Official Review: Before We Died by Joan Schweighardt

[greenland]

Novels with a little adventure such as this is superb, This fictional historical novel is one I look forward to.....Life hardships aren't the only things humans must face in this this world love hardship is another always highly underestimated...A wonderful story I look forward to reading in details

[jaliper]

History of rubber? Okay. I've read weirder things lol. But nevertheless, I like history novels. If you enjoyed it ,then I prolly will too. I'll put this on my shelf and try to read it. Thanks

[Jew_eal]

The historical fiction of the book intrigues me. And I m also interested in the diverse languages and cultures.
A book on south America's rubber boom rates this a 4.4

[Morfae_93]

Historical fiction is one of the most interesting genre's out there, in my opinion, provided, of course, that the research has been properly done and the story set within the chosen time period comes across as authentic (or, at least, as authentic as possible, given that it's fiction). Despite the fact that Before We Died is a rather ominous choice of title, it certainly didn't fail to immediately pique my interest. The Foreword written by the author, Joan Schweighardt, offers the reader a concise, yet informative historical background on the emergence and the development of the rubber business.
I have to admit that after reading the foreword, I expected the rest of the book to be delivered in a similar style and so I was very pleasantly surprised when this wasn't the case. Moreover, the story - told from the point of view of one of the main characters, Jack - is delivered using the dialect (or so I presume) spoken in New York of that time (i.e. the beginning of the twentieth century), joined by some Portuguese words commonly used in the rubber business at the time. That alone instantly drew me into the story, an effect enhanced by the detailed, even vivid description of houses, docks, people, the Amazon rainforest, etc.
When I reached the end of the free sample offered for perusal on Amazon I was rather disappointed because I just wanted to keep reading to find out how the adventure the two brothers, Bax and Jack, have embarked upon continues. Needless to say, I will be buying the book - I strongly recommend everyone else does as well.

[QuirkyPenn]

Thanks to the reviewer this sounds exactly like my cup of tea. Tragedy, comedy and in-depth characters. Marvelous!

[Cwaganagwa Dorothy]

Thanks for the review Ritah, I know what to expect, while reading the story. A fiction drawn into a time that used to exist with ups and downs fused with superstition is a good creation by the author. The fact that the author carried out research from your own findings adds enhancement, and I am looking forward to reading the tale in totality.

[OK 22nd]

Thanks for the review. I'm now sure I'm going to like the full story since I'm a fan of historical facts.