-fourths of the way through, it felt as if she was in a rush to wrap up the book yet still had a lot to convey. As a result, she skipped over many important aspects and lost some of the connection that the reader had built with Isabel. Nevertheless, that particular story was still interesting.

Now, the other story didn't flow smoothly for me. I never really got a clear sense of the personality of the main character, Alma. She was depicted as being depressed, loving her husband yet also wanting time away from him. She had a deep affection for Helen, an old neighbor in declining health, and a great friendship with her best friend. Alma was a writer who had abandoned a large saga she was committed to writing. That was understandable. She then became interested in the story of Isabel and Don Francisco and their expedition to vaccinate the world against smallpox, which I liked. I also appreciated the relationships Alma had with Helen and Tera. But once Helen's son entered the picture, things took a strange turn. At first, it was okay, but then Alvarez made him seem crazy, married to a crazy woman, and they engaged in even crazier behavior. Here, Helen is on the verge of dying, and Alvarez comes up with this far-fetched story where Alma's husband is taken hostage in a foreign country. So, Alma drops everything, including Helen, to save the day. I mean, it's obvious that one would choose their husband over their neighbor. But the idea that all this crazy stuff was happening simultaneously was unbelievable and a little tiring.

And then the book ended so bleakly. Okay, the last couple of pages had a glimmer of hope, but to be honest, things didn't turn out as one would have hoped for either Isabel or Alma. I could see what was coming for Isabel - at least she led a noble life. But for Alma, it was just meh. I read the book relatively quickly, so as I said, it kept me engaged, but I just kept hoping for something different. Alvarez's twists and turns were ultimately unsatisfactory.

I was initially going to give the book three stars, but upon further reflection, I think I'll change it to two.