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July 20, 2007 2:44 PM
BOOK REVIEW: Nine Summers by Rina Huber
I've never sailed. I've never actually had much interest in sailing. But I am interested in travelling around the Mediterranean, so I expected Nine Summers to be a vicarious travel treat. I wasn't disappointed, but it's more than that too.
When Felix Huber is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, he and his wife Rina decide to retire and spend however many years they have left sailing around the Mediterranean. Starting in France, they spend the next nine summers sailing their yacht Galatea from Italy to Greece to Turkey, even Israel.
On the way, they have numerous, significant problems - Felix suffers a stroke practically before they've set off, Rina contracts breast cancer and also has to have a potentially paralysing back operation, and then Felix has a heart attack - but their positive attitude, lovely natures and deep love for each other carry them through everything.
I loved Nine Summers. It's not just a travel memoir, but a memoir of a relationship. The sections about Rina' childhood in Israel and Italy following her mother's death are moving, but it's Rina and Felix's relationship that really shines through. Married for 50 years, they were still best friends who were happy - in fact more than happy - to spend 24 hours a day together in a very enclosed space.
By the end of the book I'd fallen in love with both of them. It didn't make me want to sail, but it did make me want to go and hug my husband.
A really lovely book.
Rating: 4/5
Like this? Try Summer At Tiffany by Marjorie Hart
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Posted by Keris on July 20, 2007 in Memoirs, Non Fiction, Rating: 4/5, Recent Release | Permalink
Comments
I was loaned this book bys a friend in New Zealand two years ago, yes it has taken me 2 years to get to read this little treasure. I am a sailor and also love to travel so I could hop aboard their boat as I was reading it and join in the experiences. A truly fabulous book - human courage, their love for one another, their positive attitude, their spirit for adventure. Every last detail was explained perfectly. Ruth you are an amazing writer I clung to every word. The book was also sad - the trials and tribulations they both went through together was heartwarming. Thankyou for sharing "your story".
5/5 for me...
Posted by: carole henry | April 16, 2009 11:37 AM
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