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    The Paradise Guest House: A Novel
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    The Paradise Guest House: A Novel
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    The Paradise Guest House: A Novel
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Paradise Guest House: A Novel

    Written by Ellen Sussman

    Narrated by Ann Marie Lee

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A riveting and poignant novel of one woman's journey to Bali in search of love, renewal, and a place to call home-perfect for readers of Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love and Alex Garland's The Beach.

    It starts as a trip to paradise. Sent on assignment to Bali, Jamie, an American adventure guide, imagines spending weeks exploring the island's lush jungles and pristine white sand beaches. Yet three days after her arrival, she is caught in Bali's infamous nightclub bombings, which irreparably change her life and leave her with many unanswered questions.

    One year later, haunted by memories, Jamie returns to Bali seeking a sense of closure. Most of all, she hopes to find Gabe, the man who saved her from the attacks. She hasn't been able to forget his kindness-or the spark between them as he helped her heal. Checking into a cozy guest house for her stay, Jamie meets the kindly owner, who is coping with a painful past of his own, and a young boy who improbably becomes crucial to her search. Jamie has never shied away from a challenge, but a second chance with Gabe presents her with the biggest dilemma of all: whether she's ready to open her heart.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMar 26, 2013
    ISBN9780385359443
    Unavailable
    The Paradise Guest House: A Novel
    Author

    Ellen Sussman

    Ellen Sussman is the best-selling author of On a Night Like This and editor of the anthology Bad Girls. She lives in Los Altos Hills, California.

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    Reviews for The Paradise Guest House

    4/5

    73 ratings30 reviews

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    • 5/5
      It's heartbreaking, healing and I could not put it down. There are some good reviews here, so instead of me adding to those, I would like to say.....When are the terrorists going to learn that, yes, they do some terrible carnage, but out of that carnage always emerges and rises so much good and love and healing that what they were trying to do simply does not work like they thought it was going to. So sad.
    • 3/5
      I received this book as part of LT's Early Reviewer Program. Jamie was in Bali during the 2002 nightclub bombings, standing in the street outside one of the clubs. The narrative switches between present day (one year after the bombings), Jamie's memory of the bombings, and the story of Gabe, a man who helped her save the injured, saved her life, and helped her heal. Gabe and Jamie have a love story founded in grief. Paradise Guest House is sad with loss of life at every turn, but at the same time, there are so many beautiful parts in the stories the characters tell, the development of their characters, and the descriptions of Bali and it's people. While I didn't race through the book, it was a solid read and has kept me thinking about the characters beyond finishing the book. While I would not recommend it for some light reading, the book is a wonderful, dramatic story and worth the read.
    • 4/5
      A year ago Jaime lost more than her boyfriend in the bombings that shook Bali's nightclubs. She returns to Bali one year later, to remember those who are gone and to find the man who rescued her from the fires of the bombing. Along the way she meets Nyoman, the kind widower who is her host for the remembrance and Bambang, the street kid who steals both her wallet and her heart. She finally reunites with Gabe, her rescuer, but not before she faces the demons that still plague her from that night.
    • 3/5
      Couldn't put this book down! I won it in the Early Reviews program and I was so pleased. It is a warm book that touches on tough issues. There is a bit of the plot that i don't think ever resolved, but I suppose that is like life. Definitely recommend.
    • 3/5
      An enjoyable fairy tale. This book is well written and moves along quickly. Some difficult issues are tackled, but the answers given are a little too easy. Perfect for reading on an airplane.
    • 5/5
      I won this on the First Reads. I sat down to just take a quick look and finished the book in one sitting! I loved it! As the other reviewers said, Jamie returns to Bali on the one year anniversary of the bombing which turned her life upside down. I was thinking, at first, this might be a romance novel which I don't normally read. Whether or not it is or isn't doesn't matter, I couldn't put it down. Very well written, you really care about each of the people in this book. I will be looking for Ellen Sussman's earlier books. Loved it!
    • 4/5
      This story is gut wrenchingly sad and gets you in quickly. The main character, Jamie returns to Bali to try to make sense out of living after her best friend died in the Bali bombings and to try to put her life back together. She seeks to find a kind gentleman who saved her life and to thank him. This is a story about a woman seeking understanding and closure for something that makes no sense at all. The author has beautifully crafted this story so that you feel that you are there and experiencing this journey firsthand. Her writing also draws you into the Balanese culture and landscape and the gentleness of the people. It is well written and a joy to read.
    • 4/5
      A very powerful book! This story will break your heart and warm it at the same time.I do remember hearing about the nightclub bombings in Bali in 2002. But as usual, I read it and thought "Oh my gosh, that's terrible" and went on with life because it didn't happen here in the states and I don't know anyone in Bali. I love reading books that are based on fact. I like to be reading and think "This really happened" even when the book is fiction.The author did an excellent job with this book. It was very well written. It had excellent character development. The descriptions were very good. I don't know too much about Bali but I did get a feel for it while reading this story. "In Bali, when a baby is born," he says, "the umbilical cord is buried in the ground in the courtyard of the family compound. As the child grows up, she might wander far from home. But in the end the umbilical cord draws her home." I thought this was beautiful.Yes, this book is sad. It is about a very devastating thing that happened. And I will tell you ***It is descriptive!*** so if you are squeamish about those kinds of things then this might not be a good book for you. I don't think it is overdone. I mean there has to be some graphic descriptions or it wouldn't feel real. "I don't know Mom. I don't know anything." Her voice rising. "I've never been in a terrorist attack, okay? I've never seen someone I know die before. I don't know what happens next." She stopped talking with a sharp intake of breath. Tears running down her cheeks."Thank you "Librarything Early reviewers" for sending me this book to read and review.
    • 4/5
      This is a great book! It really opened my eyes to the night club bombings in Bali and how the survivors of any tragedy cope. Jamie was an interesting person whom many people will be able to relate to. It was a fast read and would be perfect for a vacation book.
    • 3/5
      Jamie travels the world as a travel writer and tour guide, but her love for this adventurous life comes to a halt when she is caught in the horrible night club bombings in Bali, 2002.The story is fictional, but centered around the real event of the bombings, as Jamie returns to Bali for a survivor's event.I was hoping for more of a sense of Indonesia but that was really only touched on the surface. The book really focuses on the process of grief and healing from several different perspectives: the loss of a son, a wife, a friend, a love, even the loss of a sense of security. Particularly moving were the passages when Gabe (another survivor of the bombings)thinks about his 4 year old son's death from illness: "It was my job to save my son. It was my only job in the god damn world. He glanced at Heather and Molly, standing beside him, numb and dazed. I failed all of them, he thought. The doctor mumbled words of consolation; Heather screamed, and Molly held her. But Gabe only stood there, his arms hanging at his sides, thinking: It was my only job."Ultimately, this story is about survival, hope, and moving forward. It is also a quick and easy read .
    • 4/5
      Jamie's life is one that many could envy. Her job is to travel the world to lead adrenaline junkies to their next fix as their tour guide. Consequently, her life is set against a backdrop of beautiful beaches, gorgeous hotels, and one adventure after another. Even her boss is her best friend! However life changes instantly for Jamie when she experiences a traumatic event involving her boyfriend and the 2002 night club bombings. The result is a poignant book about the loneliness of grief and the healing process. While I found the plot rather ho hum, Sussman nailed the raw emotion and healing process one goes through after a traumatic event. I am glad I took the time to read this part beach read part psychological book.
    • 4/5
      There's that old cliche about getting right back up on the horse after you fall off and surprisingly, it really does work on many things. But could you do it when the thing that you need to overcome is not small but truly horrible and terrifying, not just something you've built up to be scary in your own mind? What kind of bravery would it take then? For the main character in Ellen Sussman's novel The Paradise Guest House, the things she has to face are awful, shattering and beyond the normal ken but she is determined to face the demons that continue to haunt her and to heal. Jamie Hyde is guide for an adventure travel company out of San Francisco. She climbs mountains, shoots rapids, and goes wherever traveling adreneline junkies want to be. She has few emotional ties aside from her dying boss, best friend Larson and she actively avoids the entanglements of heart and hearth. She was in Bali researching potential trips for the company when her world exploded in the blink of an eye in the 2002 nightclub bombings. As a survivor, her body has healed but she is still filled with guilt and grief and horror about the events of that terrible night. So just one year later, she is back in Bali for a healing ceremony arranged for both survivors and victims' families. She's come to not only face the horrors of that night, as she has explained to everyone who has asked, but also on a more private quest to find the stranger who saved her life and whom she cannot get out of her mind. Jamie's host in Bali at the Paradise Guest House is Nyoman, a gentle Balinese man whose wife was a waitress at one of the clubs. If anyone can understand some of her sorrow and pain, he can. As Bali and the people there work to ease her guilt and grief, she starts her search for Gabe, an American ex-pat living in Bali after his own personal tragedy, the man who saved her life that fateful night but who she has only the scantest of information on: first name and occupation. What Jamie's final outcome will be, if she will find acceptance and make peace with what happened both in the nightclub that night and with Gabe in the aftermath of the bombing, will depend greatly on his reception of her and on her ability to forgive herself. Jamie is on a journey, courageous and struggling, but her strength of spirit shines through, even despite her guilt and deep sadness. The novel starts in 2003 but moves back to 2002 and the bombing and its immediate aftermath, before coming back to 2003 and Jamie's emotional quest. This allows the additional reasons behind Jamie's survivor's guilt over the bombing to be revealed slowly and effectively to the reader. It also allows the reader to get a sense of Gabe's motives for rushing into the burning building to save as many as he can before it collapses completely. And it explains why these two souls, so hurt and damaged even before the bombings, would cling to each other as to life rafts in the face of a world seemingly rent asunder in those days immediately following the arrival of terror on an island previously known for its paradise. Sussman has written a beautiful travel novel, a gentle romance, and a quiet homage to the innocent place where a terrible event rocked the world. Touching on not only the famed beauty and spirituality of Bali, Sussman has also drawn a lovely picture of the people who live there, from Nyoman, grieving his wife and unborn child; to wily street child Bambang and his loyal dog; from Dewi, Nyoman's rebellious yet endearing niece; to Wayan, the local doctor who treated her after the bombing and who feels righteous anger over the second class treatment of the Balinese injured. She's portrayed the culture as welcoming and thoughtful, anxious for healing and moving forward. Jamie as a main character was complex and her baby steps toward opening herself up to the possibility of living and loving made her very appealing to read about. Gabe was a sympathetic character as well and together their confusion and hurt over the past as they explored their needs for the future, together or separately, was well handled. Their bonding after the nightmare quality of what they experienced together was understandable and very emotional but their connection the following year was perhaps a bit rushed. In the end though, the search for connection and the opening up to love and life was done beautifully and respectfully and the end of the story was spot on. The book was touching, serene, and a pleasure to read.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this read, and it sucked me in a LOT more than I thought it would. I was sort of expecting an 'Eat Pray Love' type of read (partially because of some of the marketing copy), but what I found was a sweet, sad, and introspective story about a woman healing from some serious trauma. The author was able to paint a lovely picture of the 'real Bali,' not just what you see in yoga retreat brochures. An excellent (and quick) read - I definitely recommend it - I just wish it were longer...I'd love to know how the story continues!
    • 5/5
      Great book! I liked everything about this book; the characters, the setting, the story and the author's writing style.
    • 5/5
      As is usual, I received this book for nothing from a GoodReads giveaway. Despite that kindness my candid thoughts follow.A year ago, our protagonist was witness to the Bali nightclub bombings. Now she's returning to the country to pay her respects and find the little piece of herself that she left behind.This book really defies easy categorization (travelogue? romance? historical novel? escapism?) but at its heart it's an allegory of guilt, grief and loss. Our heroine not only lost her friend when the bombs ripped apart the building she was sitting in but also her piece of mind and sense of self. In "The Paradise Guest House" we find a woman who is struggling to put her life back together after she discovers that bombs tear apart more than buildings.From a writing standpoint this book is smooth as silk. I'm always the first to pick at an author's writing but Sussman is no slouch at stringing words together. Her words form an uncannily vivid picture in the reader's mind and if you read the acknowledgements it's not hard to see why. She spent a month on site researching the country and talking to locals. I suspect it's no coincidence that some of the names of her characters also appear in the list of people to whom she is thankful. The author has very skillfully put a month of her life to paper.Topically, Sussman does a grand job of taking us to a place and time that we don't tend to think about very much and letting us get a flavor for not only the country but the people in it from the locals who have been there all their lives to the imports who just decided there was no reason to leave. Geographically speaking, if this comes out as a movie it'll be one of those you go to just for the breathtaking panoramas.In summary, our author has given us a great view not only into the far-off land of Bali but also into the souls of her complex and skillfully portrayed characters. Her descriptive powers are almost Dickensian in their breadth and depth. As for the question of a category for this book, it really is all of the above: some adventure, some romance, some far-off foreign climes but mostly it's about a woman who has lost something and has retraced her steps to find it again.
    • 3/5
      I thought I would first enjoy this story for its location-the island of Bali--but I ended up really liking the characters as well. It's a story of second chances and healing. Worth reading!
    • 4/5
      This is a book about healing and second chances. Jamie goes back to Bali on the one year anniversary of the bombings that injuried her and killed her boyfriend. Her family and friends advise her not to go but she feels like she needs to get closure and to try to forgive herself for her boyfriend's death. The story ends up being about more than her grief but it also includes the grief of many other people on the island. Its a love story but its more than that, its a book about healing and taking chances on the future.
    • 3/5
      Not a bad story but just not my cup of tea. It did not end as I had hoped. You were left to your imagination as to what happened to the couple and I prefer to have it all wrapped up in a tidy box with a bow, happily ever after. So, it was a fairly good plot but I needed closure.
    • 4/5
      I ended up reading this book in a single day because I couldn't put it down. Why? I'm not really sure. But I really liked this book. It touched me in a way I didn't expect. Despite the chaos of the main event - specifically, the nightclub bombings in Bali - it was a story full of quiet beauty. I found the author's voice very pleasing and lyrical, her descriptive prose really capturing sight as well as emotions. Yes, this book has it's flaws, including the fact that it is sometimes difficult to understand the passage of time (I'm still not sure how soon after the bombings Jamie leaves Bali - was it really only a day before she goes to the airport the first time? Because in Gabe's coming and goings from the cottage it made it seem like weeks.) But for some reason that didn't bother me the way stuff like that usually does, it didn't take me too far out of the story. And I enjoyed how flawed all of the characters are. They were human in the best possible sense. This isn't a book that is going to change my life, but I enjoyed it and was sorry when the story ended - right at a perfect beginning.
    • 3/5
      Returning to beautiful Bali and reliving a nightmare was something Jamie had to do. The previous year she was injured in and her boyfriend was killed in the bombings in a night club in Bali. She still hadn't forgiven herself for saying no when her boyfriend, Miguel, asked her to marry him and for being the cause of Miguel's running into the night club that was bombed. Jamie also had another mission. She had to find Gabe, the person who saved her and helped her heal. The book went back and forth in time right inside a sentence or paragraph...very clever. It was a bit tricky to keep track of what was going on, though. The writing was mostly dialogue. Each character had a death to deal with whether it was a child's death or another loved one, and each character felt responsible for the death.THE PARADISE GUEST HOUSE is a book about healing, caring for others, and believing in another person. Despite this, it was just an ok read. The author did do a wonderful job with descriptions of the beautiful Bali landscapes and its caring people. 3/5This book was won in a giveaway on Library Thing's website and in exchange for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      Despite the violence of the nightclub bombings in Bali, this story is quiet and lovely. Ms. Sussman captures that place where life doesn't make sense, where tragedy uproots and carries along. And then she shows us how two people find a way to peace and healing and love. I loved that the story was about more than Gabe and Jamie. There's the host of Jamie's "hotel" and the beggar boy and the Australian newsman ... they all have losses and somehow Ms. Sussman suggests that healing will come to all of them. Just a pleasure to read.
    • 5/5
      I am listening to a gamelan orchestra with metal clanging and bell like tones because that part of the setting is real to me. I studied that music in college and it bridged a path to the setting in Bali where the story is set.Jamie is an adventure guide. She is returning to Bali after a year for a ceremony of the people who died in the bombings of two night clubs. We learn about her broken family and her childhood when she developed a love for hiking. Then, we are abrupty in Bali, the year before, a handsome adventure guide, named Miguel is fiercely in love with her and proposed marriage. He wanted to have children but she says no, she had never had a long term relationship and what she felf for him was lust, no love that meant marriage and children. Miguel runs from her crying and there is bombing of two nightclubs, confusion, screaming people, flames of burning and collapsing buildings.An ex-pat, Gabe sees her in all the noisy and blinding confusion and he saves her life. There is much more about him, how his four year son died and his inability to share his grief. He quits his journalist job, his falls apart and he goes to Bali, ending up as an elementary school teacher.This story is richly textured like the gamelon music, notes of beauty, grief, unlikely friendships and the terrible memories of people dying everywhere in the bombings. There are many layers to this story and the setting works perfectly.
    • 5/5
      There's certainly a love story running through this book, but it also contains plenty of gritty (and tragic) reality as the two main characters seek to put their past traumas behind them and move forward. Bali comes to life beautifully, although in places I found there was a little too much description. (That said, I was listening to the audio version and perhaps my eye would have fast-forwarded through those parts, had I been reading.) Bambang is a wonderful supporting character and there were times when I thought he might steal the show. There were also some logistical questions about the ending which made me wonder how the future for these characters would play out, but overall I found this novel to be just the right mix of hope after hurt.
      Finally, I am a little curious about the title, since I'm not sure the Paradise Guest House is really the best symbol of Jamie's journey. I'd love to know if the publisher had a hand in this and whether less appealing titles were originally on the table.
      Don't expect a carefree read, but do enjoy the wonderful depth of this tale.
      4.5 stars.
    • 4/5
      Jamie, an American adventure guide, had just turned down a marriage proposal from her lover when the infamous Bali nightclub bombings took place. One year later she is returning to Bali for a survivor's meeting and the hopes of finding Gabe, who saved her life. Checking into a cozy guest house, she finds the owner has his own story of the bombing. And she meets a young boy who will help her in her search.While reading the book, i found myself looking for more information on the factual parts of the bombing story. The characters were believable in their reactions to the tragedy and in learning how to deal with survivor's guilt. The innkeeper was a man of faith different from the western philosophy I am used to hearing about. This was my first read of a book by the author, but I may look up her previous book as I quite liked this one.
    • 3/5
      A woman hurt in the Bali club bombings returns to Bali on the one year anniversary to attend the memorial and to find the man who helped her. A nice love story in a beautiful setting with a look into the Balinese who live there and also suffered loss because of the bombings.
    • 5/5
      This is a great read. My first Ellen Sussman novel and I will be reading more of her books in future. Taking place in Bali Indonesia this book centers around the bombings in Bali. And it deals with love and loss and the courage to return to where it all happened. And to be able to open up and love again.
    • 3/5
      An enjoyable fairy tale. This book is well written and moves along quickly. Some difficult issues are tackled, but the answers given are a little too easy. Perfect for reading on an airplane.
    • 4/5

      The Paradise Guest House by Ellen Sussman – Ellen Sussman has written a lovely novel of healing, redemption and forgiveness with The Paradise Guest House. I was intrigued by Jamie’s journey to Bali to confront painful memories haunting her as a result of the nightclub bombing in Bali that killed her boyfriend, and left her with emotional and physical wounds. She also has some issues to resolve with Gabe, a sexy ex-patriot with whom she made a profound connection during her recovery. Sussman achieves the fine balance required to convey the beautiful beaches and unique island culture with a country that struggles to get back to its feet, and to reclaim its carefree nature, peace and tranquility. The different ways we live, process grief, attempt to rebuild in the wake of great personal loss, and take the steps to open ourselves again to love are gently explored in this satisfying novel. Recommended.
    • 5/5
      At 23:05 Central Indonesian Time (15:05 UTC) on 12 October 2002, a suicide bomber entered Paddy’s Pub in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. He detonated the explosive device inside his backpack and customers immediately fled into the street where, twenty seconds later, a second bomb exploded just outside the Sari Club, located across the street from Paddy’s Pub. Two hundred and two people (including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesian, 27 Britons, 7 Americans and 5 Swedish citizens) were killed and 240 people were injured. Later, members of Jemaah Islamiyah, a violent Islamist group, were convicted for their role in the bombing. Osama Bin Laden stated that the Bali bombings were in direct retaliation for Indonesia’s support of the United States’ war on terror and Australia’s role in the liberation of East Timor.Ellen Sussman has set her novel, The Paradise Guest House, against the backdrop of these horrifying events. Jamie is an American adventure guide who has survived the blasts and finds herself, a year later, returning to Bali for a one year memorial event. But the ceremony is only part of the reason she has decided to go back to the a place which still haunts her. Jamie hopes to find the man who saved her life, a man named Gabe who was an American ex-pat living in Bali and working as a teacher. What unfolds is a gentle story of love, forgiveness, and the difficult road to healing after unspeakable loss. The Paradise Guest House is beautifully crafted. Sussman’s descriptions of Bali – its lush jungles, sudden rainstorms, and spiritual people – deliver the reader into the heart of the island. The characters are well developed and include Jamie who lost her lover in the bombing and is looking for closure; Gabe who carries his own deep loss of a son and marriage and wants a new life on Bali; Nyoman, a local man whose wife perished in the bombing; and BamBang, a street child with a tendency towards theft. All the characters have had loss and are journeying towards recovery.Sussman’s novel is a meditation of sorts on grief and our connection to others. It captures the shock and devastation post trauma, and the slow, often difficult, path towards healing. The book is also, at its heart, a love story. Despite the underlying sadness which echoes through the narrative, there is the bright light of hope, a glimpse of something better for these characters who stole my heart.Readers who enjoy character driven novels with gorgeous writing will want to read The Paradise Guest House in one big gulp. I sped through this novel, fully immersing myself in its sensuous prose.Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      Returning to beautiful Bali and reliving a nightmare was something Jamie had to do. The previous year she was injured in and her boyfriend was killed in the bombings in a night club in Bali. She still hadn't forgiven herself for saying no when her boyfriend, Miguel, asked her to marry him and for being the cause of Miguel's running into the night club that was bombed. Jamie also had another mission. She had to find Gabe, the person who saved her and helped her heal. The book went back and forth in time right inside a sentence or paragraph...very clever. It was a bit tricky to keep track of what was going on, though. The writing was mostly dialogue. Each character had a death to deal with whether it was a child's death or another loved one, and each character felt responsible for the death.THE PARADISE GUEST HOUSE is a book about healing, caring for others, and believing in another person. Despite this, it was just an ok read. The author did do a wonderful job with descriptions of the beautiful Bali landscapes and its caring people. 3/5This book was won in a giveaway on Library Thing's website and in exchange for an honest review.