The Paradise Guest House

Starred review from March 25, 2013
Two survivors of Bali's terrorist bombing find love and spiritual rebirth on an island whose inhabitants believe in reincarnation in Sussman's touching panorama of paradise. When Jamie Hyde deplanes in Bali to attend the one-year memorial ceremony of the bombing, she instantly relives the "color, noise, pain" of the nightclub attack that left her body scarred and her mind broken. An adventure guide, Jamie had been scouting for a new tour in Bali with her boyfriend, Miguel, when the bombs exploded in 2002. While frantically searching for Miguel, Jamie became involved in rescue efforts with Gabe Winters, an ex-pat, ex-journalist who had left Boston after a devastating tragedy, and had settled in Bali. When Jamie became trapped in the wreckage, Gabe saved her life and cared for her at a quiet beach cottage. Days later, Jamie returned home, leaving only a good-bye note for Gabe. During the memorial visit, Jamie seeks out Gabe, who is still hurt from her abrupt departure the year before. They attempt to find their old footing, questioning whether their time in the cottage was real, or a "shared experience" from their trauma. Throughout, Sussman (French Lessons) celebrates lovers, quiet healing, and the sweetness of the island and its people. Agent: Sally Wofford-Girand, Union Literary.

January 1, 2013
Two damaged people reach tentatively toward healing after the 2002 terrorist bombing in Bali. Jamie, 32, an adventure travel guide has, against all warnings from friends and family, returned to Bali despite the fact that she is still traumatized by being caught up in the nightclub bombings a year before. (Miguel, her would-be fiance, died; she sustained injuries, including a facial scar.) Her main purpose: to find Gabe, a 40-something man who helped care for her after the disaster, whom she left abruptly a year before. The middle section, narrated by Gabe, reveals that his own trauma began years before the terrorist attacks. A former Boston journalist, Gabe was preoccupied with a deadline when his 4-year-old son Ethan was hospitalized for meningitis. After Ethan's death, Gabe's marriage falls apart, and guilt-ridden, he gives up journalism to become a teacher in Bali, where he's also embraced the lifestyle of the loner expat. Dining with a surfer friend one night, he hears an explosion and runs to the site of two nightspots which are in flames. There, he rescues Jamie, but at her urging, and even after she is injured by falling debris, both return to pull several more survivors out of the wreckage. In the ensuing chaos, Gabe wangles prompt medical treatment for Jamie and cares for her at a friend's beach cottage until she can get a flight out. Though Jamie has managed to thaw the iceberg that is his heart, he's thrust back into isolation when Jamie leaves without explanation. A year later, Jamie is back, but Gabe refuses to be fooled twice. Echoing Bali's difficult recovery from the cataclysm, the characters tread the difficult terrain of post-traumatic attachment. Although the seascapes and street life of Bali are appealingly presented, Sussman's approach to her characters' emotional lives is as restrained and muted as their disassociated response to their ordeal. Dramatic tension suffers as a result. A respectful and earnest but far from edgy treatment of devastation's aftermath.

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March 15, 2013
For adventure guide Jamie Hyde, the infamous nightclub bombing in Bali was more than a news story. While dining nearby, Jamie witnessed firsthand the explosion and the horrors of the blast's aftermath. After helping to rescue several victims, Jamie herself was rescued by fellow diner Gabe Winters, who subsequently played an important role in her recovery. One year later, Jamie returns to Bali to attend a ceremony marking the anniversary of the tragedy, hoping to find closure and to find and thank the man who saved her. In Bali, Jamie discovers a country still reeling from the brutal attacks. She also finds unexpected support from the wise guest-house owner Nyoman and from Bambang, a savvy street urchin who helps her find the elusive Gabe. Sussman has drawn a vivid, well-balanced portrait of a woman and a country working to recover from an unimaginable event and a very personal look at a global tragedy. This is a story of healing and redemption, of finding love in the most unexpected places, and of the importance of moving forward.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)