This was one of those most glorious books that turns up unsolicited. I was expecting a completely different book from this publisher so there was the merest hint of disappointment. But of this book I had no expectations. I had no prior knowledge of the author, Dirk Wittenborn. Sometimes in these circumstances there is an incredible sense of freedom at the read you’re about to start. No blog tour dates with deadlines to chase. Just a publication date to bear in mind.
‘Deep in the Adirondack Mountains lies a speck of a town called Rangeley. There isn't much to this tiny town, but it is at the crossroads of serene fishing streams off the Mink River, pristine hunting grounds in the surrounding mountains and vast estates of the extremely rich. It is also the gateway to the Mohawk Club, which houses the Lost Boys, an exclusive group of wealthy and powerful men with global influence and a taste for depravity. Raised wild and poor in the shadows of the Mohawk Club, Evie Quimby was a teenager when she first fell victim to the Lost Boys. Seventeen years later, she is now a world-renowned art restorer famous for repairing even the most-broken statues. After spending half her life in Paris, establishing her reputation and raising her daughter Chloe, Evie has come a long way from the girl who left Rangeley behind. But when Chloe receives a visit from an elegant stranger who claims to be an old friend of her mother's, the ghosts of Evie's past return in full force, pulling her back to the North Country of her girlhood and into the tangled, intricate web of the Lost Boys. Evie bands together with her formidable mother and an embattled heiress, both victims of the Lost Boys, in pursuit of an unusual and heart-stopping vengeance.’
A formidable plot, coupled with a narrative that never loses momentum for a second, Wittenborn creates a landscape that drips with power and vengeance. A multi narrative that begins with a prologue deficient in detail so we want to know more, but with sufficient information to convince us there is something worth exploring here. The first person narrative from Evie’s daughter, Chloe, furnishes us with one perspective on all that happens. And the third person narrative, which is good all-fashioned storytelling fills us in on the rest. Balance is crucial. And it’s nigh on perfect here.
I saw the stone girl statue as metaphor on more than one level. The idea of fixing broken things in a concrete way serves as a parallel to look at how to fix things in an abstract way. Physical fixing versus emotional fixing. And the concept that something broken can be mended in a good versus evil sort of way. Much of the action takes place in the Adirondacks area of the United States. Hunting country. I saw that as another metaphor. A gender issue if you like. The women are the prey, the men are the hunters. Can you turn it around though? I thought the book also looked at how wealth, education, class can disappear when there is a common aim. The sense of female friendship is strong in a Thelma and Louise kinda way.
I found the titles of the nine parts of the book fascinating. Sometimes I don't even notice them. But here they seemed to impose themselves upon my consciousness. I had a sense that they were very significant to the story. And Part II "Parts But Little Known" I ended up googling and found that it relates to an exhibition of maps of the Adirondacks dating from 1550. I felt like I had Yoda looking over my shoulder and telling me that my instincts served me well! Others relate to legal terms that just hint to the reader of potential outcomes.
Something I found very interesting about the book is that it has a very strong message for women and about women and yet it was written by a man. It was as if Wittenborn has got under the skin of a violated woman and understands what happens in that headspace, not just in an immediate sense, but over time. It’s powerful. The female characters are all finally drawn. Evie and her mother, Flo, Chloe and Lulu, the heiress, have strong voices in this book and a part to play in the unfolding narrative.
Evie is indomitable. The spirit of survival. The love of a mother for her daughter and the desire to seek some kind of retribution for wrongs perpetrated in the past, examination of the mother/daughter relationship through a couple of generations - all are explored here with Evie as the foundation.
It’s a full blooded book. Meaty. It’s not a mere thriller to be read to see if the good guys win in the end. Oh yes, you can read it that way if you wish. But there is subtext to demand the cerebral reader think a great deal about what they've just read. Perhaps I’m enamoured of the book so much because I wasn’t expecting such a good read. It’s one of those books that stays with you. You find yourself thinking about it at unexpected moments.
My thanks to W.W. Norton for an advance copy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
No comments:
Post a Comment