Leila Cobo

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would -- it was passed on to me by someone who has a higher tolerance for "chick lit" than I do! This book is more compelling than that.

It tells the story of a young woman whose mother died years ago. Gabriella lives with her father in California, but makes an annual trip to Colombia to spend time with her maternal grandmother. The story takes place in Colombia, where Gabriella finds her mother's diary, which starts out with "Dear Gabriella". Through the diary, Gabriella learns about her mother's life. The story alternates between Gabriella's story and that of her mother, Helene. There are some interesting parallels between them and we can see how the three generations of women deal with similar issues. Well written, interesting story.… (mais)

Review: Tell Me Something True by Leila Cobo. The subject matter about a deceased mother, Helena leaving behind a diary that she started when her daughter, Gabriella was born. She addressed Gabriella as she wrote for a while then Helena’s writing went more towards the style of journaling her thoughts and her private life issues. The story goes back and forth with the daughter’s lifestyle to her mother narrating a small part at a time of what she had written in the diary of her life style. Some of story was captivating but didn’t really have a strong grip on me as I read. It was somewhat confusing as each of these two characters thoughts weren’t organized to have the reader know which character was narrating as you went along. It’s one of those books were I had to go back a page and say to myself, “Oh it’s the daughter thoughts or it’s the mother’s thoughts.” However, it was a daughter having questions about her mother that she never was told the truth about. She was young when her mother went away to publish a book and she always thought that tragedy is what stopped her from coming home. Her mother died in a plane crash when Gabriella was around four-years-old and she grew up with an overprotective grandmother in Cali, Columbia even though Melcom, her doting father lived back in the US. Gabriella is the one who found the diary years later and would not allow anyone to read it however, she does get answers to so many questions and how her grandmother, her mother and herself have really lived the same kind of life through generations of another family’s life, until one day Gabriella cuts the rope that has tied them all together over the years…. The story was interesting but without flair unless you would consider Gabriella’s love affair with the son of drug King Pin who was still behind bars in prison…. I found a few flaws with the story and wished it was better written but not every book is going to send shivers up your spine….… (mais)

Asher Stone is a college student with a star soccer career ahead of him, until a car accident puts his future into question. Though he had been adopted as an infant and raised in an wonderful, loving home in California, his near death experience leads him to wonder about his biological mother and her origins in Columbia. As Asher sets off to find her, his mother RIta's story is also told an alternating storyline, starting when she was a teen in a small village occupied by guerillas. How their story eventually comes together is not easy to predict and though fully resolved, is not as satisfying as one might hope. I enjoyed reading and discussing this novel with my book club as we speculated how we might have chosen our actions differently if placed in similar circumstances. I thought it was a quick and interesting read that explored adoption in a more realistic and culturally sensitive manner than other novels I have read.… (mais)

This was a quick read - i was able to read it in one day (and I have 2 little kids!). I appreciated the juxtaposition between the idyllic life of a boy being raised in California and the dysfunction of both family and community in Columbia. The realities of living under such harsh oppression and not having such clear cut good and bad sides in politics was really brought home. I enjoyed the young mans search for his biologic mother as well as the interesting dissection of her decision making process, to give him up and to reunite as well. I recommend this book. For light reading, it is pretty heavy.… (mais)