Review: Before the Rain Falls by Camille Di Maio (audio)

Title:Before the Rain Falls

Author:Camille Di Maio

Narrator:Dara Rosenberg

Published:May 2017, Brilliance Audio

Length:10 hours 25 minutes

Source:Publisher

After serving seventy
years in prison for the murder of her sister, Eula, Della Lee has
finally returned home to the Texas town of Puerto Pesar. She’s free from
confinement—and ready to tell her secrets before it’s too late.

She
finds a willing audience in journalist Mick Anders, who is reeling
after his suspension from a Boston newspaper and in town, reluctantly,
to investigate a mysterious portrait of Eula that reportedly sheds
tears. He crosses paths with Dr. Paloma Vega, who’s visiting Puerto
Pesar with her own mission: to take care of her ailing grandmother and
to rescue her rebellious younger sister before something terrible
happens. Paloma and Mick have their reasons to be in the hot, parched
border town whose name translates as “Port of Regret.” But they don’t
anticipate how their lives will be changed forever.

Moving and
engrossing, this dual story alternates between Della’s dark ordeals of
the 1940s and Paloma and Mick’s present-day search for answers?about
roots, family, love, and what is truly important in life.

My thoughts:Wow…what a stunning, mesmerizingstory! This is the first book I’ve picked up by Camille Di Maio and it certainly will not be the last, that’s for sure!

This story will grab you right from the start and keep hold of you until the very end. The characters are so well-developed, flaws and all, that they draw you into their world. As the story moves between the past and present, you find yourself completely engaged and wanting to know more, finding it hard to concentrate on anything else other than what is going on within their world.

This is an emotional story, yet one filled with hope. It’s about the lengths one goes for the love of family; it’s about sacrifice and forgiveness; love and loss. But just as much as the characters make the story come to life, so do the settings of the story – Puerto Pesar both in the present and the past, as well as the prison where Della Lee spends the majority of her life. 

I loved the way everything unravels, ever so slowly – but oh so worth it! And the ending – OMG…the way it all comes together – tears streaming down my face – both of joy and sadness combined. So beautiful, so captivating! I cannot wait to read more from this author.

 
Audio thoughts:Dara Rosenberg did such a great job with the narration of this story. She was able to bring these characters to life, giving each of the characters distinct voices and infusing just the right amount of emotion and tension into her voice when and as needed. This was such a great book to listen to and I found myself wanting to just listen to huge chunks of the book at a time – it was that good! I’ve listened to Dara before and I think this is one of her best narrations yet!