Moon in the Mango Tree Review

Pamela Binnings Ewen

B&H Books

When an independent suffragette marries a  young doctor, society dictates that she follows his dreams. Putting aside her aspirations for a singing career, she follows her husband into the jungles of Siam, where he finds fulfillment as a missionary doctor. But nothing can prepare her for the different world she lives in. The rainy season comes, and separated from her husband by disease, distance, and flood, their love is tested and tried.

Ewen's beautiful prose sets scene after scene, and you can almost smell the scents of the jungle. Her vivid descriptions make you feel like you're watching a travelog. However, when the story is boiled down it is the first person narrative of a self-centered woman and the gradual unraveling of a marriage and family. Through most of the book Christianity and Buddhism  are presented as meaningless religions. Though of the two, Buddhism appeared to be a kinder gentler religion than Christianity, though in the end, love transcends religion. It was unclear where God fit in at all.

I read this book with the understanding that it was romance. It's really historical woman's fiction.