This was a pre-release copy but the book had come out by the time I read it, so I already knew it had gotten good reviews. It’s one of those parallel-stories-separated-in-time novels, and as is often the case the best parts are the historical fiction. Ebershoff fictionalizes an actual 19th century memoir with the much-superior title, Wife no.19, or the story of a life in bondage. Being a complete exposé of Mormonism, and revealing the sorrows, sacrifices and sufferings of women in polygamy. At least I don’t have to explain the plot.
Anyway, I recommend it. Don’t read it if you’re a woman and have recently been dicked over by a guy, though. Especially if you own a weapon.
In my free book feeding frenzy I picked up a few young adult novels without realizing it. I decided to give this one a chance because it was British and therefore automatically more interesting (also it had originally been published by Oxford University Press, which I flatter myself by thinking is a mark of quality).
Despite the goofy title, as a suspense novel it’s not bad. There are some genuinely creepy scenes. I can imagine that a young adult suspense story is likely to be superior to one for adults because the prose is necessarily more clear and events move along at a good clip.
The problem is that like any number of other horror, fantasy or science fiction books with wildly inexplicable happenings, it doesn’t actually resolve to any conclusion. The open-ended “I guess we’ll never know what really happened” ending is okay for high school creative writing classes but it just does not cut it in published fiction. Authors: if you don’t know how your story ends, figure that out before you write the book.
A bigger surprise than the ooh-so-mysterious ending is that the UK cover is, for once, far inferior. Those fonts, they burn!
October 23, 2008 @ 5:47 pm