The Olive Tree: The bestselling story of secrets and love under the Cyprus sun

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Yet Helena knows that the idyllic beauty of Pandora masks a web of secrets she has kept from William, her husband, and Alex, her son. At the difficult age of thirteen, Alex is torn between protecting his beloved mother, and growing up. And equally, he is desperate to learn the truth about his real father . . . Mi personaje favorito de esta novela fue Alex, un jovencito de 13 años, muy maduro para su edad, además es un niño superdotado y muy muy sensible, es imposible no encariñarse con él. THE AUTHOR: Lucinda Riley is an Irish author of popular historical fiction and a former actress. She spent the first few years of her life in the village of Drumbeg near Belfast before moving to England. At age 14 she moved to London to a specialist drama and ballet school. She wrote her first book aged twenty four. Lucinda died in June 2021. Aún recuerdo el día, igual que todos, que entré a mis redes sociales, para encontrarme con la noticia del fallecimiento de Lucinda Riley el 2021. No la conocí en persona, pero sentí pena y hasta un poco de temor, de qué pasaría con su obra, más que recién estaba comenzando a juntar la saga de “Las siete hermanas”. Por lo que este es el primer libro que leo desde aquella noticia.

The Olive Tree by Lucinda Riley Book review: The Olive Tree by Lucinda Riley

When Helena meets Alexis, her first love, it destabilises her relationship with her husband. Do you think this is a common phenomenon? Tengo que decir que Lucinda Riley sigue sorprendiéndome, a pesar de estar escrita hace diez años según comenta ella, es una historia que te atrapa enseguida, tenemos unos personajes muy reales y humanos, con sus defectos, con sus problemas y muchos secretos. Secretos que en mayor o menor medida afectan a todos. Me ha gustado mucho la forma en que está contada, transcurre en Pandora, una casa antigua situada en un pueblo de Chipre, entre viñedos y olivos y ha sido muy fácil imaginarlo todo, era como estar viéndolos entrando y saliendo, en la piscina, en la playa, etc.. And above all, this book is purely misogynistic. Why did the author feel the need to give her male characters permission to treat their women like that? All the male characters are judgemental creeps, including Alex. It feels like the women don't have the right to have a life outside of their family. "Oh, you had sex with another man before you were my wife/my mother? You depraved whore!"

The book is not only narrated by Helena, but also by Alex’s childhood diaries. How did you find this glimpse into his character? Do you believe this was an accurate representation of a 13-year-old’s voice? How did Alex’s character develop during the events of the summer at Pandora? Are there aspects of the adult Alex that are still the same as his childhood self? Pandora, Grecia, las costas de Chipre, donde conoceremos la historia de Helena, la bella Helena, que después de veinticuatro años, vuelve al lugar donde pasó un mágico verano, esta vez con su marido e hijos. Pero no es solo la odisea de Helena, sino también la de su hijo Alex, quien, a sus trece años, vive la compleja etapa de la adolescencia y al igual que el famoso mito de la caja, aquel lugar esconde más de algún secreto que lucha por salir… Stars. One reader described this book as fluff, but decent fluff. LOL!! That is exactly what The Olive Tree was.

LE SECRET D’HELENA | Lucinda Riley LE SECRET D’HELENA | Lucinda Riley

I don't understand how this book has this rating on Goodreads. I mean... it's a soap opera. One more generation and we would have talked "The Young and the Restless". I'm not one to leave books aside once I've started them - call it Aries persistency - but this was one of the few books that made me cringe every step of the way. My definition for this genre is "frustrated housewife who never gets any". Una historia con un protagonista indiscutible y adorable, acompañado de personajes tan adorables como el protagonista y otros no tanto pero que complementan una historia super entretenida, ágil, tierna, de esas que se leen rapidísimo y con un enganche absoluto, sumado a que todo ocurre en Chipre a orillas del Mediterráneo, entre olivos y viñedos, no queda otra mas que querer descubrir cual es el secreto que tiene Helena. Helena es un personaje entrañable, sufre mucho, arrastra muchos remordimientos y para mí es una víctima de todo, desde niña. Al igual que ella, está bien que Alex pase por lo mismo, que entienda que en ocasiones decir la verdad no es nada fácil y sus consecuencias. Los personajes secundarios todos entrañable Williams, se nota su gran amor por Helena y sus hijos, tiene temperamento y se enfada, pero es comprensivo y justo, también me han sorprendido Alexis y Jules, demuestran su gran corazón y ayudan en todo lo que pueden, aunque ella en alguna ocasión me sacaba de mis casillas.Yet, as soon as Helena arrives at Pandora, she knows that its idyllic beauty masks a web of secrets that she has kept from William, her husband, and Alex, her son. At the difficult age of thirteen, Alex is torn between protecting his beloved mother, and growing up. And equally, desperate to learn the truth about his real father... Is ‘Pandora’ just a place of tranquility and beauty or will it reveal the uncomfortable secrets that Helena is desperate to keep, secrets that could change their lives and there is an Olive Tree that holds a secret of its own. To be fair, Lucinda Riley has been popping up on my radar for some time now, so when The Olive Tree was gifted to me at Christmas I was super excited to jump straight in.

THE OLIVE TREE | Lucinda Riley THE OLIVE TREE | Lucinda Riley

The Olive Tree is a sun-soaked story of family secrets and an unforgettable summer in Cyprus, from Lucinda Riley, international bestselling author of the Seven Sisters series. Alex, on the other hand, actually was perfect. I can’t express enough how much I enjoyed his ‘voice’, even towards the end of the book when he was no longer a teen, but an early-twenty-something. If not for Alex this would have been a very drab read indeed. But because of Alex, I know that Ms Riley is a great writer, and because of Alex I will pursue Ms. Riley’s other books and give them a fair chance. For the record, this novel does not seem to intend to denounce these types of behaviors, which are not OK at all. En cuanto a la construcción de la historia y personajes, definitivamente la recomiendo, porque en parte recuerda a una obra teatral, cuyos personajes a simple vista, se ve que tienen una función concreta que interpretar, pero el talento de Lucinda hace que nos sorprendamos para bien con varios de ellos, al salirse del molde. En especial, destaco a Chloe y Jules, por la evolución que tienen.

J’ai beaucoup aimé le suspense sur les secrets d’Helena. On est tenu en haleine en attendant les révélations ! J’ai trouvé cette histoire passionnante. Les décors sont superbes et les personnages attachants. » Son de estas novelas que es imposible no sentir, no emocionarse y que me hizo meterme de lleno en sus vidas como un personaje más del libro. The Olive Tree has an entirely different mood and voice. Much lighter and with a nice subtle sense of humour which I appreciated. Each character, from Alex to Helena is very recognizable and you can't help but empathize with their ups and downs. Perhaps because this book was inspired by real life, it's easy pace and heart felt emotions shine through. There's the trademark mystery clues strewn throughout but it never becomes annoying or predictable. Creo que está muy bien documentada y ambientada, los lugares de ensueño, las costumbres, las leyendas y la mitología.

The Olive Tree: The bestselling story of secrets and love The Olive Tree: The bestselling story of secrets and love

Me enamore de Alex nada más comenzar este libro, Alex es especial, es de esas personas que ven las cosas donde otros no lo ven.When, by chance, Helena meets her childhood sweetheart, her past threatens to collide with her present. She knows that the idyllic beauty of Pandora masks a web of secrets that she has kept from her husband and thirteen-year-old son. And that, once its secrets have been revealed, their lives will never be the same . . .