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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A 1920s Lady Reporter, Mayan Ruins, And Forbidden Love, October 1, 2009
This review is from: The Sacred Well: A Novel (Paperback)
I have been to Mexico on two separate occasions and not once have I been to visit the Chichen Itza ruins. Now I am seriously regretting that decision and the destination is going on my PLACES TO VISIT BEFORE I DIE list. This historical novel tells the true story of Alma Reed, a reporter in 1920s San Francisco that after saving the life of young Mexican boy on death row, makes an archealogy expedition to the ruins. She uncovers shocking information and hears incredible Mayan legends as well as begins a heartbreaking romance with Felipe, the governor of Yucatan, a married man. While learning about Alma and the moral dilemmas she faced in Mexico, readers are also introduced to a modern day heroine, Sage. Sage is writing about Alma and facing some similar choices. She has a partner of twelve years that has become a demanding, bed ridden patient rather than a supportive lover. When a man named David sweeps her off her feet, Sage must make some hefty decisions not unlike those of Alma. She must choose between Mark and David. Will she follow a path like Alma chose?
I really enjoyed this. It was a quick, light, easy read with great research put into it. The descriptions were "just right," not too much nor too little. I managed to feel like I was in Mexico wearing a flapper dress and it didn't take Ms. May 5 paragraphs of descriptive details to accomplish that. A good read. I think it could have done completely without the modern day heroine and not lost a beat.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rollercoaster of Mayan/Mexican history, April 5, 2009
This review is from: The Sacred Well: A Novel (Paperback)
Alma Reed, the real-life subject of the Mayan/Mexican history in this novel, was an "Indiana Jones" of her time. A bright, tough, determined and funny woman who tests her mettle in the midst of the Mexican Wars of the early twentieth century, Alma "discovers" the Yucatan and the Maya. She finds their history and archaeology and lives it with her relationship with, Filipe, the forward thinking Governor of Yucatan. Their story is exciting, romantic and tragic.
May uses the structure of a contemporary travel writer learning about Alma Reed while having a drink in a Merida bar during a trip to the Yucatan. David Winslow, the man who tells the writer, "Sage Sanborn", about Reed becomes a reseach/romantic partner in contrast to Sanborn's long-term relationship with a brilliant attorney, now dying of cancer.
The balance of the two women's narratives, both told in the first person, is perfect. Neither detracts from the other, but adds to the intensity of conflicts as Sanborn experiences Alma's trail and reveals her own passage. Each must discover and accept her goals, to grasp priorities, and to believe in them.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
intriguing premise, March 28, 2009
This review is from: The Sacred Well: A Novel (Paperback)
Fortyish travel writer Sage Sanborn is in Mexico's Yucatan on a writing assignment to describe romantic spots in the Peninsula. During a storm, she rushes inside a tavern in Merida. There she meets David Winslow who asks her to join him for a drink. They listen to a local band play a haunting love song that David insists was written by a former states governor.
In 1923 Yucatan Governor Felipe Carillo Puerto and American female journalist Alma Reed met and fell in love. She reported the plundering of Mayan artifacts, which angers some locals. Soon afterward Felipe is assassinated; Alma blames herself for the murder of her beloved as her article led to his death.
Sage returns to San Francisco where her boyfriend Mark lives to write the heartbreaking story of Felipe and Alma. However, she also misses David and considers returning to him and the Yucatan.
SACRED WELL is an intriguing premise of an American female reporter investigating the true life story of Alma Reed. The two subplots eight plus decades apart are fascinating to follow especially the historical based on the tragic love between Alma and Felipe. Although the contemporary lacks the excitement of the 1920s, fans will enjoy this fine tale of a modern American journalist searching for what her counterpart found in 1923 in the Yucatan.
Harriet Klausner
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