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Product Description
Review
An engaging, if somewhat overwritten, autobiography that recounts a young gift's coming of age on the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. Johanna Angermeyer's father, Hans, escaped from WW II Germany to the Galapagos Islands only to have his life reshattered by the war when Ecuadorean policy forced Johanna's Russian-American mother, Emma, to return to the US - where Hans, as a German national, was refused admission. Emma rejoined Hans briefly in 1947, during which time Johanna was conceived, but when Hans died a year later of TB it was alone and without ever having seen his youngest daughter. This entire period was never talked about during the author's childhood in California, and she grew up with both a vague sense that her destiny belonged elsewhere and a hunger to learn more about her "mysterious" father. Unfortunately, it is this latter "quest" that Angermeyer uses to create a backbone for her memoirs, although her own subsequent experiences on the exotic isles are much more affecting In 1961, her mother decided to move back to Ecuador with her family, to the joy of the then-14-year-old Johanna. Island life proved to be a continual struggle for survival - catching rainwater in a bucket, battling rats and impetigo - but Johanna simultaneously developed a profound love for the paradisiacal beauty and vitality of the Galapagos that she is uncannily adept at conveying. Her description of life on the island is told with an ingenuousness that is truly charming, and she never lets false dignity get in the way of a colorful recount. Angermeyer's real-life Swiss Family Robinson tale suffers from certain innocent faults - a soft narrative structure and awkward attempts at lyricism (such as "Mary and I nestled like amiable spoons in the bed," or "Twigs in the oven crackled irreverently") - but still should appeal to a wide range of readers. At its best, her description of life on the Galapagos during the 1960's can be intoxicating. (Kirkus Reviews)
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
A true story that incorporates biography, adventure and the elements of armchair travel. Angermeyer, who grew up in Nebraska, embarks on a search to discover what happened to her father, a refugee from Hitler, on the Galapagos Islands where he and her mother had lived before his death.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was a book I picked up with the "I have nothing else to read..." syndrome, but once picked up, I didn't put it down until finished. A cross between biography and travel, Johanna's book at times seemed to include large parts of fantasy as well, so incredible and hard to believe was the story. As a child, Johanna knew she was different, but when she and her family saw her uncles on a television documentary about the Galapagos Islands, her circumstances changed rapidly. Then follows her quest to find out the stories of her mother, her uncles, and her long-lost father. The writing style is lucid with great descriptions of both people and places. I am looking forward to the sequel.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Read this touching and hilarious account of how it was to live in the Galapagos Islands before the world discovered them. It is un-put-down-able "shipwrecks, strange hermits on desert islands and fallen air heros" all told through the eyes of a sensitive young girl on the verge of adulthood. Should be made into a film!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The author never knew her father, Hans Angermeyer, nor was she familiar with the circumstances of his last years or death. He was one of five brothers who left Nazi Germany in 1935, sailing to the Galapagos Islands to make a new home. In Ecuador, he married an American widow, Emmasha, who had a small son. They had one child and another on the way when war came. Emmasha and the children returned to the U.S.; Hans, a German national, was denied admittance. When the author was 13, the family returned to Ecuador and to the Galapagos for a meeting with relatives. Living on the island--even without amenities and with its perils--was paradise. Angermeyer learned to hunt, fish and enjoy a Robinson Crusoe-like existence. She gives an engaging account of life on the island with an extended family--and she gradually pieces together the events surrounding her father's death. It is a remarkable story of adventure, romance and the fulfillment of a dream.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Informative, Humorous, Descriptive: A Delightful Read!
My wife and I love reading good books out loud to each other, and My Father's Island gave us great joy ~ not only during the first oral reading with our children in 1995, but also... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Robin Roberts
Utterly fantastic
An utterly fantastic book, brilliantly written, fascinating details of her family life and about the Galapagos Islands, just amazing. Read more
Published 3 months ago by P A Noble
I want to go
Wonderful book, I can hardly put it down.It is so readable and interesting, and a real family history about real people and their quest. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mrs. I. Adams
a magical book
I bought this book at least 15 years ago. I was soon caught up in its magic. I have re read it at least three times and often wonder what the subsequent history of the family was... Read more
Published on 4 Feb 2010 by Mr. A. W. Powsey
OK...
There aren't that many choices if you want to take a travel book from a previous visitor to the Galapagos with you. Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2010 by TAL
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