I sat down to write this review, ready to say that nothing huge and dramatic happens in this book.

I was about to tell you that this is a lovely little book, set in dramatic Colombia, amongst the beauty of rain forests on a coffee farm, where a woman leads her life the best she can, as she finds her own place in the world.

But then I remembered the volcano.

It’s hard to claim a volcano isn’t huge and dramatic – it’s a volcano.

So I did some more thinking. How had my faulty memory managed to marginalize the volcano, and quite a few other notably dramatic events?

Eventually, I came to the conclusion that it was the main character’s unique attitude. As an American who has lived for many years in Colombia, she handles things with an amazing blend of the two cultures.  Stepping back and forth between them so well  that the big drama fades into the background,  leaving the focus of the book right where it should be, on the young woman in search of her place in the world.

It just so happens that her world is run by men, contains active volcanoes, guerrilla fighters, monkeys, a bit of political turmoil, coffee crops and an occasional iguana in the water tank – making it infinitely more interesting to read about than our own.

Would I recommend it? I would. Drama aside, the information on the culture, rain forests and coffee growing would have been enough to keep me interested.

This honest review was given in return for a free copy of the book from its author.