Book Review: The Spanish Smile

Author: Scott O'Dell
Year of Copyright: 1982
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Read: November 3 to 5, 2003

The Spanish Smile takes place in present day on the Isla del Oro, an island off the coast of southern California area. The main character and heroine in this story is Lucinda de Benivides. The other main characters are Don Enrique de Cabrillo y Benivides, Christopher Dawson, Father Martinez, Gerda Wolffe, Captain Wolffe, Jennifer Delaney, Dorothy D'Amico, Alicia, and Captain Vega.

The conflict was that Lucinda was a "prisoner" on Isla del Oro by her father, Don Enrique, who is some what crazy and wants to cause a revolution to regain California to Spain. The climax is when Lucinda discovers something beneath the castle. Meanwhile mysterious things begin to happen.

My favorite character probably was Lucinda because I could relate to her becuase we both love books. This is a amazing book which is almost like the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Rear Window because of the suspense. I was a little grossed out at first by what she found, but it still is a great book. I think even adults would enjoy The Spanish Smile, but I would not ecommend this book for children under 11 because they probably wouldn't understand it that well.

Her is the summary from the book cover:

Lucinda's life on Isla del Oro, off the coast of California, had always been like that of a young princess. Her father, Don Enrique, surrounded her with the luxuries only a man of his fabulous wealth could afford. Yet she was as sheltered as a princess, too. No newspapers reached the island and there was neither radio nor television -- not even a book that had been written in the twentieth century. Don Enrique saw to it that his daughter and heiress, steeped in her noble Spainsh heritage, knew nothing of life amoung the "barbarians" on the mainland.

And so Lucinda de Cabrillo y Benivides grew into young womanhood -- beautiful, intelligent, filled with dreams. It was not until the young archaeologist Chistopher Dawson arrived on the island that Lucinda began to question her world. Slowly, horrifyingly, the truth about Isla del Oro and its master began to emerge.

Told by a master storyteller, The Spainsh Smile builds relentlessly to a dramatic and haunting end, and Lucinda takes her place among the unforgettable heroines created by Scott O'Dell.

Other Books Scott O'Dell Wrote
290, The
Alexandra
Amethyst Ring, The
The third book in the trilogy which started with The Captive
Black Pearl, The
Black Star, Birght Dawn
Captive, The
Castle in the Sea, The
Child of Fire
Cruise of the Artic Star, The
Dark Canoe, The
Feathered Serpent, The
The sequel to The Captive
Hawk that Dare not Hunt by Day, The
Hill of the Hawk
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Journey to Jericho
Kathleen, Please Come Home
King's Fifth, The
Man Alon (Lifer)
My Name is Not Angelica
Road to Damietta, The
Sarah Bishop
Sea is Red, The: A Novel
*Serpent Never Sleeps, The
Sing Down the Moon
Streams to the River, River to the Sea
Thunder Rolling in the Mountains
Treasure of Topo-el-Bampo, The
Woman of Spain: A Story of Old California
Zia
Sequel to Island of the Blue Dolphins