Amateur Book Review - A Change In Altitude

I received this book from Hachette Book Group and love the cover. My girlfriends who came over for coffee and love looking through my pile of books also were drawn to the cover. But a cover is just a cover, would the book satisfy?

A Change in Altitude by Anita Shreve.

Full Description on the Hachette Book Group Website:

Margaret and Patrick have been married just a few months when they set off on what they hope will be a great adventure-a year living in Kenya. Margaret quickly realizes there is a great deal she doesn't know about the complex mores of her new home, and about her own husband.

A British couple invites the newlyweds to join on a climbing expedition to Mount Kenya, and they eagerly agree. But during their harrowing ascent, a horrific accident occurs. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Margaret struggles to understand what happened on the mountain and how these events have transformed her and her marriage, perhaps forever.

In a Nutshell: This was a great book, not a good book. Patrick and Margaret are very different as are most relationships. The parallels are interesting Patrick is a doctor and humanitarian and Margaret is a photographer yet it is Margaret who ends up being the humanitarian throughout the book while Patrick is a workaholic. There is one scene that actually stopped by heart which is probably what the author was going for. The description above talks about a horrific accident that occurs on the expedition. That scene was so nerve racking that I had to read it two times because I felt as if I was seeing it and had to remind myself that this was a character in a book not a friend of mine who parishes. Anita Shreve is a fabulous author and has brought us the literature classics "Out of Africa" and "The Pilot's Wife" which were made into movies. Is there a movie in the works for this one. Only time will tell but I suggest Rachel McAdams and Ryan Phillippe as the main characters.

This book comes out on September 22, 2009 but you can pre-order it over at Amazon