Tag Archives: 50BookPledge2012

Review | Speaking from Among the Bones, Alan Bradley

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coverThe fifth in Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce series begins with blood. An image of John the Baptist’s head in Salome’s hand looms over the pulpit at St. Tancred’s in full colour stained glass. The narrator muses on the vicar’s words, that “in Old Testament times, our blood was taught to contain our lives.” [p. 4] One can almost see the darkened church and hear the portentous music.

Suddenly, the narrator’s reflections on the gory image are cut off:

Of course!

Blood!

Why hadn’t I thought of this before?

“Feely,” I said, tugging at her sleeve. “I have to go home.” [p. 4]

Last spring, the news broke that the Flavia series has been optioned for TV movies, and with such an opening, it’s easy to see why. The rapid switch in mood is comedic gold, and you can just see it on screen as the introduction to this week’s adventure with a beloved series character.

Speaking from Among the Bones is classic Flavia fare. A dead body is found inside the tomb of the village saint, and Flavia, who is “almost twelve” in this instalment, is once more on the case. The mystery itself isn’t my favourite among Bradley’s books, though that may just be a personal preference for Christmas, filmmaking and Shakespeare over archaeology, botany, and a long-lost jewel. There were also moments when Flavia’s taste for the grotesque felt a bit much — more grating than endearing. For example:

Dangerous killers on the loose! The words which every amateur sleuth lives in eternal hope of hearing.

[…] “A matter of life and death!” That other great phrase! Perhaps even greater than “dangerous killers on the loose.”

My cup of crime runneth over, I thought. [p. 306]

Such passages remind me of how young Flavia is, and when used too often, can make her seem callous. That being said, Bradley counteracts these reactions with thoughtful passages that reveal how shaken Flavia is by the murders. For example, a careless remark that “Feely will simple die.” leads Flavia to think about the murder victim and how he died. “Nothing simple about that,” she thinks. “Nobody ever simply dies.” [p. 271] It’s a sobering thought, and one that reveals much more than it purports to.

I probably learned the most science from this book, than from the rest of the series. Did you know, for example, that “blood from the arteries has more oxygen and less nitrogen, while blood from the veins is the opposite”? [p. 285] It is to Bradley’s credit that Flavia’s lecturing never feels boring or unnecessary. And then there are the lovely observations that reveal how magical science can be. For example, did you know seeds from hundreds of years ago can still be planted and grown?

“A seed is a remarkable vessel,” he told me. “Our one true time machine. Each of them is capable of bringing the past, alive, into the present. Think of that!” [p. 77]

Flavia’s family is central to this novel as well, with the mystery of the saint tied closely to whether or not Flavia’s father will be able to keep the Buckshaw estate. Flavia’s sister Feely is reaching marriageable age, and I love her developing romance with Dieter, who “has nothing to offer but love.” [p. 65]

Long-time Flavia fans know her insecurities about her mother Harriet, who disappeared when Flavia was a baby. Flavia’s sisters enjoy teasing her about how much Harriet hated her, and how Flavia is barely like Harriet at all. In this book, there’s an absolutely lovely scene in the middle of the book where Flavia’s father speaks to her about her mother. I won’t post an excerpt here, because I want you to experience the full impact of reading the scene for the first time within the context of the novel. It’s a lovely, revealing moment, only a couple of pages long and sandwiched between more action-packed scenes, but it moved me to tears.

Flavia fans will enjoy this novel, but I will recommend new readers to begin with an earlier book in the series. Elements in this story delve deep into the characters and while even new readers may understand what’s going on, I think I Am Half-Sick of Shadows (Book 4) sets up the family dynamic much more comprehensively, and will set up a better appreciation of the events in this book.

A final note: the ending. Oh my god, the ending. A handwritten note from Lindsey at Random House Canada warned, “P.S. Ainsley said the ending was crazy!” And, well, yes it is. Particularly the last line. Talk about a cliff-hanger! Part of me is annoyed at Bradley taking the episodic serial TV format a bit too far, but really, all I want is even more Flavia de Luce. When is Book 6 coming out again?

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Speaking from Among the Bones will be on-sale January 29.

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Thank you to Random House Canada for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

(Full disclosure: As with all Flavia books, when I received this ARC, I squee’d even before I began reading it. Flavia fans will understand why. 😉 )

Review | The Glass Harmonica, Russell Wangersky

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The-Glass-Harmonica-by-Russell-WangerskyI was eager to read Russell Wangersky’s The Glass Harmonica because I’d heard a lot of praise for his short story collection Whirl Away (in particular this glowing review from blogger Bella’s Bookshelves whose taste in books I totally trust). So when I saw this novel in the publisher catalogue, I knew I wanted to check this writer out.

The Glass Harmonica begins with a man witnessing a man being killed, but it’s really the chronicle of a neighbourhood rather than a story about a crime. Just after the dedication page of the book is a sketch of McKay Street, marking the homes of various characters. The narrative moves between characters and back and forth in time. We come to realize not just the circumstances around and behind the killing but also the way in which the lives of the people in the neighbourhood intertwine.

As a mystery fan, and in particular an Agatha Christie fan, when I think of exploring the circumstances around a crime, I expect to find a complex motive, one that reveals hidden tensions between the killer and the victim and that explains why the killer went to such lengths to commit his crime. The killer’s motive in this novel is much simpler than that, and yet in other ways much more multi-layered. Because while the actual motive is simple, the story reveals all the seemingly minor events and plot threads that connect the characters, all of which have a touch of influence that somehow led to the killing.

The narrative moves back and forth in time, as well, shifts between characters. We see multiple perspectives on the same set of events, not so much a straightforward Rashomon-like retelling, but rather tendrils of stories that somehow come together to form a web. One chapter may mention an event, only for it not to be brought up again till a few chapters later on, either from someone else’s perspective, or with our own perspective coloured by other events that happened in between. Then somehow, Wangersky pulls it all together.

There were parts of this book that I really liked, however I found the format confusing and at times frustrating. In one instance, for example, a teenage girl is running away from a group of boys who are threatening her. They corner her in an alley, she faces them defiantly — and the chapter ends. I loved that chapter — it was gripping, emotional, and I really, really wanted to find out what happened next.

Unfortunately, Wangersky then follows it up with a chapter about a completely different character, and a completely different set of events. I was still so caught up in that teenage girl’s predicament that I skipped ahead several chapters until I found the next mention of her. To my dismay, that chapter was several years in the future, and the resolution to the incident in the alley was mentioned only as a memory, and therefore now lacking the sense of urgency that had compelled me to skip ahead in the first place.

The number of narrative perspectives was confusing as well. It was difficult to keep track of all the characters, and in particular of the relationships between the characters. Then, once I did get to tell the characters apart and focus on a couple who I really cared about and wanted to find out more (such as the teenage girl, for example), the narrative would switch to another perspective that I’d find less interesting. Granted, this is a risk faced by any author telling a story from multiple perspectives, or with a large cast of characters, but in Glass Harmonica, I sometimes thought there was just too much going on.

Still, Wangersky has a beautiful way with words, and when he does pull all the threads together, and the story begins winding down, the reader’s emotions begin to run high. The final two chapters are just powerful, emotional, even heartbreaking.

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Thank you to Thomas Allen Ltd for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Review | Swimming Home, Deborah Levy

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978-1-77089-332-0_lNominated for the 2012 Man Booker Prize, Deborah Levy’s Swimming Home sounds like a book I would enjoy. British families on a vacation have their lives disrupted by a disturbed young woman, Kitty Finch, who happens to believe she has a deep, emotional connection to one of the family members, a famous poet. Kitty’s arrival of course brings to light some disturbing fissures in the happy family facade, as well as attracts the fascinated attention of the daughter of the family, who sees Kitty’s effect on her parents.

There’s an undercurrent of menace throughout the slim volume, and as the depths of Kitty’s obsession are revealed, the author just keeps raising the tension levels. The entire story takes place in a week — it’s an intense ride, and while we know how part of it at least is going to turn out, Levy maintains the tension.

It’s a very subtle novel, the narration flitting about between characters and hinting at much more than the actual text portrays. There were moments that really struck me, such as Kitty’s poem, but overall, I found myself unmoved. The subtlety may work for certain types of readers, and I’m sure there are those who’ll see much more in it than I did. However, it didn’t work for me. The emotions and motivations of some characters confused me, and the characters themselves were too obscure for me to care enough to struggle to understand. The final chapter as well, set years in the future, seemed to me unnecessary.

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Thank you to House of Anansi for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.