The House of Six Doors

Author: Patricia Selbert
ISBN: 978-0-578-06440-6
Publisher: Publishing by the Seas
Source: Book Sparks PR Blog Tour
Purchase: The House of Six Doors

Synopsis {From Cover}

Thirteen-year-old Serena is torn from everything that’s familiar on her island home. She leaves her beloved grandmother, her father, and two of her siblings to move with her mother and older sister to Florida and then to California.

“Everything will be better in America,” her mother tells her. They arrive in the US to find nothing as they expected. Speaking fluent Dutch, Spanish, and Papiamentu (the language of her home Caribbean island of Curacao), but limited English, Serena learns to pretend that everything’s fine while struggling to live up to her mother’s impossibly high expectations; always afraid to send her mother into another downward spiral of depression. She juggles responsibility for her mother’s well-being with school, a secret boyfriend, and a growing desire for independence, in a foreign land: Hollywood.

The wisdom of her grandmother, a mixed-race mystic, gives her solace, which she clings to tenaciously despite the thousands of miles between them. Coming of age in a foreign land, faced with enormous obstacles, Serena finds her own feet and the acceptance that sets her free.

My Thoughts

The house of six doors left me in awe. Ms. Selbert weaves a tale full of many emotions that I was not prepared to encounter. Serena’s story is raw and honest and truly poignant. The book has many emotional undercurrents that bring the story to life and draw the reader into its reality. I was compelled to keep reading the novel even though, at times, I had to put it down. The mother in this story irked me until the end. Because of her daughter’s fair outlook however, I was left with compassion and understanding for the mother, though I would not change my many opinions about her.

One of the key storylines of this book is immigration. Serena’s mother moves her and her sister to the U.S. from Curacao. The story honestly conveys the difficulties of transplanting the life you’ve always known to foreign soil. I was awakened to all the minor details of immigration that would be difficult for those who attempt to move to anew country. This aspect of the book is more emotional because it is told through Serena’s eyes, a child who is slowly turning into a young woman. The story had a steady pace. I never felt dragging moments while reading it. The story was told in the present but reflected on past memories by alternating between the two. This gave the book an unique quality as it entertained me with Serena’s two vivid worlds.

Overall, this was an eye opening novel. It gave me lots to think about while reading it. There are many sweet aspects of this book in addition to the more difficult parts of the story. It was a well rounded, interesting look at the life of one 13 year old girl who tries to cope in a new world while making herself someone her mother and family can be proud of. In the process she learns key life lessons that mod her into someone she can be proud of. I would recommend this novel.

About the Author

Author Patricia Selbert is an experienced lecturer and multicultural novelist. With a BA in communications Patricia speaks Dutch, Spanish, Papiamentu and English.

“I was born to Dutch parents in the jungles of Venezuela. I grew up in Curacao, a Dutch island in the Caribbean. I moved to the United States in the seventies. I currently live in Santa Barbara, a picturesque town on the Central Coast of California cradled between the Pacific Ocean to the south and the Santa Ynez Mountains to the north.”

Patricia’s Caribbean heritage has infused her with a passion for bright colors, delicious flavors, and the sea.

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The Wishing Trees

John Shors
ISBN: 978-0-541-23113-0
Publisher: New American Library – Penguin
*To purchase this novel click the image to the left*


On the eve of his birthday, Ian finds a letter tucked inside a present left to him by his deceased wife Kate. In the letter Kate makes a final request to Ian, asking that he take their daughter Mattie on the trip across Asia that they had always planned to take on their fifteenth anniversary, revisiting the places where their love first bloomed and grew. Still feeling the immense pain at the loss of his wife, Ian reluctantly agrees to take their daughter Mattie on the journey in honor of her memory and out of utter love and devotion. The trip guides father and daughter from America to Nepal, Thailand, India, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Egypt. Each country holds healing to the past and hopes for the future as Ian and Mattie follow Kate’s guidance and learn through her letters the power of love, beauty and suffering, healing and rebirth. It is a discovery that will lead them to their future and enable father and daughter to learn the lessons Kate intended to show them before her death, finding healing, love and re-assuring peace.


The Wishing Trees is a truly poignant novel of ultimate love, loss and healing. Ian and Mattie’s journey is written at a slow pace, enabling and urging the reader to develop a deep connection and understanding of the characters. Likewise, the characters are experiencing a journey and connection of their own that I felt the author intended the reader to also experience. The pace is set for the full impact of what the characters are learning through Kate, self discovery, each other and the world around them. The novel is descriptive in nature which made me feel as if I was visiting each country with Ian and Mattie. I felt I was seeing each place through two different sets of eyes. One set was experienced and re-visiting each place full of past memories while the other was a young, fresh and new discovering pair, learning the beauty and suffering that life holds. It was a truly moving novel and I feel enlightened after reading it.


The Wishing Trees is in essence a life affirming novel that reaches out and approaches the topic of death and loss with open eyes and a healing guidance. In each country Ian and Mattie discover different life styles, people and views on death. They are enlightened to the world beyond them which enables them to feel the presence of Kate who travels with them in spirit and through her letters. I highly recommend this novel. Be prepared to take your time, it is not a novel to rush through, but is best read with ease, taking time to ponder and experience what Ian and Mattie are during their trip. The novel left me thankful, content and at peace, feeling as if I had traveled the world with two wonderful people. It is truly unique.


*A portion of the proceeds from each novel purchased of The Wishing Trees goes to the “Arbor Day Foundation”. In a way by reading and purchasing this novel, you are giving back.*

I also wanted to take a quick minute to point out the cover of this novel.  My four year old daughter stopped mid-play when she saw me reading this book and came over to comment on the cover.  She said "I like your book mommy, that cover is pretty!  It's so sweet that the little girl is holding her daddy's hand."  I was stunned that she took notice and thought that if my four year old can notice a cover and have an opinion than so can readers of all ages.  The cover is an important part of the packaging for each story readers have the choice to read or not.  This cover fit the book perfectly.  I was very impressed with the novel overall.


Reviewed for Book Pleasures