Story of the ups and downs of a lifetime friendship between two women, Frances and Rosalie. They leave home at age fifteen. Their lives diverge when one betrays the other. The set piece of this novel, which is a fictional portrayal of real people, is the time Frances spends in the Galapagos Islands. The time period is during and after WWII and espionage is involved, but the focus remains on relationships. It contains beautiful descriptions of life on the islands. Themes include ambition to improve one’s life and forgiveness. I found it a satisfying read. ( )

This book is a lifetime story that kinda of rambled everywhere. 2 girlfriends since the age of 8 and their intermingled lives to old age. ( )

2.5 stars ( )

The thing I enjoyed about this novel was the way Amend wrote about the day to day life of Francis in a way that was slow but not boring. I was really captivated by the accounts of Francis and Ainslie on the island and in the States, and it reminded me a bit of Willa Cather. While I really liked the day to day aspects of Enchanted Islands, the "action" and "drama" felt a little underwhelming. Amend set up the relationship between Francis and Rosalie to be much more dramatic than I think it ended up, and the "conflict" on the islands was a little anti-climactic. I do think Amend writes the quiet day to day well and I will keep my eyes out for more of her work. ( )

This book was inspired by the memoirs of Frances Conway. She was working for the US Navy Intelligence Service when she was asked to marry a US spy and move to the Galapagos Islands to spy on German spies before World War II began. She and her husband were asked to return to the Galapagos after the war because of a rumor that Hitler had escaped to the islands. Interesting story of a very independent strong, middle aged woman, who was living in a period when women’s main role was to get married and having babies. ( )