The Moon in the Mango Tree

by Pamela Binnings Ewen Narrated by Elizabeth Evans

Overview

From Pamela Binnings Ewen, bestselling author of The Queen of Paris and Émilienne, The Moon in the Mango Tree is a lush historical novel set in the 1920s.

It is a dazzling decade, and Barbara Bond is a beautiful young singer torn between her fierce desire for independence and her deep, abiding love for her husband, a brilliant doctor. She has trained for years to sing grand opera, but soon after her marriage to Harvey Perkins, she learns that he has accepted an assignment as a medical missionary in the country of Siam. Suddenly Barbara is forced into the duty of a “good wife"-to support her husband's career, not her own. As resentment slowly grows, she travels with Harvey first to the jungles of Siam, then to the capital city of Bangkok, where he is now physician to the royal court.

As she struggles with the secrets straining their marriage, Barbara wonders if she has made the right choice. At last, leaving her husband in Bangkok, she flees to Paris, then Rome, where she can finally sing on stage. If Harvey loves her, the risk is worth it for a chance to have it all-her husband and her career. Why should she be forced to choose?

And, if she chooses, must the other be lost forever?

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

In her rich and heartfelt sophomore novel, Ewen (Walk Back the Cat) bases the story line on her grandmother's life as a missionary's wife in the 1920s in what is now Thailand. Barbara is a gifted opera protégée who gives up her dreams when she marries Harvey Perkins, a medical doctor bound for Siam. Feeling stifled and afraid, she loses her comfortable Christian faith amid the rigid fundamentalism of the poverty-stricken mission in rural Nan. The couple returns home after Barbara has a nervous breakdown, but Harvey's zeal for his work soon lands them in Siam again. The love between the two is endearing, and Ewen skillfully portrays Harvey's inability to understand his wife's deepest needs and her inability to understand what drives him. Ewen's prose is laudably rich in specific and colorful detail, which becomes a problem when it slows down the pacing. Judicious cutting would have improved this overlong narrative. Barbara's questions of faith constitute the core of the book, as she struggles to define what makes up a meaningful life. Some readers will be disappointed by her final choice, while others will cheer at the ending. Ewen is a talented writer, and this is a strong addition to Christian fiction. (May)

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Library Journal

Set in the 1920s and inspired by a true story, this debut novel revolves around a woman who chooses the love of a man over her desire to become an opera singer. She follows her missionary doctor husband to Siam, where she discovers a greater and more meaningful passion for the people she helps.

—Tamara Butler

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178133880
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	10/17/2023
Edition description:	Unabridged

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