Saturday, 6 June 2015
Miss Fortune by Albina Hume
Albina Hume has a most interesting life. Born in a small village in the Ukraine, Albina found opportunities where most of us would just work on surviving. She faces down a number of setbacks, and her persistence and determination to follow her dreams is remarkable.
We follow her to Greece, where she works as an exotic dancer. She is frank and honest about the string of relationships, some good and some bad, with the men and the women who she meets in Greece and when back in Ukraine. She tells of the horrors of jail, illegal border crossings and working for and with people who don’t share her desire to do the right thing. The matter-of-fact telling underplays some of the horrors she endures, which made for more engrossing reading. Albina is not ashamed of her mistakes and is open with us about her quest for love and the success that she believes that will bring. There is a lot to tell in this part, and I felt that perhaps some of the detail could have been sacrificed for a better appreciation of the characters involved.
It is towards the end of the book that, for me, there is not enough unpacking of the emotions and personal development that lead to Albina's happy ending. The last few pages felt rushed and that part of the story felt abandoned and underappreciated. From the information about the book, I can see that Albina and her husband, instead of merely being caught up with their happy-ever-after, are involved in saving rhinos, an important and noble pursuit. I would have enjoyed hearing about how she felt about this achievement, as it is clearly a passion for her, but probably a topic on its own.
I do read (and review) some memoirs. This one has a great story line, but the telling starts off really well, lost me a little in the middle, and left me slightly disappointed at the end.
A solid 3 stars for a very entertaining read.
If you like this, you may also enjoy Karma, deception and a pair of red Ferraris or Good Girl
ISBN: 9781311338730
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