Reviewer Candace Lybarger: Candace is a young wife, mother, and lover of all books. She received her Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education from The Ohio State University. Candace taught 3rd grade until an opportunity presented itself where she could work from home and be with her toddler. In addition to spending time with her family, Candace enjoys reading, music, history, traveling, and spending time outdoors. Her perfect day in a nutshell would be sitting in the sun with a book...or two!
ISBN: 1462004067
Follow Here To Purchase Betrayal
Author: Michele Kallio
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN:
1462004067
Michele Kallio’s Betrayal is a haunting novel
based both in present day New Brunswick and in Sixteenth Century
England. Modern day Lydia is an intelligent, kind, and
beautiful woman that leads a great life with her Physician
boyfriend. Raised by her cold father, Lydia never knew her
mother or her mother’s family. After her father’s untimely
death Lydia begins having nightmares that seem all too realistic.
In her dreams, Lydia finds herself in the body of Elisabeth, a lady’s
maid to Lady Anne Boleyn. Lady Anne happens to be the mistress (and
later wife) of King Henry VIII. Believing her dreams to be only
nightmares, Lydia ignores them for as long as she can. However,
Lydia soon starts experiencing waking dreams and begins having
strange sensations of deja vu. The more she finds herself in
Elisabeth’s world the more Lydia realizes that there are more to
her dreams than meet the eye. Could they be trying to tell her
something about her past or is Lydia going insane?
I
thoroughly enjoyed reading every bit of Michele Kallio’s Betrayal.
Kallio did a terrific job in creating not one, but two different
worlds. Lydia’s life in modern day New Brunswick is very
realistic. Kallio painted her setting in a way that made it
very easy to imagine. I could visualize the restaurants,
buildings, and scenery described. Reading about Lydia’s
adventures in Bar Harbor made me want to research the town. (It
is real and looks just as beautiful as Kallio described!) It
was the infusion of little details (like those mentioned above) that
made Betrayal feel complete. I was especially fond of the
historical aspects of the novel. Kallio’s knowledge of
sixteenth century England was definitely noticed and appreciated.
Everything was well researched, from the various Sixteenth Century
social stations and popular style, to religion and politics.
Betrayal opened my eyes to a whole new world of dreams and
the meanings behind them. In the book, Lydia first starts
seeing a Psychologist specializing in dreams. After hearing her
speak on a tape recorder about her dreams, the Dr. feels that they
are more than typical nightmares. Fearing that they are
occurring because of a repressed memory, the Psychologist requests to
hypnotize Lydia. Lydia must decide if she really wants to know
more about her past and if she is ready to deal with the consequences
of what remains hidden.
Betrayal easily switches
between the lives of Lydia and Elisabeth. I was surprised at
how flawlessly each new chapter changed gears. While reading
about Elisabeth I found myself speculating on what would happen next
with Lydia. Furthermore, while reading about what Lydia was
going through made me think about Elisabeth and her world. As
the book progressed, the story of the two women seemed to converge.
I feel that Kallio did a terrific job in meshing her two storylines
together.
Michele Kallio has a gem in her novel,
Betrayal. Embedded in it you will find a great deal of history,
romance, mystery, and suspense. I recommend Betrayal to anyone
looking for a great read! Good luck putting it down!