"Floreana" offers a haunting exploration of two women's lives on the Galápagos Islands, spanning nearly a century apart. Midge Raymond crafts an intricate narrative that blends historical fact with fiction, centering on Mallory's present-day return to Floreana Island and Dore Strauch's true story from 1929.
The audiobook's dual narration, featuring spot-on German accents, adds an immersive layer to this already atmospheric tale. As Mallory works on penguin conservation alongside her former mentor and lover Gavin, she discovers hidden journals that reveal Dore's story - a woman who sought refuge on the same shores almost 100 years earlier. Both women arrive seeking transformation, but discover that even paradise has its shadows.
Raymond excels at building tension through parallel narratives, showing how both protagonists grapple with secrets, love, and survival in this unforgiving landscape. The Galápagos Islands serve as both sanctuary and threat, their wild beauty perfectly mirroring the characters' internal struggles.
While the novel tackles heavy themes including loss, betrayal, and the sometimes brutal reality of island life, it maintains a thread of hope throughout. The author's attention to historical detail in portraying Dore's story adds fascinating depth to this multilayered narrative.
Particularly impressive is how Raymond weaves environmental conservation seamlessly into the story without compromising the emotional impact of either timeline. The penguin preservation project serves as more than just a plot device - it becomes a metaphor for the fragility of both nature and human relationships.
This is a story that lingers, raising questions about the price of escape and the true meaning of finding one's place in the world. For readers who appreciate sophisticated historical fiction with strong environmental themes and complex female characters, "Floreana" is a must-read.

I enjoyed this story. I found both halves of the narrative compelling, which can be a challenge for a dual time line. I will say that infertility and death of children creature fairly strongly, which was not mentioned in the descriptions and almost made me abandon the story early. I enjoyed this and would read more from this author.

Two women, living almost 100 years apart, arrive on Floreana Island, in the Galápagos. In 1929, Dore Strauch is fleeing a loveless marriage towards what she hopes is a happier future, while in the present, Mallory is there, after an absence of ten years to raise a family, to resume work on a project to build nests for the vulnerable penguin population.

Author Midge Raymond switches between each woman's perspective each chapter, giving us a sense of what has brought them to the island, what they are fleeing, and what they hope for.

Dore's chapters are straightforward, as we first meet her in Berlin, Germany, suffering from multiple sclerosis, unable to have a child (her dearest wish) and enraptured by a doctor who convinces her to go with him to Floreana, where she can rebuild her strength and they can be happy. Once there, she realizes that she and her love's interests have diverged, and she's becomes deeply unhappy, caring for their home, and getting to know the other residents, including a ferocious and arrogant woman known as the Baroness, who keeps everyone in line with her mercurial temper and the threat of violence.

Mallory's chapters are (I think) deliberately somewhat frustrating, as it's clear Mallory is hiding something, and refusing to be honest with the head of the penguin project (and her former lover), as well as herself. We do learn that her marriage is rocky, she and her husband are separated, and that Mallory has a severely allergic girl whose care consumed Mallory and put a strain on the marriage.

Mallory finds Dore's journals, which she needs translated by a photographer's assistant, who is there with the photographer whose purposes are not entirely congruent with the aims of the scientific project, but that will aid in its funding.

Mallory becomes entranced by Dore's story, and eventually, finally, is honest with her colleague, and more importantly, with herself (and the reader) about the mess of emotions that brought her back to Floreana, and to what she hoped would be the easier, less emotionally wrought and complicated life of her younger self, rather than the confusion and pain she has left behind in the States.

I like dual timeline stories, and author Midge Raymond does a nice job of drawing both Dore's and Mallory's personalities. Dore is a likeable woman, who finds consolation in her lonely life, both at home, and later on Floreana, by caring for animals. Mallory is a mess, and her reasons for silence on her life eventually make sense, even when I found her behaviour frustrating.

The story is a slow burn, as Raymond carefully teases out Dore's experiences, which were adapted from actual events in the past, and in leading Mallory to a realization about herself. I also liked the descriptions of life on Floreana both in the past and during the efforts to safeguard species in the present.

I will admit, my interest was initially piqued by this book because of the Galápagos islands, and its reference in “Schitt's Creek”, a very different story to the one told here.

I liked the two main characters in this novel, and Dore's plight particularly moved me. I was less enamoured by the author's tie between Dore to Mallory; I would have preferred if the connection had been solely based on Mallory's admiration for a tough, determined and kind woman who chose an unusual but very hard, and adventurous life for herself.

I listened and read this book, and quite enjoyed the voice talents of Abigail Reno and Elisabeth Lagelee. They brilliantly fleshed out the main characters, as well as all the other people surrounding them.

Thank you to Netgalley, Little A and Brilliance Publishing for these ARCs in exchange for my review.

I am completely in love with this beautiful book. I cried a few times because there are some heartbreaking moments but I really felt this book in my soul. I love the protagonists. I love the reveals. I loved the narration. I was really feeling the narration. It was beautiful.

I loved this audiobook so much !! I could not stop listening. I liked the two narrators, they did such a great job of bringing the characters to life. Midge Raymond's writing is so beautiful and really draws you into the story and the mystery surrounding the island of Floreana, This story had the perfect mix of mystery and history and I was left wanting to learn more about the true stories of the people in the book. Highly recommend giving this one a read.

Thank you Netgalley and Brilliance Publishing for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

I’ll be really honest, when I requested to listen to this audiobook I thought It would be more like “sea of tranquillity”, but that was not true, its a different story that touches several themes, the twists and turns in the story weren’t really surprises, more like confirmations of what I had guess that would come along. This is a love story, a story where people go where they must go, where in turn they face their future or what can’t be changed, and learn to live with the consequences… what surprised me the most was that what took place in Floriana almost 100 years ago, is based in a true story, those characters are based in real people that lived and breathed in those shores… but what really happened is still a mystery.

I did enjoy the narration, I went back after I finished the book and I was surprised to learn that I had two different narrators, I thought during the book that It was only one and that she did a great job, well it was at the same a great job that really made me enjoy the story and the quality of the audiobook. I recommend this audiobook for people who like historical romances with a twist…

I give the story 3.4 stars but to the performance of the audiobook I give it fully 4 stars, I did enjoy it.

Thank you NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing | Brilliance Audio, for the free AAC and this is my honest opinion.

In 2020 Mallory returns to Floreana Island in the Galápagos, and to Gavin, the mentor with whom she had a long-ago affair. Their project is to build nests to revive the vulnerable penguin population. In 1929, Dore Strauch left the life she knew in Berlin to create a new one with the man she loved on remote Floreana Island. The reimagining of a true story, Floreana intertwines the emotional journeys of two women bound by dark secrets, the want to escape, and the lengths to which they’ll go to find their place in the world.

This is a dual timeline book told from the perspectives of the two women, almost 100 years apart. I really enjoyed the book which takes place in a location I'm not familiar with and contains a wealth of information about penguins and other wildlife in the Galapagos. The story is based on real events and if I ever find the time I'd like to read the true accounts of those events although I get the impression no one actually knows the real story. The characters are an unusual bunch, definitely not all likeable, and I was enthralled by the story. There's a bit of romance, a mystery and excellent descriptions of the struggles the original settlers endured.

I was lucky enough to have access to the audiobook as well as a digital copy and the story lends itself well to audio. Both Abigail Reno and Elisabeth Lagelee, the narrators, did an excellent job and I listened to the majority of the book and read other parts.

TW: Cruelty to animals, reference to miscarriage

My thanks to Brilliance Publishing via Netgalley for granting me access to the audiobook. All opinions expressed are my own.
Publication Date: December 1, 2024.

I’d like to preface this by saying I was really looking forward to reading this book. The premise sounded great, I thought it would have been more of a mystery type of book so I requested it. I was granted the ARC and audiobook for my review. I found this to be quite dramatic and boring. The splits perspectives are usually something I enjoy, however I couldn’t really feel anything for these characters. I think this was placed into genres it doesn’t really fit into. I think I was mislead a little bit. While it wasn’t my typical genre to read, it was just ok. I think if you like fiction, women’s fiction, and romance with a lot of emotional drama, this is for you. Unfortunately I just couldn’t connect with this book in the way it deserves. With the right audience, I think it will do well. The narrator was great, I think she did a great job of expressing the different characters. I’d listen to more from her for sure.