Reviews: Turn of Mind, The Family Fang, The Lantern

 

by Alice LaPlante, 304 pages. Available in hardcover, Kindle, Nook, and ebook from Bond Street Books (a division of Random House).

Is the perfect murder the one you can't forget or the one you can't remember? Dr. Jennifer White, a brilliant former surgeon in the early grips of Alzheimer's, is suspected of murdering her best friend, Amanda. Amanda's body was found brutally disfigured — with four of her fingers cut off in a precise, surgical manner. As the police pursue their investigation and Jennifer searches her own mind for fractured clues to Amanda's death, a portrait emerges of a complex relationship between two uncompromising, unsentimental women, lifelong friends who were at times each other's most formidable adversaries.

What a jolting and jarring read - Dr. Jennifer White is slowly succumbing to dementia and because the story is from her point of view the reader descends with her. This instability is unsettling and it is hard to form any of the normal conclusions or in any way be prepared for what comes next. Jumping between vivid memory fragments and confusing snippets without an attachment to time - LaPlante has produced the most unreliable narrator I have ever read. I couldn't tell if I found it intense due to the style or because it hit close to home. Probably a little bit of both. I do think it is worth a read, even though it is touted as a suspense... it is not tradtional. I thought the way LaPlante captures the murky haze of this illness was brilliant. If I hadn't seen the effects of Alzheimer's firsthand this may have seemed unbelievable. Absolutely consuming, definitely masterful and at times harrowing - I'll be curious to know your thoughts if you decide to tackle it.

review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley

 

The Family Fang: A Novel by Kevin Wilson, 309 pages. Available in hardcover, Kindle, Nook, and ebook from Ecco.

Mr. and Mrs. Fang called it art.

Their children called it mischief.

Performance artists Caleb and Camille Fang dedicated themselves to making great art. But when an artist’s work lies in subverting normality, it can be difficult to raise well-adjusted children. Just ask Buster and Annie Fang. For as long as they can remember, they starred (unwillingly) in their parents’ madcap pieces. But now that they are grown up, the chaos of their childhood has made it difficult to cope with life outside the fishbowl of their parents’ strange world.

When the lives they’ve built come crashing down, brother and sister have nowhere to go but home, where they discover that Caleb and Camille are planning one last performance–their magnum opus–whether the kids agree to participate or not. Soon, ambition breeds conflict, bringing the Fangs to face the difficult decision about what’s ultimately more important: their family or their art.

Let's play word association - Family Fang: Whackadoodle.  Crazy ride. If you are looking for something totally out of the box this may be the book for you. The chapters alternate between past performances and present day - the descriptions of the "art" were jaw-droppingly voyeuristic, oddly fascinating. As a result the chapters dealing with the now seemed almost boring, which is unfortunate. Everything the adult children do seems easily explained away by their freakish upbringing. And author Wilson misses an opportunity to explore deeper the impact of such a twisted family life.  I think we are supposed to root for Buster and Annie, but they needed additional development as adult characters.  If you are already intrigued by the premise, I'd say it's worth a read. But I wouldn't recommend for every reader - it's a bit abrasive.

review copy provided by HarperCollins

 

The Lantern: A Novel by Deborah Lawrenson, 400 pages. Available in hardcover, Nook, Kindle and ebook from Harper.

A modern gothic novel of love, secrets, and murder—set against the lush backdrop of Provence

Meeting Dom was the most incredible thing that had ever happened to me. When Eve falls for the secretive, charming Dom in Switzerland, their whirlwind relationship leads them to Les GenÉvriers, an abandoned house set among the fragrant lavender fields of the South of France. Each enchanting day delivers happy discoveries: hidden chambers, secret vaults, a beautiful wrought-iron lantern. Deeply in love and surrounded by music, books, and the heady summer scents of the French countryside, Eve has never felt more alive.

But with autumn’s arrival the days begin to cool, and so, too, does Dom. Though Eve knows he bears the emotional scars of a failed marriage—one he refuses to talk about—his silence arouses suspicion and uncertainty. The more reticent Dom is to explain, the more Eve becomes obsessed with finding answers—and with unraveling the mystery of his absent, beautiful ex-wife, Rachel.

Like its owner, Les GenÉvriers is also changing. Bright, warm rooms have turned cold and uninviting; shadows now fall unexpectedly; and Eve senses a presence moving through the garden. Is it a ghost from the past or a manifestation of her current troubles with Dom? Can she trust Dom, or could her life be in danger?

This book promises much but is unable to deliver, maybe because I read the classic gothic novel Rebecca shortly before starting it. The premise is right in my wheelhouse - I love dark, mysterious, old house books where secret tragedy lurks (see all by Kate Morton, or The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield).  And I was pulled into this from the start, but the story began to suffer about a third of the way in from too much "ominous foreboding" and you can't sustain that for another 200 plus pages without the story suffering.  The mystery began to feel forced and there was too much space spent on building artificial suspense.  The descriptions of the French countryside were stunning. And I think with some tightening (keen editing) this would have been a keeper. Lawrenson is a talented storyteller, and shines at establishing the right kind of atmospherere for a gothic novel to flourish. Just a tad more spit and polish...maybe next time.

review copy provided by HarperCollins

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