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Read advance reader review of The White Mary by Kira Salak

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The White Mary by Kira Salak

The White Mary

A Novel

by Kira Salak
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Readers' Rating:
  • First Published:
  • Aug 5, 2008, 368 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Sep 2009, 384 pages
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Reviews


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There are currently 17 member reviews
for The White Mary
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  • Vicki (Watertown MA)
    Incredible!
    This is a sweeping adventure tale that is also a spiritual quest for love and meaning. Kira Salak work as a journalist really pays off here in her first novel. Incredible book.
  • Stephen (Aston PA)
    The White Mary
    This is an incredible debut novel by Kira Salak. The novel follows in the tradition of Conrad's In the Heart of Darkness.The adventure scenes leave one speechless and brings back the story of Stanley's search for Livingston. This tale of spiritual quest will inspire and change the reader's view of the world. It is a tale of survival and enlightenment.
  • Janice (Bluffton SC)
    A Winner
    Kira Salak has fashioned a powerful tale. I was glued to the pages as she took me through the jungle to Papua New Guinea introducing me to customs and people I never imagined. This is a beautiful descriptive novel with exceptional characterization packed with love and adventure.
    Hats off to a winner and a fine novelist!
  • Suzanne Johnson (Auburn AL)
    One Woman's Heart of Darkness
    How much sorrow and intentional pain can we witness without losing our souls? It's a highly personal question that award-winning journalist Kira Salak explores in her first novel, The White Mary. Knowing that Salak has herself spent much time in the heart of Papua New Guinea and covering atrocities in the Third World brings a sense of realism to this story that makes it all the more heartbreaking. It has some awkward tense changes in the beginning, and the character of Seb could have been better developed, but the plotting and pace of the book are impeccable and the story riveting. I highly recommend it.
  • Mary (Boston MA)
    A True Heroine, The White Mary!
    This is a riveting, and sometimes harrowing, adventure tale which at times I found to bounce between a love story and a "nail biting thriller". Marika is a gutsy heroic journalist and a fearless survivor who attacks the harsh realities of war zones and untamed jungles. She is a hero to inspire all adventure "junkies - a character you will never forget! This book is all fast paced action and for me was mesmerizing - I definitely felt like I was under a spell and couldn't wait to read the next page. I read the book all in one sitting! It is obvious that Kira Salak as a reporter herself has lived through similar adventures and that is how she can capture the beauty of exotic places like Papa New Guinea at the same time as the violence of war zones and political upheaval. I can't recommend this book enough - I LOVED IT!!!
  • Erika (San Jose CA)
    The White Mary
    In Salak's dugout canoe take an inhospitable adventure into the jungles of Papua New Guinea in search of a man believed dead. But is he? Beautiful, hypnotic, mesmerizing, intoxicating. Raw in nature while elegant in spirit. Simple yet deeply profound. Meaningful reading. Salak will renew your sense of spirit.
  • Lois (Redding CA)
    Enthralling, Mesmerizing, and Riveting, this book held me to the spot!
    From the moment I turned the cover to read the first page until I closed the book at the end, I was right there. Marika Vecera, a young journalist, has patterned her career after that of Richard Lewis. Lewis being an award winning, outstanding Journalist that had committed suicide a couple of years earlier.

    Marika decides to write a biography of Richard Lewis. She begins to gather information about him.and comes across a letter that suggests that Lewis might not be dead after all. This sets Marika on a journey that is unlike anything she has ever experienced before.

    Kira Salak in her Authors Note just inside the front cover tells us that some of the information about Marika is from her own life. Which made it all the more interesting to me.

    I found this book to be an excellent read.
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