Got this at the library yesterday; finished it today. Roughly 240 pages. That's the sign of a good book. When was the last time you've had a 5-star read?

It's so eerie...almost as if this book found me. I am sure many women will be able to relate to it if they have ever been in a love they cannot forget, a love impossible to explain, yet lingers in the depth of your being. In this book, it is purported to happen only "once" in a lifetime; i.e. your "orchard of truth". The grandmother's advice in this book? "When you find your orchard of truth, you must find a way to enter it..." There is so much wisdom in this book. The beauty rituals alone are worth the price. I will compile notes to incorporate many of them into my life as well as with my daughters. I learned so much about culture and traditions; about the importance of being a woman and living life true to self -- not for others. About knowing yourself before sharing yourself with others; about saving yourself for true love. It's all about following your heart to minimize a life of regrets.

Some portions of the book delve into true intimacy and will be a little risque for some I suspect, but truth prevails in its entirety for those who are honest with love.

This will definitely be purchased to add to my library. It's been a long time since I have been brought to tears with a book, but Marisol hit the nail on the head. She is so eloquent a writer, she says things precisely the way I feel. How does she do that?

For any woman in her 30's (and above) who has contemplated life, where she is, where she is going and choices that she has made at the sacrifice of self, this book is for you. I guarantee it will give you a new lease on life. I am most grateful to Marisol and this gem of a novel. Bravo!

There's something alluring and mysterious about South American women. They seem to possess a self-confidence and elegant beauty that makes them irresistible to men, and a complete mystery to other women. Could it be that they've simply been born with good genes? Or is it something else - a deeper secret passed down through generations that empowers Latin women and gives them the ability to explore and celebrate their sensuality and femininity?

Pilar Castillo is twenty-six years old, and trapped between two different cultures. She was born in Venezuela, but now resides in Chicago, where she's learned to live independently. She enjoys her job as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, and she's dating an all-American photographer named Patrick Russo. Yet her mother heartily disapproves of her choices - both in living, and in men. She's expected to come back home to be with her family, and to marry Rafael Uslar, an arrogant and flirtatious, albeit successful lawyer that she was once engaged to.

What's a girl to do when she's being pulled in so many directions? Advice and salvation come in the form of three leather-bound volumes; her grandmother's diaries which encompass her life and many words of wisdom. Pilar's grandmother, Gabriela, believes in the old proverb that states "a woman must be a lady in the living room, a chef in the kitchen, and a courtesan in the bedroom". "a husband wandering around the kitchen could signify only one thing: his wife had failed miserably in her duties" - it also offers a refreshingly open look at relationships, and the gender roles that many of us still play in our daily lives.

This is an eloquent, lyrical novel which shouldn't be missed old secrets to her femininity.