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Julie Feingold’s mother was a storyteller. Growing up, her mother told Julie stories of her life in the Philippines and her experience as a fourteen year old when the Japanese invaded the island – just ten hours after bombing Pearl Harbor. She also recounted the stories her mother (Julie’s grandmother) told about her life under the care of an abusive grandmother until abandoned at the age of eight to an orphanage.
Julie loved those stories and developed a passion for reading, storytelling and writing. Her dream was to weave the stories of her mother and grandmother into a novel rich in the history of the Philippines, hence, her debut novel, An Island Long Ago.
Julie was born in the Philippines shortly after World War II to an American father and a Filipino mother. When she was two-years old she moved with her parents to the United States. An army “brat”, she spent her early years moving every three to four years from one army base to another.
Most of her adult years were spent in Atlanta, Georgia where she worked as a registered nurse. Life trumped dreams. She dabbled in writing poetry and children’s stories, but it wasn’t until she retired that she pursued her dream of writing her mother’s stories into a historical novel. Her only regret is that she did not finish it before her mother passed.
Reviewed by Doreen Chombu for Readers' Favorite
An Island Long Ago by Julie Burnette Feingold is a heart-wrenching story that spans many decades and multiple generations, following the lineage of one family. Each person in the family goes through experiences that shape their being, from an ambitious man to a cold-hearted mother and a selfless daughter with a sad fate. The characters experience friendship, love, and betrayal during political unrest and war. The core story is that of Teresa and Rich and their love that defies the odds and leads to a bittersweet ending. The story continues with their descendants in the United States and the racial prejudices they experienced upon their early arrival. Get a copy of this book to experience the lives of these intriguing characters.
An Island Long Ago is a captivating story with a unique plot and amazing characters. The family drama and complex characters make it a memorable read, but what catapulted it to an excellent book is the author's engaging narration. I could not put this book down because I did not want to miss a thing. The book is fast-paced, jumping from one era to the next, and Julie Burnette Feingold does an outstanding job of capturing the culture, social conditions, and political climate of each historical period. The book took me on a roller coaster of emotions because the evil characters enraged me, and the good guys made me root for them. The characters were multidimensional because each had moments that made me understand their motives and why they acted in a certain way. Their complex emotions and relatable dilemmas made them believable. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves reading realistic historical dramas.
