When Mountains Walked: A Novel

by Kate Wheeler

Two generations of women struggle with love—and journey to remote corners of the world—in this “remarkably passionate and engaging” novel (San Francisco Chronicle).   From a PEN/Faulkner Award finalist, When Mountains Walked tells of two parallel love affairs, years apart. In the 1940s, Althea Baines follows her seismologist husband to the heart of the Indian subcontinent to trace the origins of earthquakes. Here, awakening to a form of spirituality she had never imagined, she eventually finds solace with a Hindu priest.   Years later, her granddaughter Maggie follows her own idealistic husband to a canyon in central Peru to set up a health clinic. Alive to the culture and the place, Maggie falls recklessly in love with a revolutionary leader and follows him on an apocalyptic trip into the rain forest.   As the lives of the two women echo and illuminate each other, and each is swept up in her own time by powerful forces, “this superb novel sets the mountains in motion—shaking up relations between sexes, generations, and rich nations and poor” (Newsday).   “A gifted storyteller . . . When Mountains Walked subtly questions how much is too much to sacrifice in a relationship.” —The Wall Street Journal   “This is a book you mention to your friends.” —Francine Prose, author of Lovers at the Chameleon Club

Genres: Fiction

387 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried with this one. I really did. I found it very distracting when the author would swap between the grandmother and the grandchild- both women were so similar, I forgot who I was reading about, and I had to go back a few pages to make sure I was imagining the right person. There was really no distinction between the two, except their locations. Certain non-important events were dragged out and described in lavish details- like the bus ride in the beginning of the novel- and other events, like the birth and death of a child- were glossed over with hardly a few sentences. What the author chose to write about baffled me, and I quickly lost interest. Life is too short- I'm moving on to something more enjoyable.

[Rhiannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book says nothing. It is written in a way that makes it seem like it’s smart, but it’s slow and pretentious. It feels like a self-insert, as the author similarly grew up in South America, much like the main character. I can handle the back and forth perspectives, because it’s a style of other contemporary authors. But overall, I would not recommend!

[Reyhaneh Aliabadi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't get the ending and the process of book I mean the storyline was sort of boring for me.

[Anna Sortore · Rating 2 out of 5]

A drag. It took so much effort to finish. I felt like I was reading sawdust at times.

[Marvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mostly pretty uninteresting story about a woman who convinces her new husband to drop out of Harvard Divinity School to work as a doctor in an isolated, impoverished village in Peru, where they get (very slowly) caught up in a battle against a mining company that is poisoning the water supply, & the woman falls in love with the local revolutionary leader. What little action there is is pretty unbelievable & there's not enough intellectual depth or quality of writing to make up for the lack of action.

[Violet · Rating 2 out of 5]

No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get into reading this book. I would lose interst after manybe twenty pages or so, that is why it took me so long to finish it. The ending just kind of left you hanging. So what happened? Did Maggie make it out, did Vincente live, what happened to Carson? Do you just draw your own conclusions? There were many Spanish words in the book also, some were given the English meaning in the sentence, some you had to figure out for yourself.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can relate to being on a windy, scary road on a chicken bus. I can relate to the smell of wood smoke and dung fires. I have seen and used padlocks on front doors of casitas. I felt at home here in this Peru, although I've never been there.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply sensual and beautifully written. Very personal - This book helped me to to change my life plan and move to Asia.

[Susan]

American author but takes place in India and Peru.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've never been fond of infidelity.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Didn't care. Not only neurotic but boring. Bad combination.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

The synopsis of this book was intriguing but the story turned out not to be quite as interesting as the synopsis. It was as slow as molasses in January.