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2013 Book Review #97: The Book of Secrets
Title: The Book of Secrets
Author: Elizabeth Joy Arnold
Genre: Contemporary/literary fiction
Thingummies: 4.5
Synopsis: A book store owner's husband disappears, leaving behind a coded notebook, which forces her to face their tragic past.
Thoughts: At its heart, this book is about the death of a two-year-old child.
If I'd realized that, I don't think I would have ever picked it up. As a new parent, I'm finding myself much more susceptible to such things. But once I realized where things were going, it was too late. The story was too riveting to put down. You know early on that the child dies and that the narrator's father-in-law is held responsible, but just like the narrator, I needed to know how. The story jumps back and forth between the present and her childhood, as she gets step by step closer to finding out what really happened even as her past converges on the same point.
The book does teeter on the edge of and then falls into melodrama. But compelling melodrama, all woven through with a profound love of books that resonated deeply with me. The fundamental tragedy has warped the lives of the entire family, but the fissures opened long before the baby's death. There's a plot twist that I won't reveal--I did figure out what happened a couple chapters before the big reveal. I'll admit I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the ending. It was not where I had initially expected the book to go, and while there's a definite sense of closure, it feels almost Dickensian in the improbability. But at the same time, even having guessed the ending, there was enough of a sense of catharsis for me to respect the author for her ability to generate emotion. Because heaven knows, this succeeded in generating emotion. Gut-clenching, every-parent's-worst-nightmare emotion. Coming home and having to put the book down at the climax, and seeing my own son smiling at me from his high chair, safe and sound, I had as profound a sense of relief as I think I ever had with him.
Will this tug your heartstrings as hard if you're not currently trying to adjust to the presence of a new little man in your life? I honestly don't know. But it worked on me like a charm.
Author: Elizabeth Joy Arnold
Genre: Contemporary/literary fiction
Thingummies: 4.5
Synopsis: A book store owner's husband disappears, leaving behind a coded notebook, which forces her to face their tragic past.
Thoughts: At its heart, this book is about the death of a two-year-old child.
If I'd realized that, I don't think I would have ever picked it up. As a new parent, I'm finding myself much more susceptible to such things. But once I realized where things were going, it was too late. The story was too riveting to put down. You know early on that the child dies and that the narrator's father-in-law is held responsible, but just like the narrator, I needed to know how. The story jumps back and forth between the present and her childhood, as she gets step by step closer to finding out what really happened even as her past converges on the same point.
The book does teeter on the edge of and then falls into melodrama. But compelling melodrama, all woven through with a profound love of books that resonated deeply with me. The fundamental tragedy has warped the lives of the entire family, but the fissures opened long before the baby's death. There's a plot twist that I won't reveal--I did figure out what happened a couple chapters before the big reveal. I'll admit I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the ending. It was not where I had initially expected the book to go, and while there's a definite sense of closure, it feels almost Dickensian in the improbability. But at the same time, even having guessed the ending, there was enough of a sense of catharsis for me to respect the author for her ability to generate emotion. Because heaven knows, this succeeded in generating emotion. Gut-clenching, every-parent's-worst-nightmare emotion. Coming home and having to put the book down at the climax, and seeing my own son smiling at me from his high chair, safe and sound, I had as profound a sense of relief as I think I ever had with him.
Will this tug your heartstrings as hard if you're not currently trying to adjust to the presence of a new little man in your life? I honestly don't know. But it worked on me like a charm.