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The second plotline takes us to the war-torn African country of Burundi, where young Parfait is determined to help his brothers and sisters escape poverty by travelling to Europe. The storytelling was woven through threads of Burundi and Spain, and at times I suspected or thought I had a glimpse of the ending, but some of twists were certainly not expected.
Here is a quick description and cover image of book The Other Half of Augusta Hope written by Joanna Glen which was published in June 13, 2019. In the end it’s a novel about forgiving yourself for the things you couldn’t have known, couldn’t have changed.Augusta is a twin, who has a fascination for words, and etymology and is the complete opposite of her beautiful twin sister Julia. One minute it will make you feel warm and fuzzy inside, like being wrapped up in a warm blanket, and the next, it will break your heart into a million pieces. Two very different backgrounds but from the start the author leads the reader on a journey that makes you hope Augusta’s and Parfait’s worlds will one day collide. All of the characters were carefully created and completely believable - I felt like that I knew them well and I was just not ready to lose them when the story ended.
The author seems to intuitively understand people as she charts the development of Augusta and Julia from childhood, through adolescence to adulthood with all the pitfalls on the way. She enjoys words and Burundi and she doesn't like the small town she lives in finding it very parochial.The narrative switches between Augusta and Parfait who are both complex characters with wildly different upbringings but who, at the same time, seem to have things in common. I found the writing to be very lyrical as though the author is an artist just like Parfait and some sections really stand out for the exceptional quality of prose regarding Augusta and julia’s relationship.
Her sister Julia was born on the last day of July and Augusta the first day of August, hence their names. I totally loved this book and the messages of determination, ambition and destiny are healing and inspirational. Joanna Glen has written this novel so beautifully and with a lovely lightness of touch which made even the most sombre parts of the book easier to digest. A thread of personal struggle, tragedy, loss and unresolved grief weaves throughout their lives and connects them when they eventually meet one another.Glen's impressive novel touches on the lives that lie behind Europe's refugee crisis, the losses and darkness experienced in their different ways by an Augusta that manages to snag a piece of my heart, as indeed does the incredible Parfait, so tenacious and determined, and the relationship, that against all the odds, which springs up between the two of them. Bittersweet coming of age novel with twins Julia and Augusta, born a few hours apart which is enough to give them 2 different birthdays and allows them both to be named after the month of their birth. Those sections of the book felt palpable, I felt transported into the pages as if I was experiencing it too. It touches upon so many interesting themes - grief, belonging, friendship, migration - that once I finished reading, I longed to discuss it with someone. Augusta's close bond with Julia continues until the point that Julia meets Diego, after which the spaces between them grow.
And now that she's an adult, Augusta has no interest in the goings-on of the small town where she lives with her parents and her beloved twin sister, Julia. In alternating chapters, the narrative relates the story of these two individuals as they grow up and try to fulfill their ambitions. The story of immigration tragedies resonated deeply with me; the lives lost in the Mediterranean, perusing the dream of a better life, indeed, of any form of life, are heartbreaking. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images Alternating chapters are narrated by Augusta and Parfait, a boy growing up in Burundi. He plans to walk to Tunisia and from there sail across the sea that looks like a river and just start again in Spain.My criticism would be that some of the "minor" characters felt stereotyped (and, given that this was a contemporary novel, Augusta's father had been "beamed in" from a previous decade/Century! I don't believe in coincidences and although some may think the book is full of them I prefer to think of it as synchronicity. The situations in which the characters find themselves are, at times, heartbreaking and harrowing, but there is also light relief in the form of humour.
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