CAROL FORTINO
Reviews
"Carol Fortino has woven an interesting tale, impressively detailed, melded with education, customs, culture and traditions of Catholic and Muslim Filipinos and the conflicts between them. The story is intertwined with romance, family conflict, betrayal, graft, subversion and disaster. The book illustrates a good comparison of the differences in cultures among the Philippine, Australia and America."
VICTOR MOSS, author of BEWARE THE WOLVES, a Soviet WWII Love Story
"A thoughtful fictionalized memoir of an American ex-pat’s life moving between the radically different cultures of Australia and the Philippines. The rich individuals of the book paint a raw rubbing of fundamentally different ways of conceiving the world…as well as the precariousness of life in a nation haunted by the mixed blessings of so-called ‘modernity’ and a particularly fragile environment...a quick and thoroughly enjoyable read.
"JIM O'DONNELL, author of "Notes for the Aurora Society" and "Rise and Go."
"I enjoyed your book. It has a good sense of location and the characters are real (but a bit scary, in the case of the protagonist - more so because it is based on an actual event)."Sex slavery" across the US - Mexican border is something I was not aware of - as would be most Australians - but your book, if nothing else, highlights the problem.Well done!
"PETER in Australia "
"I finished Hubris the other day and really enjoyed it. I think you keep up the tension, the page-turning quality, extremely well. At least I was always on tenterhooks to see what would happen next. I like your simple elegant style of writing – you don’t fall into the trap of being flowery and adjective-laden – the details you use of family life bring the characters very much to life. Congratulations on a great book. Julie, from Brisbane I just finished reading your book and must tell you how much I enjoyed it. You are such a good writer and have such a way with words. It was so good in every way and thanks so much for sending it to me. I laid aside all I have been reading and so glad I did; you just get a big Congratulations from me. I hope it becomes a best seller. I like the art on the cover also. Like you said, for such a "dark" subject, you made it realistic but notscarry for the reader. At least for me. Somehow you got into the mind of a Hubris and made it understandable to the reader---even though it is a sick way of thinking. Wonder how many people think like this? You must have had to do a lot of research. Was so realistic and being in NM was a good setting for sure." MAXINE W.
Sorry not to thank you for the book of your poems sooner, but I wanted to do so when I had read it all properly, not just dipped into it haphazardly. Today…I had my own private feast with your book. It is such a wonderful window into your soul and mind! Being a typology twin gives me a unique privilege, but our lives and histories are different enough to ensure delightful surprises too. I chuckled at recognising your science teaching and academe backgrounds in choice of topics and words like the play on the un/conscious in/competence, forces of geotropism, sustainability etc. I felt with you and admired your sensitive treatment of illness and death and scattering your mother's ashes. Seeing a picture of the window looking out at my garden in Cesis representing patients in a Cancer Centre dreaming of home gave me a jolt as I have recently lost several friends to cancer. I loved what I read as your acknowledgement of our mini-reunion with Di and Cheri and recognised the feeling of returning home after a good time away and re-cherishing the animals and season changes there. Thank you!
"Mara Siskna, Brisbane Australia"
"Carol, my mother gave me a copy of Sketches on a Napkin and I just had the opportunity to thoroughly enjoy it. It was especially touching to feel so absorbed in the readings about your parents. You are a beautiful and talented writer. Thank you for sharing this wonderful book with me.
"KARIN, Beulah, Colorado "
