Customer Reviews

HIDDEN LATITUDES: A Novel

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3 star:		(3)
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In 1937, aviatrix Amelia Earhart disappeared with her navigator, Fred Noonan, somewhere in the South Pacific while attempting a circumnavigation of the globe. The mystery of Earhart's fate has captured the public's imagination for decades. Did she perish when her plane hit the water? Was she captured by the Japanese and executed as a spy? Was she abducted by space aliens? Is she living in Idaho with Elvis?

The premise of Alison Anderson's novel HIDDEN LATITUDES, which is set in1979, is that Amelia has survived 42 years as a castaway on a tiny Pacific atoll, the last 40 alone. Then one day, a 35-foot sailboat, the "Stowaway", with husband Robin and wife Lucy aboard, anchors in the island's lagoon, her engine kaput and her hull reef damaged. Might this be Earhart's ride home?

In chapters that alternate between the "voice" of Amelia and those of her might-be rescuers, the author explores the loneliness that derives from complete isolation from the world as compared with that despairing aloneness which grips the partners in a failing marriage. Earhart has become so accustomed to solitary life on her little island that she hesitates to reveal her presence to Robin and Lucy, whose marital difficulties are only exacerbated by their present crisis. At 82, Amelia wonders what would be gained by returning to a world that would regard her as an historical curiosity, soon to become nothing but an aged crony. Being young and not realizing the value of what they have together, Robin and Lucy internally contemplate the possibility of separation once they get back to "civilization".

I liked HIDDEN LATITUDES insofar as the poignancy of Anderson's plot resides almost solely in the Earhart character as she "remembers" for the reader the significant events of her life since she and Fred lost their way, including two near-rescues snatched away early on by cruel Fate. To this extent, Anderson has crafted an imaginatively satisfying "what if" scenario. On the other hand, the Robin and Lucy characters become so caught up in their dysfunctional behavior while struggling to make their boat seaworthy that they approach dangerously close to becoming tiresome. They're so self-absorbed in their own bickering that they fail for too long to follow up on clues that another human is present on this "deserted" island. You want to yell at them, "Snap out of it. Look around you!"

At one point, Amelia sneaks a book from the "Stowaway":

"In my shelter there is a new treasure, a novel. ...I have taken it from them ... but I think if they could ever know the pleasure it will give me they would not mind. Dare I read it over and over, for the pleasure? As it happens I cannot read quickly. I am not used to letters on a page anymore. ... I read aloud, quietly; words and voice struggle together against neglect. Yet I can savor the words and pictures they convey. ... I am like a child, learning to read, learning the world I have forgotten."

Perhaps more than anything else, Earhart yearns for the small things of life like jam, a scissors to cut her hair, a new pair of shorts, needle and thread. And, God bless her, books.

Throughout the book, I can see what I think that author is getting at. She wants us to look beyond our materialistic world, to look beyond the people we are in the world we know. All a very valid message.

I find her message in the acknowledgement section somewhat confusing, that perhaps this is not Amelia Earhart afterall, that the reader should make up their own minds. If not Amelia Earhart, then why the companion named Fred, the talk of the fame that this woman knew would surround her when she arrived home and the references to the lost Electra.

Lucy and Robin were not terribly heartwarming characters in my opinion. They both seemed quite immature, self centered and shallow and I doubt that in the long term they would be able to hold a relationship together. They probably matured from their experience, but I think they might find being full time parents rather boring and I see each of them drifting into their old lives and habits, leaving the child to almost raising itself.

As to the woman that the author suggests to be Earhart, she has no choice as to the life she has led on this island, though I find it somewhat unlikely that after 40 years rumors from the Japanese and some natives might not have caused someone to come and take another look.

Inspite of the above criticisms, it was a fast read with a rather predictable ending.

Imagine Amelia Earhart stranded on a tropical island, and imagine that 40 yrs later a young couple beaches their sailboat on that same island. That's the premise of Hidden Latitudes. Anderson writes convincingly, alternating between Earhart's voice (and now 70yo doesn't immediately reveal herself to these newcomers) and a 3rd-person narrative of the two sailors, whose marriage was shaky to begin with, and now they've got shipwreck to contend with.
Sounds iffy, right? But set aside your doubts, pick this book up, and read it. Besides being a superb first novel, it's a superb story. You won't be disappointed.

This book made me sigh when it was finished. I read it a couple of years ago, and have hunted for a copy to keep since. Beautifully and lovingly written, it speaks to all of us who have wondered if we have the courage and strength to face real solitude, if we will come out on the other side of it changed forever. A confimation of the will to survive, whether on a deserted island or in the middle of a traffic jam.

What a spectacular read! I've never read a book as lyrical as this one. The words flow from her pages to your heart like a perfect glass of wine. This book is not about Earhart. It is about solitutde, inner peace, struggle and ultimate self acceptance. I'm an avid reader, always looking for the perfect book. This is one I'll treasure all my days. I hope Ms. Anderson continues to use her unquestionable gift to enrich our lives.

We probably will never know what happened to Amelia Earhart and her navigator, but this novel surely sets the imagination on an interesting journey. Youth and age, solitude and lonliness, nature and science, wisdom and immaturity, patience and restlessness, the self-reliant and the self-centered are symbolized beautifully. From beginning to end, Ms. Anderson's lyrical prose enhances the rhythm of nature's peace and wrath. I look forward to her next book.

Alison Anderson's "Hidden Latitudes" does have a interesting premise, that Amelia Earhart survived and lived on a small island in the Kiribati islands, and she has been marooned for so long that she no longer wishes to leave. A unhappy married couple stops at the island to repair their boat, and they soon discover that they are not alone, but they are afraid and annoyed by their "visitor". They argue and we find ourselves uninterested in them. Ending is kind of muddled

I bought this book used and let it sit on my shelf for almost 2 yrs until I picked it up and actually read it. Now I'm kicking myself for not reading it sooner. I can't get enough of the book - The story weaves a couple of plots, the first is a captive what-if Ameila Earhart was stranded on a deserted island (Who knows, stranger things have happened!). And the second plot is of a mid-life couple struggling through independence and love issues. And of course the two themes interwine!

This is a wonderful book! I walked away haunted by how one would face such complete solitude, and appreciative of the relationships I am able to enjoy on a daily basis. The character on the island is so fascinating, and I loved the way the auther gives you bits of her story little by little. I will remember the story a long time.

In the hugeness of the Pacific ocean, the sky & an unnamedisland, a hushed and musing voice speaks to us of 40 years ofsolitude, of watching & waiting for a white sail to hove to on the horizon, enter the lagoon & come into the calm reaches of the island. A couple with a stale marriage are on board & marooned while they repair their vessel, the watcher remembers. Deeply magical, fascinating & thoughtful. Lovely stuff!...