Well, I have to agree. I took the ride for the whole book because I was interested in the internal workings of this family and the drama that was there amidst the many mists of supernatural metaphors. I agree with someone else who posted, that all that mysticism was probably hiding a pretty good story. The ending fell flat for me. Eva had her terrible come uppance, the men did too. Hannah is back, Malin has a baby. Of all the twists and turns of the book, the ending is pretty standard good vs evil, good wins which is too bad because there were so many layers to everyone but it just all boiled down to this, well plus some things that it would appear from the posts so far, we could agree that we still don't know anymore about Hannah than we did to begin with, so I am with you and the others who said, where is this big epiphany about who Hannah is! No one seems to agree even with the book ended.
Also, Meridia may have won, or prevailed but so what. All she had to do was become as uncaring as Eva to do it. Did she have a right to feel the way she did about Eva, yep I guess so, but should she have been able to be better than Eva in the end, than Eva was? You would have thought so considering she is pretty much the heroine of this story,if their is one. There is a line in Schindler's List which comes to mind. The commandant of the camp is killing people at will, for just the heck of it, remember? And Schindler is trying to find a way to get him to stop this so he appeals to the side of him that might work. They are talking about power and Schindler says, there is no power in killing, that takes no power, real power, like with the Emperors of Rome, came in having the ability to kill whoever they wanted, with a gesture of the hand but then didn't. The power was in the ability to kill yet being able to pardon those brought before him. The commandant thinks about this and then for some time, kills no one, and when they mess up and are afraid he will, he says, I pardon you! Meridia did not have it in her to do this even at Eva's end. Going over once and washing her up when she sees the state she is in, she would have done that for an animal. She doesn't even really talk to Daniel about it until he comes to her again, asking for forgiveness and she says, your mother is ill, see to her. He didn't even know about her being ill! Where is the Meridia who said, if it was his mother who was in need like hers, she would take care of her or let her in their house because she was after all Daniel's mother. That was all just a lie to get her way about getting Ravina in. I know she is no saint and maybe this is to make her look more human, but you pretty much come to expect more of her throughout the book and that would have set her apart from the others.
Daniel is a weak man but then most of the men in this book are for one reason or the other. But even so, for all his screw ups, he always loved Meridia, there is no doubt of that. I don't know if I wanted Meridia to take him back or not and I am not even sure that last line means she did. In this book it could mean several things. This book is often like trying to swim with a big life jacket on. I don't know how many of you have ever had to try that but its not easy at all. You stay afloat with it but you really can't tread water much to get anywhere. Well, we didn't go under with this book but there was a lot of treading water in one place to have not gotten more answers in the end or a satisifying ending. I don't know if she really will take Daniel back, or if that was just saying go tend to your mother and come back to me and we will talk. And if he does come back, where will Hannah go? Meridia does not keep both in her life at the same time, we know that. And we don't know still who Hannah is!
No, I can not say the ending saved the book. lol, maybe Elias was talking about those of us lost at the end of the book...save her! 
Well. In many ways, it was a good first book. And I would definitely not discourage Erick from writing! I think there are good things ahead for him but this book just didn't hit the mark with me. And I haven't seen so many people still not getting what the big deal the author said to look for (i.e. revelations as to who Hannah is) in any club before as I have here, even from ones who liked the book.
I wound up not caring too much about any of the characters one way or the other. There is one exception and that is Noah. Noah seems to be something special and have some maybe psychic abilities of his own, that may be beyond any of these women. And like I said once, I think Noah for his young years is an old soul. If anyone from this story is written about in another book, I would hope it would be Noah and that his strength and character would come through without the bees and mists. What little we see of his "powers" are subtle enough and hints as to his true nature also subtle enough at this time, to want to follow up on him to see who and what he will become. The rest, let them rest.
pen21 wrote:I am disappointed in the ending.
Hannah didn't have the big ending I thought was coming. Hannah just moved in. We didn't learn much about her character.
I would have liked Eva to have a stronger ending. Everyone turning away from Eva worked out OK. But did they turn away or by turning away did they just become mean and evil like Eva.
I liked that the fragrance theme was continued in the last section. I liked the fragrances and I thought that the use of fragrance was well thought out the book. I think it was the best theme.
pen21
great thought!
mamawli wrote:
It took me a while, but I finally figured out the firefly's. They are the light that one gets from that aha moment of truth. Merida sees the light when she goes back to Orchard Street and leaves Daniel. Daniel is blinded by his mothers lies and viciousness. It is only when he sees the truth that the fireflies leave because he has seen the light of truth.
PaulH & Sunltcloud:
I agree that this could be a possible explanation. I did not get this from the ending though.
I had commented in the 'questions' thread that I thought Hannah was either an imaginary friend or her inner self - but Erick indicated that there could be some other possibility. Now, I may be misinterpretting your comment below but I was equating inner self with the part of her that was missing.
Either way, I was just looking for something more concrete to lead me down the correct path as to what/who Hannah represented/was. 
CathyB
PaulH wrote:Spot on, Sunltcloud. I think you nailed Hannah/Meridia perfectly!
Sunltcloud wrote:I don't think there needs to be a resolution to Hannah's character. Hannah herself is the resolution. She is the part of Meridia that was missing. Meridia would get a glimpse of this part occasionally; she would see her own potential, and at the end of the novel she lives up to it. The spiritual side of her being has moved in for good.
very interesting thought
thewanderingjew wrote:Has anyone suggested that perhaps Elias was asking Meridia to save Malin?
There are several intertwining themes here. Malin was "lost" and suffering since the death of her own child. She was on a downward spiral, despondent and inconsolable. Her marriage was all but destroyed. When she comes upon Permony as she goes into labor, delivers her baby and lays dying, she gives her comfort and peace of mind. In a sense, Malin rescues Permony from the horror of her final moments, as Permony’s baby then rescues Malin from a life filled with despair. However, it is only with Meridia’s help that Malin is able to take the child and rescue him from a life of abuse with Eva and/or Ahab.
Malin is the only one who comes out of this book with a new beginning. In rescuing the child, she rescues herself, as well. It couldn’t have been done without Meridia’s help to corroborate the story about the baby's death, with the midwife. It was that help that enabled Malin to take the baby and begin again. In a sense, she was reborn as the baby was just born. Had Meridia not helped Malin, the plan to take the baby might not have worked. I think, in aiding Malin, she fulfilled Elias’ last wish.
